Kwik Kopy owners to drop franchise affiliation

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by Eric Olson|ret||ret||tab|

SBJ Reporter|ret||ret||tab|

eolson@sbj.net|ret||ret||tab|

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While several Springfield-based businesses are getting into the franchise business, another is getting out.|ret||ret||tab|

Kwik Kopy Printing franchisees Dave and Joy Adams are ending a 25-year agreement with their franchiser when their contract expires in April. |ret||ret||tab|

Beginning March 1, the commercial print shop will be known as Digital Print, Ink a more appropriate name for the business than that given by the franchise, said Dave Adams, vice president.|ret||ret||tab|

"(Kwik Kopy) was a name that didn't represent us well as the years passed," Adams said. "We are perceived as a copy shop and we really are not. We're really a small commercial printer."|ret||ret||tab|

In the end it became a contentious and costly issue.|ret||ret||tab|

"We constantly have to fight our name, which you shouldn't have to do, especially when you are paying royalties to be in a franchise," said Joy Adams, company president.|ret||ret||tab|

Franchise royalties paid to the corporation totaled more than $1 million over the life of the 25-year contract, Dave Adams said. |ret||ret||tab|

At $6,000 per month, the costs outweighed the franchise benefits, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"I'm not bad-mouthing our franchise; it was a good franchise," Adams said. "Without them, we never could have been successful initially."|ret||ret||tab|

But in a printing industry with many ups and downs more downs of late and a consequent need to adapt to change, the deal's length may have been the root of the problem, Adams said.|ret||ret||tab|

If he had to do it over again, Adams said, he would not sign on for 25 years at the start.|ret||ret||tab|

"That is too long," he said, especially in the very competitive printing business.|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield-based franchise coach Randy Ehrlich said 25 years is an extreme length of time in any industry. Today's average contract lasts 10 years, and 15 years is as long as he suggests signing.|ret||ret||tab|

"Ten is a good number. If you get too short, you really haven't had a chance to develop the business," Ehrlich said. "Fifteen years is sometimes just too long before you want to make some changes. A good example is Kwik Kopy. The whole industry has changed in that 25 years and they're still under their old agreement."|ret||ret||tab|

In the early days of the contract, Kwik Kopy of Springfield, at 3464 S. Campbell, printed business cards, forms, letterheads, envelopes, brochures, fliers, booklets and posters. The modern version offers digital printing, graphic design, direct bulk mail, color copy presentations, a four-color press and an interactive Web site for customer orders, www.digitalprintink.net, which is nearing completion.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have outgrown the name and the franchise," Dave Adams said. |ret||ret||tab|

"The financial is secondary. If we were really getting bang for our buck, we'd stay with it. But with that name perception to overcome, we are extremely anxious to change names to reflect that we are a digital printer," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

Among the advantages in a franchise relationship Adams noted were formal training and greater buying power with vendors. |ret||ret||tab|

However, mass marketing, which usually is a benefit to franchisees, was a "sore spot" within the Kwik Kopy system, added Joy Adams.|ret||ret||tab|

She said overall, the relationship is difficult to leave behind.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have a good relationship with all the people at the corporation. It's not easy; we hate to have to give that up," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

"But by the same token, it's a business decision."|ret||ret||tab|

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