DC Strategy case study/franchising

Mobi Access Careers

Healthy Habits
26 Oct 2006

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Healthy Habits was established in 1992 by Katherine Sampson, operating in the food courts of major shopping centres. Heathly Habits specialises in sandwiches and other lunch related foods with a broad menu and by 2003 had opened four stores in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

In 2004 the decision was made to substantially develop the latent potential of the brand, requiring redevelopment of the strategy, structure, personnel needs, economics, reporting systems, documentation, branding and marketing.

The Challenge

Healthy Habits was in a position to leverage its core expertise as a food retailer to dominate its category in the market. The core challenges confronting the organisation were the development of the growth strategy, brand positioning, business model, and infrastructural capability to achieve the objective of becoming Australia’s leading sandwich bar operation.

Dominating a Market: The ability of any business to dominate a market requires
total commitment of the people involved to develop and evolve the foundation of the business.

The commitment of the Healthy Habits team meant all areas of the business were being critically assessed to ensure the detail in the challenge was understood. The alignment of people, business mode, branding and operations were significantly intertwined which ensured a solid foundation was being created for growth.

The Solution

Healthy Habits engaged the DC Strategy team as a business development specialist, to work with the Healthy Habits team to achieve their objectives.

The intertwined challenges were identified and structured to ensure focus. The process identified the role of the franchised and company owned operations in the network, and the economic analysis defined the detail in the operations.

The company operated and owner-operator business models were developed, and the commercial policies and recruitment, screening and selection process were developed, documented, and implemented. The new brand and store fit out was designed and settled during the process which reflected the cultural positioning and innovative thinking that was critical to Healthy Habits image in the marketplace.

Success: It is important to think outside the square, and deliver solutions that
achieve the objectives and can be executed.

The infrastructural capability required for national growth became clearer as the format, branding, economics and business model were established. The structure, both current and future, was identified including the corporate governance at board level.

The Outcomes

Healthy Habits is well positioned to bring fresh products, branding and a business approach to an established retail food service sector, and to be recognised as Australia’s leading sandwich bar operation.

Executing Excellence: No matter how good the product is,
if it is not reaching the target market it won’t sell.

The core outcomes from the process were:

The development of complimentary company owned and owner-operator business models
The economic analysis of the business which defined the activities and operations and provided a framework to assess buyouts and conversion opportunities
The expansion gained implementation traction by focusing on driving owner-operator enquiries for initial growth with the new brand
The branding, store design and layout, and culture were finalised for the national roll out
Core business systems and processes such as reporting were implemented
The organisational structure and corporate governance created the necessary structure to drive growth and performance