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P A I D A D V E R T O R I A L Industry Partners Spur Growth at Top Revenue-Producing Sir Speedy Franchise Sir Speedy Whittier, a full-service, design, print and mail house has found strong growth in digital books, fnancial services, and automotive. By Derrick Doi W hen asked what accounts for his success, the owner of the top revenue-producing Sir Speedy franchise for five years running cites help from industry partners over the years. The gratitude is sincere. When George Coriaty, owner of Sir Speedy Whittier, CA, acquired the franchise in 1979, he had no experience in printing or running a business. In his first week, his only employee—the one who knew how to run the press—announced she needed a six-week medical leave. That was the first time Sir Speedy corporate helped out, sending an advisor to train and work with Coriaty for several weeks. That saved the business, which then generated about $3,000 a month printing resumes and fliers. The company has come a long way since then. Now a full-service design, print, and mail house, Sir Speedy Whittier's 2012 revenues of $8.85 million placed it at #10 in this year's Quick Printing Top 100, and represented a healthy 16 percent growth rate. Further, the 29-employee firm achieved sales of $305,000 per employee, #1 among the Top 100. This year, they're on track to reach $10 million, and by July had clinched the Sir Speedy network's top revenue position for 2013. So just what did those industry partners do for George Coriaty? The Kindness of Partners Coriaty cites Franchise Services Inc. (FSI), owners of the Sir Speedy network; Xerox Corporation, and independent business consultant Mark Kelly for significantly benefitting his business. Franchise Services Inc.'s support and training was critical in Coriaty's early days, and later in helping him develop his first on-demand printing business plan—his advisor was current FSI president and COO Richard Lowe. He remains active with FSI today, crediting them with helping him track industry trends and putting on relevant conferences, where he says he always learns something and makes valuable contacts. Among those contacts: Xerox executives who have w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m George Coriaty, owner of Sir Speedy Whittier. helped him identify and nurture high-growth applications, including the application that drove his last decade of growth: book publishing. "They dragged us kicking and screaming into book publishing," Coriaty laughs. Sir Speedy Whittier was one of several printers that tested a Xerox/ Standard Horizon digital George Coriaty and key members of the Sir Speedy Whittier staff. book manufacturing system in the early 2000s— a significant leap for the firm, but one Scoping the Future that paid off. Last year, nearly all of the 225 million Sir Speedy Whittier is always looking for new ways black-and-white pages they produced went to their to grow and drive more color variable print volume bindery department, as did many of the five million on the Xerox iGen4 Press they use for book covers, color pages. variable postcards, and brochures. Clients for books and manuals include a Christian Coriaty also projects growth in black-and-white publishing house; financial services, insurance, and printing, where much of their volume is in the one healthcare companies producing personalized bookmonochrome segment industry watchers peg for lets; and automotive firms needing training, repair, growth: digital books. It's a sweet spot that Sir and out-of-print vehicle manuals printed on demand. Speedy Whittier established with the help of partners, While most of Sir Speedy Whittier's customers are combining variable and static digital book making local, their biggest are national firms referred through expertise with an ability to solve customer problems the Xerox Premier Partners Global Network website. at competitive prices that still deliver fair margins. "Xerox has played a major role in my business in last And it contributes to the strong growth in financial 20 years for sure," Coriaty says. services and automotive, as well. Handling the explosive growth became an issue for "These areas continue to grow by leaps and Coriaty in the early 1990s, and he sought help from bounds and are very profitable," Coriaty says. Mark Kelly, an independent business consultant. "He "Adding value is the key." told me I need to run my business like a business, to make a profit and a great living," Coriaty says. "If you Derrick Doi is vice just behave like you're working for someone else, president, Quick and it's best to work for someone else." Subsequently, Franchise Print Segment, Coriaty focused more on planning—including buildXerox Corporation ing a business plan with well-defined marketing and (MyPRINTResource.com/ sales strategies—and profitability. "I started paying 10008702). Contact him at attention to my P&L; now I live by it," he says. Derrick.Doi@xerox.com. September 2013 / QUICK PRINTING 7