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“I consider myself a franchisee for life”: Todd Agius, Ferguson Plarre

Sarah Stowe

When Todd Agius joined the Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse chain he was young and knew nothing about the historic brand.

He didn’t step into the business full time for 12 months. In fact, he wasn’t even a franchisee. “My wife started it up. At the time, it was leased through the company. We just paid an annual fee.”

After a while, Agius and his wife negotiated a franchise agreement and threw themselves into the bakery business. He was was only 23, but had a wealth of hospitality and customer service experience.

“I didn’t know much about Ferguson Plarre, but I knew I could make it work with my communication skills.”

The bakery is in a growing Melbourne area with young families and a good community feel, he says, and locals are more inclined to spend money with a familiar face, which helped get the business off the ground.

“We were both full on. We had just one staff member help out over lunch time for four years. We were working weekdays, 60 to 65 hours, but we could alternate our shifts. Then we had a child and my wife stepped away from the business.”

His ambitions to expand the business took shape when a shopping centre opened at Craigieburn. Then he signed up to a second franchise outlet.

“I was running both stores. It was difficult, juggling work and family, trying to be a father.”

The original store was set back in the process. “I dedicated my time to the new store. It was a greenfield site, and I probably neglected the older store for a bit.

“Occupancy was projected to be 75 to 80 per cent but it was closer to 50 per cent at the time of the grand opening in 2013.”

The original store was sold in 2015.

Today’s challenges are longer trading hours and penalty rates.

“I generally don’t work from 5pm on a Friday to 5am on a Monday, and some days I start at 5am and finish at midday; other times I’ll work until 6 or 7pm.”

But the balance, he says, is not so bad “when you have your own business that’s open every day of the year except two days”.

“I have full control of my business, of the payroll. I stay on top of it all, assess the numbers – I can summarise it fairly quickly.”

This is quite different from the early days of trading. “When I started out I knew nothing about franchising, expenses, profit and loss or bookkeeping. But I was willing to learn. I had faith. “It’s all about getting the customer to come back, and when I had setbacks I believed I could turn it around into success.”

No doubt his can-do attitude has been fundamental to his success.

“I get to work early and have the first two hours to prepare by myself. I’m able to focus and channel all my energies into how to make it work and set a plan for the day.

“Hospitality is my calling – I get it from my dad, he’s a real people person. That’s why the day goes quickly. It flies by, talking to customers, getting to know people. I don’t always want to do it, but when the money starts coming in…you think, let’s keep doing it, let’s grow the business.”

As one of the longest-standing franchisees, Agius has found himself something of a sounding board for management. He is involved in a franchise development group that reviews products, and is often asked to share his perspective with prospective franchisees.

“I’m fairly transparent and so is the business. Steve Plarre [franchisor] always encourages me to be honest about the business to new franchisees.

“This is still a family business. There are 72 stores, but it still feels like a small family doing things better.”

The franchisor’s support has developed over the years, he says, with improved communications, regular business-manager visits, and a tightened-up audit process to ensure consistency across the network.

“I haven’t grown tired of the business, I’ve not outgrown it. I’m not looking to move away from this – I could do this for the rest of my life. “I consider myself a franchisee for life.”