Top secret: Basketballer Sam Mackinnon is juggling sport with pizzas.
The first Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar in Brisbane was opened in January by one of AustraliaÕs leading basketball players, Sam Mackinnon, who was at the time captain of the Brisbane Bullets. He began his career at 17, now 14 years on he has a host of awards and captained the Bullets to win the NBL 2007 national championship.
In addition to Crust Hamilton, Mackinnon has been appointed the Crust franchise area manager for Queensland — all quite challenging as he is poised to start with the Melbourne Tigers following the sale of his Brisbane team at the end of last season.
What made you turn to franchising? IÕve been playing basketball all my life and IÕve seen a few professional players have nothing to do when they retire. I want to have a career; I didnÕt go to university so this is an investment for the future. ThatÕs my motivation. Both the franchise and the area management are partnerships and with our varied backgrounds we manage to cover all aspects of business. We really liked what Crust has done in Melbourne and Sydney and it was part of the initial talks that we would take on the area management role; we always wanted to grow the brand in Queensland, we think it will be brilliant.
How do you manage your workload? When Brisbane Bullets was sold my wife and I looked at what to do and decided to return home to Melbourne. IÕm trying to combine being a professional athlete and running a franchise. I have two young kids and my wife helps me in the business, so time management is very important. The Tigers training is in the morning, which gives me the afternoons to manage the Crust business. IÕm on the phone and emailing every day and as itÕs not the basketball season yet IÕve been commuting every week. Communication is the secret — you have to be pretty open and honest.
What has been the biggest challenge? Trying to get the brand out there in Brisbane is the big challenge, as is building the name. ItÕs going to be hard as it is all hands on deck as we try to learn the business but we all have defined roles. The great thing about being back in Melbourne is that I can learn from the Crust head office team.
What advice can you offer prospective franchisees? We want people who really enjoy working hard. Franchising is not just going to make you money but at Crust you feel part of a family and there is always plenty of support.