7. Minimise the red tape
Specsavers provides its franchise partners with “expert support services” according to Dyson. These include marketing, accounts and information technology.
“We do effectively the whole back office,” he says. “That allows our partners to focus on the store, their customers and developing their teams. We take care of all the red tape. “
8. Take control of your supply chain
Specsavers is 95% in control of its supply chain from casting in Mexico, grind labs in China, and a fitting lab in Australia.
“It is quite a big supply chain which helps us drive speed of delivery and value,” Dyson says.
9. Don’t forget your sense of humour
Specsavers spends $40 million a year on advertising in Australia and Dyson says humour has been important in cutting through.
There are the famous “should’ve gone to Specsavers” advertisements and a more recent ad aimed at the World Cup, which poked fun at banned Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez.
“We try to be funny,” Dyson says.
10. Work out what your competition doesn’t want you to do and do it
“We want to be able to create a situation where we have our competitors spitting out their coffee first thing in the morning or spitting out their cornflakes,” Dyson says. “We work out what the competition don’t want us to do and then we do it.”
Dyson cites examples of Specsavers collaboration with local brand Country Road, and an ambassador program with Alex Perry and Collette Dinnigan.
“That is what keeps you on the front foot,” he says.
11. Get the right people on the bus
Dyson recommends reading Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, which uses the analogy of getting the right people on the bus.
“If you get the right people on the bus they will help you steer your business in the right direction,” Dyson says.
Specsavers brought some of its team out from the UK to deliver knowledge and understanding of the business and then focused on training up local staff.
“You need to recruit nice people to train,” Dyson says. “You cannot train people to be nice, I’ve tried it and it does not work.”
12. Reward success and have a no-blame culture
“We reward success in a number of ways. Everybody in the organisation has a bonus scheme and a share in profitability,” Dyson says.
Specsavers also has a “no blame culture”. “When you have that, people will tell you what is going wrong,” Dyson says. “If you know where the problems are you can do something about it.”
13. Act as if you are number two
Since its launch here six years ago Specsavers has grown to number one in the Australian market with 36% of the market share, but Dyson says the retailer is not resting on its laurels.
“When you are number one you have to act and behave as if you are number two,” he says. “You cannot afford to let hubris into the business.”
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
