Gordon is faced with between nine and 18 crises at his stores each day.
“When we had 30 stores, there were three problems a day. Now we have 180 stores, around 5-10% of the stores have an issue on a daily basis. There are always problems, whether it be resources, HR, location, non-compliance and franchisees who think they’re the franchisor,” he says.
“There are always issues, but they’re not insurmountable. My philosophy is to just be fair to everybody.”
Aside from the daily crisis, Gordon’s day is filled with lunch meetings and walking meetings, which he feels are less confrontational.
Gordon made the decision early on to grow the company through acquisitions.
“Whether it is wrong or right, I decided to grow to a lesser extent organically, and to a greater extent through acquisition. I didn’t have the time or patience to wait for organic growth,” he says.
“When we first started out there was just myself and my PA, who I flew out from South Africa to help me for the first six months. Now we’re sitting at around 23 permanent staff, excluding company stores, and we’re responsible for around 1000.”
Since starting out, Gordon has adopted a more managerial focus.
“I’ve enjoyed it, although perhaps not as much as I should have. Unfortunately I’m not working on the business as much as I’d like to. I’m more desk-bound than I’d like to be and my expertise is really out there dreaming and looking for new ideas.”
Gordon is constantly searching for the next big product, but he doesn’t think it’s frozen yoghurt. When he acquires a business he does so because he likes the product, generally approaching the business owner at the time with a proposition.
“With Pretzel World, I like the product so much I bought the business. It wasn’t for sale, but we negotiated a deal. I then did the same thing for Cold Rock. I just said I’d like to buy the business, negotiated a price and bought it,” he says.
“The business was making marginal profits, but I took it and made money for the franchisor and the franchisees. It’s all just fun.”
When Gordon looks for a new idea, he wants it to bring a smile to people’s faces.
“You need to bring in movement and an experience in retailing. I’ve tried to incorporate product launches, theatre and putting on shows in our retail experience. Customers want to see and participate in something,” he says.
“At Cold Rock we take the ice cream, smash in lollies and it’s a theatrical experience. At Pretzel World we throw the dough in the air. Movement is important, it brings fun and light.”
Gordon was the youngest person to ever be awarded Business Personality of the Year in South Africa, and it’s easy to see why.
“I’ve always loved toys – dancing coke cans, things that fart, it’s all about things that are fun.
“Our staff room has green grass, gnomes and outdoor furniture and that’s where we have meetings. We also have table tennis tables and I bought trampolines when we acquired Trampoline. It’s not quite Google, but it’s a fun place to work.”
FFCo is also a culturally diverse place to work. Gordon says the team celebrates all kinds of holidays from Christmas to Greek Easter and Ramadan. Not a fan of physical activity, Gordon opts not to join in, but his team also play regular games of squash.
Finding the right employees has been Gordon’s greatest challenge, so he tells his staff if ever they wake up and don’t enjoy what they’re doing, it’s time to move on. But it’s not just about the employees; being a franchise, Gordon has also had to be selective about his franchisees.
“We don’t just take a cheque from everybody like some of my colleagues do. You’re only as good as you’re weakest franchisee and I couldn’t sleep with myself if I knowingly set someone up for failure.”
Gordon has had to learn to adjust to the Australian business environment, learning about Australian consumers and regulations.
“Australia is exceptionally well regulated, the franchising code is fantastic and I think the new changes are excellent,” he says.
“We’ve had to adapt our thinking processes to consider what the consumer wants. We sell ice cream cakes, but you’d sell very few of these in a shopping centre environment, but on shopping strips in the right area we sell heaps.”
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