"We anticipate reaching the 75 store mark by the end of 2012" states Murat Coskun, CEO, Sunshine Kebabs
How are they going to get to the 75 mark? What have been some of the pitfalls about expanding a QSR brand OS. Read this interview to find out.
QSR Media: Sunshine Kebabs, tell us about it?
Murat: You may know the story to some degree. The first family kebab store started in Bundaberg in the early 90’s. This is the store I worked in while studying. Whilst the family did a great job making kebabs, there was no system, no formal structure to what they did. If everything was to be systemized and there were some branding exercise there was potential for a good business. So it was time to put all the university theory in to practice. In 2001 I opened my first store that would be the basis of the Sunshine Kebabs franchise. A few consecutive store openings up until 2006 and we ran out of family members to manage them. The next best thing to having your family operate your stores was the extending of the family. So we decided to franchise. At Sunshine Kebabs all franchisees are an extended family, at least that is the culture we are trying to establish.
We have almost 50 stores in our extended family now, some of these still in the process of transforming into the Sunshine Kebabs model as we know it today. Additionally we have extended our reach internationally to South Korea, China, India, UK, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia.
QSR Media: You are in the middle of a design overhaul, what's happening with your stores?
Murat: We have been so busy opening stores and dealing with the associated day to day affairs of such rapid expansion under the economic climate since the GFC that we have neglected to look at strategy and all the matters relevant to that strategy. The lack of strategy has had its impact on branding and design. The lack of a hard line branding and design guideline has meant that we have picked up one good element from one place and applied it, another from another place and applied it, shopping centers have dictated certain elements and rather then having a consistent theme throughout our stores designs, packaging and web elements it has been a Frankenstein kind of a creature put together with no real consistency. Whilst each element in its own right had qualities put together it didn’t portray a professional brand at the level our growing business deserved.
Whilst we are still keeping and not changing our identity altogether, major work is being done in every area to bring consistency to the brand in all areas of application. The stores, the packaging, the corporate identity, website and anything else that carries the name and logo of Sunshine Kebabs will all be regulated by the new brand guideline. There will be a consistent look and feel about anything Sunshine Kebabs.
QSR Media: OS markets are a big focus for the group, tell us what countries you are in and what results you are getting?
Murat: We are in South Korea, India, Turkey and the UK with Malaysia and Indonesia to start trading before the year end. We are getting mixed results. Overseas markets have great potential but come with their own set of challenges. The market dynamics are different. Generally in Asia disposable income is much less than it is in AU, where as cost of goods are much dearer. Rental costs in prime locations are comparable and sometimes much dearer then similar sites in AU. Whilst labor is more abundant and much cheaper the quality can be questionable. A lot of franchisees in Asia tend to be of an investor nature which usually means that the franchisees never actually make a kebab hence know very little about it. Staff come and go and the operation suffers. In AU it is a requirement of the franchise agreement that the franchisee works in the business for at least a year. We are looking at making this a requirement of the master franchise agreement. So when our master franchisees sub franchise they must make it a requirement that their franchisees work in the business.
Having said the above we have almost opened as many stores overseas in the three years that we exported the brand that we have opened in AU.
QSR Media: What is the plan for Australia in the next 12-18 months?
Murat: The first priority is the completion of the design and branding overhaul. We have introduced some new products and have been gradually rolling them out to all our stores. We would like to finalize this rollout. We have further growth earmarked for AU. We are ahead of track with our expansion plans for 2011, we anticipate reaching the 75 store mark by the end of 2012.
