The Brumby’s bakery brand runs in Lara and Scott Russell’s family. Scott’s parents purchased the company’s first ever franchise in Beenleigh, and the pair invested in their own business in 2012. 

They head up a Brumby’s bakery in the Brisbane suburb of Bulimba, and reached their key performance goals within their first year of business.  

WHY FRANCHISING?

Between them Lara and Scott have more than 30 years of experience with the Brumby’s brand.

“We believe that Brumby’s is a great Australian brand with a strong philosophy behind it. We have always embraced Brumby’s core values and saw the success and enjoyment that Scott’s parents had as Brumby’s franchisees,” says Lara.

A number of other factors played a part in their decision to invest in a franchise.

“The systems and structure already in place are invaluable. Brand exposure, internal support and networking opportunities are among other reasons,” she adds.

Despite their knowledge of Brumby’s prior to investing, Lara and Scott have continued to learn about the brand – particularly that no two stores are the same. 

“We have discovered how unique each store is depending on the demographics. At Bulimba, for example, we sell a lot of the Get Active range with the high protein and low GI loaves because we have a really active and health conscious customer base,” Lara explains. 

TEAMWORK 

There is no such thing as an average day for Lara and Scott, who are generally responsible for different tasks relating to the business.

“Scott basically manages the baking side of things and I manage the retail. However, Scott will also jump on the counter, and I’ll run the ovens when needed,” says Lara.

“We’re big believers in cross training and we train our team to work together.”

TRAINING

The role of bakery employee and franchisor are vastly different, which is where the franchisor training proved invaluable.

“The training gave us insight into maximising the potential of our business, especially in terms of business management and our responsibilities as employers,” says Lara.

BRAND AWARENESS

Lara and Scott are heavily involved in the local marketing of their business, and hope to see Bulimba residents embrace it as their bakery of choice.

“We work hard on promoting the brand at store level on a daily basis, and aim to increase our networking with other local businesses in the year ahead,” says Lara.

“Our aim is for the community to adopt us as their local bakery so that when they think fresh bread, Hot Cross Buns, Christmas puddings… they think Brumby’s!”

The pair is also passionate about their local community and get involved wherever they can. “We often support community and school fundraisers, and provide local charities with end-of-day product.”

WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Lara and Scott love that franchising affords them the flexibility to enjoy time with their family.

“Life has been busy, especially with two young children, but franchising has given us the flexibility to adapt to our family’s needs, and has given us the satisfaction of doing it for ourselves.”

They plan to continue to work in the store and hope to see Brumby’s Bulimba go from strength to strength.