Enterprising and ambitious Kwik Kopy franchisee Pranav Patel has tapped into the brand’s support structure to amplify his success.
He arrived in Australia from India back in 2009, accompanying his wife Anjani, who had been granted a student visa.
Anjani put in the hours studying hairdressing, then business development. Meanwhile Pranav (with a masters degree in IT) was working hard as a pizza delivery driver.
“When we arrived here we had no specific goals. We worked hard and dedicated ourselves to getting our permanent residency. We wanted to learn about how business was done in Australia,” Pranav says.
First step into business
In 2012 he was ready to try his hand running his own business, and bought into a pizza franchise.
“I had progressed to different roles with the brand, moving up in the company,” he says. “I could see there was an opportunity – I understood the business.”
Within nine years he had proved he had the skills to run not just one successful operation, but multiple.
“I had two pizza stores, and another fast food outlet. But the retail market was a bit hard and the margins were tough. So I started to look for a service-based business.”
In the 1980s Pranav’s family ran a printing business in India – it was a model he was familiar with.
So he did his due diligence on the print brands in Australia. While searching the opportunities he found one Kwik Kopy centre owner who was generous in sharing his business knowledge.
Kwik Kopy model appealed
The experience piqued Pranav’s interest, and he approached Kwik Kopy about buying an existing franchise.
With its mantra ‘We Make Possible’ Pranav was an ideal candidate for Kwik Kopy, which values providing entrepreneurial opportunities for everyone.
When the franchisor recommended buyers who were ready to retire, it led to an opportunity too good to miss.
“Kwik Kopy Auburn is very close to where we live, it’s in an industrial zone and has many corporate clients,” he explains. “I grabbed that opportunity!”
Although Pranav had proved himself a confident business owner, he was grateful for the help and advice Kwik Kopy provided when he started out.
“I was used to retail, not the service business. I faced lots of challenges, like how I calculate the pricing, not knowing the back-end process. Kwik Kopy’s area sales managers helped such a lot, guiding me on pricing and processes.”
Pranav says Kwik Kopy could always help find a solution to a problem.
“The team at Kwik Kopy and my centre staff really helped. I learned from any mistakes I made and gained an understanding of what worked here.
“The first thing is understanding what the client is asking for and how you can deliver a competitive price,” he says.
Flexibility is key to business
He takes a flexible and adaptable approach to business, to ensure he can compete.
“The main thing I learned is that the client always has a budget – and each project has its own budget limitations. It’s important to adapt, to quote well and to win the job.”
Pranav’s involvement with local community, sponsoring businesses and charities, has helped boost the brand’s profile in his neighbourhood. It has also brought in many new clients.
Pranav’s commitment and dedication to the brand has helped him excel; and he is proud of a milestone achievement – hitting a million dollar revenue.
“Now my new goal is to reach $1.2m in revenue!” he says. “That’s on top of getting a second centre, which I am currently planning.”
Pranav’s bold expansion plans are tempered by some lifestyle choices: he wants Anjana to take on the second store. But she is enjoying her full time accounting role (she studied and qualified in Australia after completing her other studies).
Long term plans to grow
“I’m so busy, and unlike a food franchise where I could run multiple businesses under management, Kwik Kopy really needs 100 per cent focus from the owner,” Pranav says.
So right now the pair are enjoying the flexibility of their careers and are in no hurry to realise their business growth plans; with a teenage daughter and four-year-old son they want to be around family as much as possible.
“That is one of the reasons I started looking for service-based businesses; I wanted a Monday to Friday working week. In the pizza business evenings, public holidays and weekends are always the busiest.
“Now with Kwik Kopy we are focused on business during the week, and the weekend is family time. It’s a very positive change to our lives,” Pranav says.