An Australian Franchisor Interview
Franchisors name: Adam Adams
Name of franchise: NightOwl Convenience
Tell us about how/when the NightOwl business was started and the motivation behind establishing the company.
NightOwl is Australia’s largest stand-alone convenience brand offering fantastic franchise opportunities across QLD, NSW and VIC was established in 1975. The brand takes pride in its range throughout all stores, offering more choice more value to time poor customers.
When and why did NightOwl decide to go down the franchise route?
NightOwl has been in franchising since 1987, as a franchisor NightOwl is able to train and support anyone from any background who has passion and drive to become a successful NightOwl franchisee.
What have been NightOwl’s biggest achievements/successes to date so far?
We have over 66 franchisees in our network across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
We’ve spent the last 10 months designing what the future of NightOwl looks like and how we can best serve our local community and be relevant in the marketplace.
We have researched changes and trends within the industry to establish what are the best offers we can put into our stores, from hot, cold and ambient food products, to coffee, fresh produce and a greater range of dairy products to make it a one-stop shop for the customer.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
Securing quality retail sites and ensuring new franchisees are fully financed for the business opportunity. NightOwl have established strong relationships with developers to proactively seek out new development sites with appropriate co-tent mix. We have established bank finance accreditation with Australia’s leading financial banks of Westpac, Suncorp and BOQ.
What marketing/promotional tools do you use to grow your franchise?
SEO and SEM campaigns, word of mouth recommendation within our existing network, radio advertising along with google online marketing.
What differentiates NightOwl Convenience from the competition?
NightOwl help guide and develop franchisees into profitable and sustainable retailers through our brand strength, state of the art IT platform, online training and support, site selection process, construction planning, heavily resourced national merchandising and marketing support teams.
Our strength is our convenience and we achieve this by making our customer experience easier and enjoyable and having training models and systems in place to develop our franchisees.
In your opinion, what makes a successful NightOwl Convenience franchisee?
No matter what the person’s background, experience, or skill set, we can train anyone who has passion and drive to become a successful NightOwl franchisee.
What changes have you seen in your industry over recent year? And how have you adapted to them?
No longer are customers purely looking for the standard products of drinks, confectionary, chips and tobacco in their convenience store – they are looking at what other items they can buy in the store to save them having to go to the major supermarkets.
We have adapted our model to implement a greater range of hot, cold and ambient food products, to coffee, Gelato soft serve and fresh produce in a modern design which makes it easy to shop in and a welcoming environment.
What does the future hold for NightOwl Convenience?
NightOwl Convenience is well established in the market as a recognised brand offering the latest in convenience to the customer. Our new model store, strong Franchise network, experienced Franchise Support Office Team and strategy for growth will ensure that our offering and demand remain relevant in a highly competitive and changing retail market place.
What expansion plans have you got nationally and internationally?
We are keen to grow to 100 stores across QLD, NSW and VIC.
What advice would you give to someone considering franchising their business?
Ensure that you have a detailed recruitment process along with strong online systems and ongoing support to get new franchisees established.
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