Kwik Kopy Auburn has increased its sales by 35 per cent in the last two years, after implementing an aggressive marketing campaign, and investing in equipment to stay ahead. Speaking with Australian Printer, Sebastiaan De Jonge, owner of the centre, says the business is ‘going great guns, we are going really well’.
Sebastiaan De Jonge with partner Kate McConville
De Jonge says, “The driver of the growth is a continual focused sales effort, backed up by making sure that our clients get what they actually want, when they want it. “So I think service is the most important thing that we offer. Our clients have always wanted their products yesterday, and I don’t think this has changed since I have been in print.” He says the business also goes the extra mile for their clients, who in turn stay loyal and keep coming back. De Jonge says, “The price points are relative to the service that we provide, but what has changed more is the quality requirements. And I think the quality has to be better now that it was five or ten years ago for sure. “And to ensure top quality we try to stay up-to-date with equipment and we have an investment cycle, which means every year we are picking up something or other to stay abreast of new technology and offer top quality products. “We are a digital only shop now and it is really important that we stay up to date with our equipment. This year we have brought a laminator and faster celloglazer, and a Ute to deliver.” He says the company also saw the booming wide format market and decided to enter the sector. De Jonge says, “Last year we brought some wide format equipment to ensure we were delivering what the clients were asking for. We now have a HP 260 latex general wide format machine, which gets a fair bit of work.” However, he says the industry is unstable and his business could benefit from having some regular contracts, which it lacks at the moment. De Jonge says, “Everything comes in spurts, I cannot predict anything. I cannot tell you what we will be printing in two days time. That is how short our cycle is. “We don’t have many long term contracts, which would provide some certainty around sales, so it would be a good thing to gain some contracts. “But we are good enough managing the way we are and I am not too concerned about that.”
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