Michael Kearney is the man behind Snap Printing in Ireland, the franchise he came home from Australia to set up.
He’s presided over a business that has grown from scratch to one generating sales of €22million a year and employing 180 people, although Australia remains the largest franchise country with nearly 150 outlets compared to New Zealand’s and China’s five each.
In New Zealand, the franchise was started by Brian Sutton, who still runs the Newton branch, one of four in Auckland. The only other Snap outlet is in Tauranga.
Meanwhile the Ireland business has recently built a new €4 million, 1858sm facility in Dublin that will give each of Snap’s owner/managers shared access to state-of-the-art printing equipment and a centralised IT platform.
Kearney, who set up Snap’s first franchise in Australia and happily ran it until he made a trip home to Ireland in 1984, says there’s been a revolution in the print industry in 20 years – “more than in other industries.
‘‘If we were doing the same things now as we were ten years ago, we’d be out of business.”
When he spotted an opportunity to run Snap in Ireland, Kearney says it wasn’t a particularly good place to start a business back then.
“Interest rates were at 15 per cent and unemployment was around the same – but it wasn’t a business decision, it was a family decision,” he adds.
He admitted that in Ireland ‘‘ Snap had done extremely well while the economy was on the floor’’, but the pick-up in the economy brought with it extra competition and higher demands from customers. Later, technological advances made it easier for rivals to set up shop without facing enormous bills for complex equipment.
‘‘There was a mystery attached to the printing industry, but ease of entry is a significant feature now. Anyone can get into it – there’s no great mystery now,” says Kearney.
Snap has now branched into new areas to help differentiate itself from competitors. Kearney says it is a one-stop shop providing an end-to-end service covering branding, design, printing and shipping.
About the Ireland franchise operation he says: ‘‘One of our main strengths is that the group operates as a whole,” he said. ‘‘Our owner/managers share information and there are answers for every business problem.
