Sub-mariner now retailer Peter Wells on building an iconic local business | #440

Tim

Going backwards in what way?

 

Peter

Just going back. Online is very strong. We conduct online. There’s other third-party players in the scene as eBay and Amazon and there’s more and more coming. So you can take it as a negative. You can take it as a positive and I’m positive.

 

Tim

Your glass half full type generally?

 

Peter

Generally. Well I can’t stop it if I could stop it I would. I can’t stop it so I might as well get on and go with it.

 

Tim

Yeah well, we’ll talk about that because you’re embracing e-commerce and you’re doing a lot of other things to kind of arrest the slow death that may or may not be happening. It wasn’t a leading question, you know. Just, it’s Interesting speaking to so many bricks and mortar retailers over the time and some sort of go out and others go well maybe it is but we’re doing things to arrest it so. Got it. Now the Davos brand goes back a long way. Prior to you buying it. I understand. Describe just how, you lose the humility for the moment, describe just how much of an iconic brand it is.

 

Peter

Well it was started by Bruce Davidson who come up here on holidays, went to his local tackle shop, didn’t like it, got bad service and I believe he was from Melbourne and he went home he went. I can do a lot better job. I like me so I like the people of Noosa so I’m coming up. He started up a shop and opened it up. He can tell you,

 

Tim

How long ago was it?

 

Peter

That was nearly 40 years ago.

 

Tim

Wow.

 

Peter

So he continued to do it. I’m not sure I think about 13, 14 years. We still got one of his former employees, Chiko, as was mentioned about it.

 

Tim

Yeah well I mentioned to him, off air, he’s a character. We will talk about him when it comes to customer service.

 

Peter

Definitely. So yeah. So Bruce Davidson broader is very active in the community. He did get a huge following in Noosa. I Still can’t find a person who dislikes him. He’s still around.

 

Tim

Is he?

 

Peter

Yeah. He drops in all the time and wants all the old school stuff and has a bit of fun. Nah, he’s a, he’s a great character he knows a lot of people because of being in Noosa for so long, but he actually had an interest in politics, so he went for state politics, sold the business, got into state politics. I believe he lasted three or four years and went no, I’m, this not, this is not what.

 

Tim

What a pity because the world needs more smart business people in politics. You know as opposed to politicians.

 

Peter

Definitely.

 

Tim

So he sold it after about 14 years to another couple I understand, who ran it for about 18 years.

 

Peter

That’s correct.

 

Tim

And then you, you bought it nine years ago.

 

Peter

Yeah.

 

Tim

Wow. So, so beyond Noosa, again you’re losing humility to give a sense of listen, to listeners how iconic is the brand in Australia.

 

Peter

I think it’s very iconic. I get comments from all over Australia and around the world I’ve just done a trip overseas for six weeks and there were a few mentions of it over there. Because we’ve been very present, sorry, on Facebook, different other media outlets. We have people, obviously Noosa’s an international spot.

 

Tim

Yes.

 

Peter

We have people come up from Melbourne internationally they come up the same time every year someone get off the plane and get a cab straight to Davos.

 

Tim

Really?

 

Peter

Yes.

 

Tim

What a great acid test for a brand.

 

Peter

It is and Dis and I always get stuck there given them with time so we always deviate and we might go and have refreshment and chat about what’s been happening. But having that sort of following and them telling their friends and all that about it we get quite, quite a big kick out of when people come in so all my mate says I have to come here I don’t want to go anywhere else I have to come here. You’ve got to set me up or hook me up or whatever and that’s from this 12 year old junior that’s never thrown a line to the 50 year old experienced fisherman.

 

Tim

Well done big, I met a lady only last week who has a business that’s named after the business is her name. She’s a, it’s a 10 million dollar turn over a year business. She’s just, she’s just decided to shut it down because she doesn’t want to sell it to someone else for them to go and wreck her name. You’ve taken on someone else’s name in your business called Davos and clearly maintain the heritage. What’s your secret?

 

Peter

The secret was I thought about change the name when we first bought it. Then I realised the importance of the Davos name not just in Noosa but as we’ve talked about in Australia and around other places around the world. It’s a good name it sounds good it looks good.

 

Tim

The classic Aussie, you know, shortening of the word Dave, the name David, how, do you not like it?

 

Peter

Everyone knows the Davos so hopefully everyone knows Davos.

 

Tim

Yes correct. Correct. Now prior to buying Davos which I understand is your first business to own.

 

Peter

No no. Prior to that I was in transport for quite a while for about 12 years. We operate commercial. Carting equipment for catering Coca-Cola fridges ice cream freezers things like that up and down the East Coast.

 

Tim

So you had a bit small business experience but prior to that I understand you’re a submariner. Good times?

 

Peter

Good times and hard work good times and very good friends

 

Tim

Well I actually could do an entire interview about your life as a submariner. I promise not to because I’m sure there’s most things you can’t share. But what did you bring from your life as a submariner into running a business?

 

Peter

Definitely is professionalism. Some people would say I’m a bit too ex Navy still and not when I want things done and I want them done my way but some people understand that if we do that it works it doesn’t work all the time but if it doesn’t let’s have a look at it and reinvent it and go again. What else I brought with it just the passion. The passion to get the job done move on get on with the next one keep people happy it doesn’t matter who you’re around in a submarine you’ve got to get on you’ve got to work with them you’ve got to accept their good points and bad points. I think if you do that with employees and as well as customers it’s a happier road for everyone and everyone can see that in you.

 

Tim

What a great learning. Coincidentally only last night. I got stuck into the YouTube black hole and about half an hour in I was watching and documentary on the USS Pennsylvania which is the biggest submarine nuclear submarine the world. Giant and I had no idea about the whole submarine thing until last night. these guys go down for six eight months at a time?

 

Peter

Yeah definitely not Australian ones because we’re diesel electric. We have certain restrictions as in food and water we can carry on that. I think the present ones actually are probably doing about eight weeks and that’s under water.

 

Tim

So what is the secret to getting along with others? Staff suppliers customers. There’s a great learning there.

 

Peter

I think you’ve got to listen before you speak. If you can listen first and they might have a good question, you might think it’s a tiny question doesn’t really mean nothing but listen to the whole thing understand why they’re saying it and answer it. With the employees if they’ve got a gripe. Listen to them but then try and direct them the way you want it done but explain to them why you want it.

 

Tim

Oh so it does go your way or the highway at the end of the day is it.

 

Peter

A certain amount I’m always willing to listen I’ll change my ways if it’s a better way and it’s an easier. I get a lot of trouble for telling people to be lazy and they say well what I don’t want to be lazy. My dad’s always told me not to be lazy you and I say well my being lazy I want to do something once I don’t want to do it twice. I just want to do it once and move on. And to me that’s lazy because if you’ve got to do it twice, you’re working too much.

 

Tim

I am going to ask you for one more story because I think it is a fascinating. I don’t know what you call it area. Any particular memory or story that you can share deep below the sea.

 

Peter

It’s not probably a good story but for some but it’s definitely one I remember when we were off Sydney once and we were under water and we decided to go deep because there was a ship above us and we were playing war games and we decide to go deep and I don’t think someone checked the charts properly and we found the bottom pretty quick.

 

Tim

Yeah. You hit the bottom. I imagine it’s a sandy bottom.

 

Peter

It was we were lucky if it wasn’t who knows what would have happened. We hit the bottom. We had to come back into shore and there was no damage, and everything carried on.

 

Tim

What was the feeling when you felt the bottom?

 

Peter

What’s going to happen in the next 10 seconds.

 

Tim

Jeez mate you’re braver man than me. Why do you buy Davos?

 

Peter

I need to change from transport. My transport business was in Brisbane. I’ve always lived on the Sunshine Coast since I got out of submarines. I was always interested in tackle and when I first got to the Navy I’d come up to the Sunshine Coast by tackle business with my father who has passed away now but when we want to buy one in these that we come along we found Davos as well. He’s got the market share we can’t buy that. So I ended up going into transport and then Davos had come available. I’d just been out of transport for about six months trying to work out what I want to do, and it was sort of the owners were tired. They’d done a terrific job for years but as in any business they were there for like nearly 17 years I think they were tired. They needed a way out. I gave them way out and it was a business that could grow. I could see it had potential to build up and since we’d been there, we’d been building it. We still are.

 

Tim

So I want to talk about growth because you’ve experienced some pretty amazing growth. Paint a picture of Davos the day you bought it.

 

Peter

Basically, Davos as the day brought had a turnover about 660000 we’ve increased a year on year. Our aim for next year will be 5 million. We have increased the amount of shops. We only had one shop when we brought Davos. We now have three shops as well as a very strong online presence.

 

Tim

What about just scaping the size sku’s from back nine years ago to now.

 

Peter

Our sku’s we’re probably go from 11000 now it’s up over 50000. mind blowing and we went from four staff. Today we just employed another one for another staff member because we’re growing in the online side.

 

Tim

How does it make you feel?

 

Peter

Good bad and stressed.

 

Tim

You don’t look too stressed. Tell me about the good the bad and the stress

 

Tim

The good is we’re growing. So my dad always told me if we’re standing still you’re actually going backwards. So you’ve got to grow. Otherwise you’ve got to look at yourself and work out why you’re not growing or simply opt out and go and find something else and get a rerelease on life so that’s good. We’re growing and we’ve got it turned over we’ve gone in profit. We have made the name better just by carrying more sku’s like you just mentioned also by continuing the great service of the Davos names always had the bad is where I’m in six to six seven days a week. So in my previous job in transport I worked 12 hours a day but only five days a week. Now I’m sort of responsible from six to six seven days a week plus Christmas sale

 

Tim

Are you personally involved seven days a week six still six?

 

Peter

No not personally. And when you’ve got the right team on board you don’t need to be. I tried to be involved five days a week and I will do. I don’t mind doing long hours. I am the business owner in the day and I need to answer to different people as well as myself. So as long as I’ve got a good team around me you can do that as long as you’re good structures and good systems. If something goes wrong besides in bringing you up and disturb you. They’ve got a few systems that they can go to and fix before they have to contact.

 

Tim

I know you’re into fishing and fishing is a 24/7 sport. Why six till six do you need to be.

 

Peter

Because we’re growing. We want to cater to the customer also. We’ve got the big box chain stores and that out there they’re open very long as they’re open seven days a week not six to six. We were open the same time as them but then I found out we weren’t getting things done and we’ve got stuff to do at the start of the day as well as the end the day and the doors will be open for the customers while we’re there doing our mundane things that we’ve got to do to set up everything or to pack up the day so if we can do that people know it’s half past five I can still go and get me bait and go fishing tomorrow. We’re ready to go. I’ve never found anyone who’s worked at our shop that I haven’t a thing to do. We’re very busy.

 

Tim

It’s a pretty impressive store. I don’t fish I’m thinking of starting to kayak. I was in the store this morning and it’s like a big toy shop.

 

Peter

It is an adult toy shop and I was never going to say a man toy shop not a man toy shop anymore it’s a man woman and child whatever you can say.

 

Tim

Man child.

 

Peter

Yeah that’ll do. We’ve got to have well everything to set people up we have a lot of holiday come through here they just want to spend 50 dollars and be able to go fishing and we have blokes who come up with five thousand dollars and want everything they can

 

Tim

So how do you as a bloke who had a transport business previously a submariner then buy retail store that is undercooked and see the upside. I walked into your store today and it just looked like it had been fitted out by a retail expert. Do you know this secrets to retail? I don’t quite know what they all are but I know there are secrets to retail the way you know for example supermarkets put the milk at the very back corner. So you’ve got to walk through everything else to get the milk which is what most people there to get right. How have you learned that? Well maybe you haven’t I don’t know.

 

Peter

I have learned and I seek advice a lot. I read a lot. I look at other people’s shops a lot and not just tackle shops just other shops in general or go to all shops.

 

Tim

What do you look for?

 

Peter

Just different things different ideas. Why do they do that. Why have they got that up there? A good example is when I had the transport business I was with Coca-Cola and most of our business was with Coca-Cola. Their rest would come in and set certain drinks up at certain heights in the fridge because I knew that things would sell. We’ll sell on the left-hand side at eye height more than any other drink. Now that their job was to sell Coke. But with everything else another good example is the reps you would see the ones that would set up their shops well those shops would go extremely well you’d go in there. Shop owners would be very happy that they’ve got this right. Then you get other shops that didn’t have a good rep and they are ideas well you know they couldn’t be bothered with things like that and the owners the business would not be happy with their reps and they wouldn’t sell half as many drinks and therefore the turnover wasn’t there. So I think that a lot of insight into coke on how people done things I can see the good ones and I sort of followed them I did learn I didn’t realize I was learning until I opened the doors of Davos and went okay now I’ve got to change this.

 

Tim

Good brand to learn from.

 

Peter

It’s a good brand. They spend a lot of money on marketing.

 

Tim

Interestingly enough as you walk out of your store the last thing I think you see is coke in the fridge. On the left hand side. I’m looking in your learning. How do you stay ahead of all that? Because I imagine the science behind retail would be mind boggling. Do you go to conferences or do you just constantly your self-taught person?

 

Peter

I’m a bit of both. I’ve got a lot of conferences. Our main story is part of the tackle world group which has over 40 stores Australia wide. We go to two conferences here with them. We go to trade shows as many as possible. I also listen to the suppliers and their representatives a lot. I ask them I try to fish what’s working and other stores what’s the prompt what’s what products hot what’s he selling that I’m not selling. What should I sell if it’s not selling? Let’s get rid of it. Move it on. Put something fresh in. It’s a constant thing and I like trying things even if I think it’s not going to work. I tell my team I say if you want to buy it buy it. Let’s give it a go it doesn’t work we’ll get rid of it.

 

Tim

That’s your product point of view. So I imagine there is a lot to be learned from the reps of each of the brands I mean for example in the Shimano. So I imagine the Shimano rep comes in you pick his brain what’s working what’s not what point of sale of you got where should I put it. Kind of getting there. They’ve done the research I guess.

 

Peter

Always. He was just in this morning and he had a 15-minute visit by some reps of the Shimano rep was there for two and a half hours this morning and we don’t just talk about him selling us product. It’s about how we sell it or the new product or what’s hot for other shops.

 

Tim

Nice when you’re listening to the award-winning small business big marketing show thanks to American Express and we’re talking with Peter Wells owner of Davos fishing and tackle in beautiful downtown Noosa. Pete you talked about you when you go to conferences. So the tackle world were put on a major national conferences do you go overseas to retail conferences or anything like that.

 

Peter

I’ve been to a couple and I think the Americans know how to do fishing tackle probably better than anyone. I think they’ve got the money behind them to do their tackle shops over there a while. I also tap into overseas suppliers and have a look at them, and I talk to them at our trade conferences we have once a year. I’m going to a large one next year for six weeks we’ll do a round trip we’ll go to Europe and Japan and America and just see different displays. Talk to different suppliers not so much to get their products but to get their ideas and if they can help me with products well so there.

 

Tim

You’re able to do this because you’re flush with money or because you choose to in order to learn because a lot of small business owners listen to this who do not get out who are stuck in their business, they’re constantly in their business not on their business. Are you one of them or are you just kind what you choose to just get out and no matter what because those conferences aren’t cheap.

 

Peter

No they’re not. But you’ve got to be able to get out. You’ve got to expand yourself. If you just said the word if you were in your business and not on your business you will start standing still. And I don’t want that. I’ve got a long term plan I’m not going to be in the fashion industry forever. I’ll be fishing one day I’ll probably not get a chance to do that enough at the moment. So I want to build it up as much as I can get as much loyal customers as I can get them coming back. Repeat customers. There’s nothing better than repeat customer been there long enough that starts off when he’s nine and now he’s a regular shopper at 16 or 17 and catching fish. And he’s happy so his parents are happy. His grandad’s happy when he comes up for a visit so the first place he takes is Davos. So if we can build a brand like that.

 

Tim

Intergenerational.

 

Peter

Definitely.

 

Tim

That would be awesome.

 

Peter

I can have a team there where I don’t have to be there 24/7 I can go to these conferences and I do bring a lot back.

 

Tim

No doubt. Not just a junket as many of the staff said to me this morning. Yeah well they always say we packed the Panadol.

 

Tim

No doubt in the Berocca. A thought came to mind given you’re in the business of fishing you don’t get out to fish which is a little bit sad if you thought about brand extensions where you would do Davos fishing tours for example.

 

Peter

There’s always scope in the horizon. I mean our shops are only a certain size and I can only fit so much tackle and we can only change around so many times. I’m probably currently looking at a couple of different projects especially working with other businesses but to get the Davos name a bit more prominent and doesn’t have to be fishing it can be recreational activities too.

 

Tim

Well I would have thought so been quite an elastic brand I would have thought you’ve kind of built something in it given you’ve got one store in Noosa which is all fishing tackle and right next door you’ve got another store which all like outdoor life is. Camping, boating.

 

Peter

Very big in kayaks and a bit of camping in that.

 

Tim

Was it a big decision to extend the brand to that kind of product period?

 

Peter

Definitely considering the rents at Noosa it is a big decision. The shops growing. So that’s good we’re starting to get a lot of repeat customers who remain in there for two years now. But it’s just an extension we needed. We did run out of room. We’re getting all these products and for us to service them the products otherwise they’ve got to go to the big box chain stores if we can’t offer it we’re not giving them any choice.

 

Tim

About being a big decision. How did you make it gut or research?

 

Peter

Both. Probably passion and stupidity you’ve got to be a little bit stupid I think you give things that go to. I mean at the end of the day if it didn’t work, I can shut it down. I’ve still got Davos and shut that side down and just concentrate on the fishing side. But when people are asking you for products and ask again and again you’ve got to come try and find a way to deliver it. Otherwise you’re just sending them somewhere else.

 

Tim

While you’re leaving money on the table. You’ve got another store down the road and Marcoola a smaller town in on the Sunshine Coast. Why

 

Peter

Why. There was a little shop down there. I actually when I first came at Sunshine Coast I was there for the first 12 years. I was down there either to know one way or friends it’s a very small tight knit community. The local tackle store rang me up and they knew I had Davos and I said look we’re shut in. We’ve had enough. You want to come on by a year. So I went down there brought their gear and they said shut the door when you leave. Once you’ve picked it all up and when I shut the door I sort of look at it when we can give it a go. We can extend the Davos name so we reopened the door a week later after lots of sleepless nights. Since then we’ve moved it. We’ve moved it around the corner to a more permanent location where a lot of holiday makers are quite straight off at the beach and we’re about to move into a new building down there and about three months not much bigger but a lot purposelessly built for fishing. High roofs extra parking out the front things like that so it was more that our connection with that area that made me do it. I wouldn’t retire on the income we make from there but I’m definitely not going backwards so it’s a good thing for the community down there. And as I said I know so many people down there and it’s just expands the brand.

 

Tim

You have experienced some amazing growth any sleepless nights beyond what you just mentioned.

 

Peter

Definitely. Definitely you come to them awful months where you’re trying to hit targets and you just think you’re not going to make it and something happened and you do or you know you’re not going to make it so you’ve got to think you’ve got sleepless nights to think of ways okay how can I make it. We don’t always make it we’re making it 80 percent of the time.

 

Tim

What’s it look like. Paint a picture of you looking down the barrel of the poor month you meet with your store manager and say we’re not going to make it. What do you do sit around a whiteboard and brainstorm or have you got a little black book you pull out that’s got five no fail retail ideas that you pulled from the last conference in Vegas?

 

Peter

I will probably do something totally different look at the weather. We’ll look at the weather. And we can blame the weather. We can’t control the weather so don’t blame but we’ll look at the weather. Some have a weather window where the moon and the stars line up we just know that that’s going to be a good week for fishing. So that’s the time if that’s coming in the last part of the month. That’s the time to get in mode and tell people how good a fishing what is going to happen. You know everything is going to happen the fish are going to come on the bite and with us having such loyal and long term staff members a lot of them know when the fish are going to bite and it’s not rocket science it is for me not for them. They know when they’re going to bite so if we can promote things like that. If we can. Well we have sausages. If things are slow, we’ll put the free sausages on the set of charges people put a free one on just to get some more customers.

 

Tim

How people know about that

 

Peter

Facebook. Social media websites where their mouth is big. Signs out the front that’s about it but it.

 

Tim

Who doesn’t love a free sausage?

 

Peter

Our Novembers aren’t normally crash on in the tackle industry. So we do a thing we’ve got a bite at the moment with 18000 dollars that we’re giving away. Once you spend some money in store so we know November is going to be quiet. So we need something to attract customers so we can get them there. They’re going to spend it somewhere but we just want them to spend it with us and for that they get the chance to get in a thousand dollar boats. So things like that just reinventing all the time just constant and constant work.

 

Tim:

You’re not bringing the Boxing Day sale forward are you it just was at a store around the corner from you on the way here collecting Noosa which is a homeware store furniture store and they’ve already got the Christmas New Year’s sale with 10 to 60 percent off and it’s like you know Black Friday has just finished for the online world now we’ve got today’s Black Monday. To me I look at that and I’m not a retailer, but I look doesn’t that just watered down the whole thing. shouldn’t Black Friday be Black Friday shouldn’t be Boxing Day be on that round that time and not in November what am I missing.

 

Peter

Should be. I’m with you 100 percent. I mean people do Boxing Day sale for one reason that’s being generated around that for years. The Black Friday should have been. I’m still getting asked questions why it on was that date and it’s all about online and something that happened many years ago. It’s yeah it does water it down it takes your customer connection away because I’ve decided I just want a sale. So that’s why we did the boat because were offering something. We had another one on the weekend where we gave away a three thousand dollar travel voucher and a fridge full of beer and a few other prizes and that was an outside broadcast with the radio. So we had a jumping cast and things like that just to get a few more people in just to let them know Davos were open for Christmas were open six to six and it comes up with us.

 

Tim

I want to talk about marketing shortly but just on that. The boat the three thousand dollar travel voucher. How are you doing that. You just combine them or you’re partnering up with other businesses and doing joint promotions.

 

Peter

Okay so the travel voucher we partnered up with the local radio station. They provide the travel voucher as long as we pay our monthly fees. But we’ve done a year long promotion with them on the radio. And that’s just part of it. They give you a three thousand dollar voucher. I could use it on one of my overseas junkets as you call them. I can use it for a worthwhile prize where it hasn’t cost me anything. So it doesn’t cost me anything. Let’s turn it into something.

 

Tim

What about the boat

 

Peter

The boat was an idea that happened at the Gold Coast after one of the conferences after we’ve had too many beers and I was with a couple of suppliers I’m pretty close with and I said I wasn’t looking forward to November, this was in August and I’m just saying we’re talking about the bad months and well let’s give away a boat and one suppliers that well I’ll throw some in the other supplier I said I’ll throw some in. So we all meet in the middle so at the end of the day it cost me about half the cost. The other suppliers put in so we try to promote the other suppliers to hopefully people buy their products and as well as buying them from us. And then at the end of the day one lucky punter will win it.

 

Tim

There’s a great learning there. In my previous life I was a marketing manager at Flight Centre and gee we lent on the supplies big time and we had a lot, you could because you were a Flight Centre. But I think even smaller businesses can probably rely more on supply. Suppliers want you to succeed because if you’re succeeding they’re succeeding so is that something you would recommend to listeners.

 

Peter

Definitely the only thing you’ve got to give them something back its not just putting your hand out and take take take. So for instance I’ll lay on supplies but I won’t put 20 supplies opportunity to do it. I’ll pick five good suppliers out of that and hopefully I’ll get four. And then I’ll pump them up and promote them.

 

Tim

You got a bit of competition amongst suppliers.

 

Peter

Definitely but we’ve got to give them something back so we’ve got to share the boat so Facebook and that’s a great tool for that so they can share it on all their stuff so when they’re sharing it on their stuff they’re actually promoting Davos as well. But they’re saying look how good we are. We provided some of this prize for Davos so it goes round the circle. But if you take take take you’ll get it once you won’t get it twice.

 

Tim

You mentioned Facebook a few times but you don’t look like a Facebook kind of guy but clearly you’re always sort of doing selfies and stuff out on the river and you know holding up the ice cream and look at me type like you are.

 

Peter

A little bit. It it’s one thing you’ve just got to be part of it.

 

Tim

I know it’s not going away and it’s sort of free. It’s sort of not but it sounds like you’re doing pretty well we’re chatting with Davos fishing and tackle owner Peter Wells. Thanks to American Express. Pete, how long did you put off the decision to start an e-commerce play

 

Peter

Probably about three years. We had a little dabble in it didn’t like it.

 

Tim

What didn’t you like.

 

Peter

We didn’t do it right a lot of work and the only things I can is start e-commerce and start turning over the money’s quite wrong. So I put it on the shelf. And my son he was in the Navy. He left the Navy he come and he was stuck he was waiting for uni to go back to uni and he said well why don’t you look this up the lot of the line know what’s going on. I said well if you want to run with it you can run with it. And that’s where we kicked it right into gear. So it was a bit slow to start with but there’s no good it’s like having a computer like have another bricks and mortar competitor. We’ve got online competitors. So we need to come up and match with them and have a go.

 

Tim

I interviewed Paul Nieuwenhuys about four years ago he got hooked on line and sinker. He’s an ebay store doing a couple of mill doing okay. So yeah you sort of up against those blokes and I think he does it from home or at least has a little storage unit out the back and does all the distribution. So three years do you sort of kick yourself do you feel like jeez we left a lot of dough behind by not acting quicker or just.

 

Peter

Not really I don’t think I was ready before I don’t think I had the experience. E-commerce does bring in totally different challenges but today was here this afternoon so there’s lots of different things it’s a lot more competitive than your bricks and mortar store it very competitive.

 

Tim

Do you feel out of your depth?

 

Peter

Not so much out of my depth but I’m still learning. So I’m not out of my depth. I’m willing to take on the challenge but every day seems to be a new challenge. But as I said if you’re not part of it you can’t compete you can’t just say it’s going to go away it’s like Facebook it’s going to be here it’s only growing year and year. You just got to work out best ways to manage it.

 

Tim

Doug runs it. Your son runs it. What impact has that had on the bricks and mortar businesses. Is it added or has it cannibalized?

 

Peter

No it hasn’t. It’s added. We obviously found people in and around the Sunshine Coast. We’ve never seen before that are buying from us online, but they also come in the store. Obviously you can do a click and collect which we have that as well so that that helps them. Our volumes bigger so by our volume it gives us more power with supplies it’s help to say it’s probably needed a lot more staffing. Which we have got.

 

Tim

Back Room staffing.

 

Peter

Back room. Definitely. But I like the challenge.

 

Tim

What’s been the hardest part about going online.

 

Peter

Competing against a big online retailers and there were some very strong ones in fishing. There still is. We might have 3000 sku’s online. They’ve got over 30000. We’re competing because obviously we’re getting complaints from them and things like that so we know where we’re playing in the right field with them but they’re very powerful. They’ve been doing a long time. They’ve learnt the lessons and I’m learning now.

 

Tim

What kind of complaints are you getting?

 

Peter

Why does he sell it for this or why does he have it and I haven’t got it? So we went to market on Friday. We were online first with it. No one’s got it online till about 12:00 today and there was all the complaints especially from big box chain stores that of how come Davos got it.

 

Tim

How come you did.

 

Peter

I know where they were delivered to and I went and picked them up.

 

Tim

I love it I love it.

 

Peter

Yeah and that’s why and we just got four days and it’s not a lot of sales we’re talking it’s not a lot of money, but it gives us good credibility.

 

Tim

Yeah you might not I got rich over it but people will talk about it Davos are on to it. And even the fact they probably don’t know that you physically drive and pick it up but it’s pretty good story.

 

Peter

No and it was a short 10 minute drive.

 

Tim

What do you find easy about it? The whole online thing.

 

Peter

Easy. Let my son run it.

 

Tim

Well tell me about that father son in business together any other family members in the business.

 

Peter

No. My wife she’s a schoolteacher. But she helps out on the weekends and things like that and when she’s not working my daughter, she’s in uni but she’s helped out. Previous times she’s worked behind the counter I’ve got lots of good complements.

 

Tim

Because it brings a whole set of new challenges when you’re a family business. I’m guessing.

 

Peter

It does. It does and it does with other employees as well as your family employees but I think we’ve got the balance right especially with my son just running the online side of it. He doesn’t really having to do with the shop apart from he might help us out when we’re extremely busy or something like that. So it’s two totally different items so it’s working well sort of.

 

Tim

Good on you. Yeah well it’s a big move and you can’t do it all yourself. So bringing your son is a good thing. Let’s talk marketing. Given that this is the small business big marketing show what’s your view on marketing.

 

Peter

Do it as much as you can afford. You’ve got a market you can’t wait for people to come to you. You can have a name like Davos you can have a name like anyone else but if you’re not put it out there in a positive way to say come here we’ve got everything you want you’re not going to turn it over you need to be out there marketing constantly all the time coming up with different ideas. Looking now other people are doing it looking at other people are doing it right how other people are doing it wrong and having a go you’ll make mistakes. Doesn’t matter if you’ve been at 30 years I think you’d make mistakes but I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

 

Tim

Let’s dissect your marketing I think your branding is fantastic. You seem to be very good maybe something you learned from coke but there’s a real consistency about the Davos branding whether you see it on the store or on the shirts on the signage cars. How do you manage that. It’s not easy because big brands have brand managers that. That’s the old job. Who does that for Davos?

 

Peter

Yeah I do it. I just that’s the thing I learnt my past in the transport I’ve seen how powerful branding was. I’ve seen how certain products Coca-Cola could bring out and turn them into instant success and then other ones would die a natural death very quickly. So you learn a lot about that and you keep in your subconscious I’m into uniform anality if thats a word.

 

Tim

I don’t think it is. But it’s a great word uniform anality.

 

Peter

Let’s put that in let’s get them for that.

 

Tim

But even consistency is what you’re into.

 

Peter

Yeah. So someone’s got to see part of the Davos logo brand recognise that they don’t need to see all of it. I want them to just see part of it could be the back of my van driving past. It could be something flicking when they’re flicking through their Facebook things I just want them to see part of it and go oh that’s Davos and that’ll register and the more times I see it the more of it register.

 

Tim

That’s a great learning. There’s a game on that thing called what logo is that have you seen that it might be an app and it slowly starts to reveal a logo and you’ve got to guess. It’s basic test. How quickly you can guess what the business is and whilst it might be fun for some it’s also a great learning because as you say like the split second seeing a brand drive past or just flicking through on Facebook you can recognise it without spending much time on it then you know you’re doing something right.

 

Peter

I think so and I might go and download that app.

 

Tim

Good branding such an overused word in marketing and I would also argue that many small business owners don’t understand that. What is branding to you?

 

Peter

That’s probably one of the hardest questions I’ve been asked brand to me it’s very important. It’s my face on the brand my name on the brand you’ve got to carry that with you in a small business owner. If Davos travelling no good if Davos gets a bad rep and we have had a bad rep once or twice very often. I take that very personally. So I pride ourselves on our branding and keep our brand strong so I am a bit precious. My team would say when someone tries to hurt our brand in any way. Yes so I take it very personally. So is my team. We all take it to heart. We don’t go oh well he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or that lady doesn’t know. We take it and we want to know why someone doesn’t like our brand so we can either fix the problem or explain to him why we’re doing it.

 

Tim

Best definition I’ve ever heard of branding Pete is that it is an emotional attachment so if you can build an emotional attachment between you and a customer then you’re developing loyalty and familiarity and trust vs. a rational attachment which is more based on price and we know where that ends. So anything you can do and clearly that’s what you’re doing. You didn’t know you’re doing it but you’re doing it very very well.

 

Peter

Thank you.

 

Tim

In fact you mention putting your name to the business. As you walk in the store I can see a poster on the left hand side with your face on it and signature. What are the words on that note don’t mean verbatim?

 

Peter

it just tells people that I’m a local owner. I’m not a multi corporation. Some people view tackle as very strong in the fishing tackle market. People might not understand that they are all family businesses, so I just wanted to put out that were family business where privately owned part of a franchise. And that we can help be aware that if someone wants to come in to see maybe because they’ve got a complement complaint query question five times out of 10 they can ask me and I’ll be there. 10 times out of 10 I’ll answer them if they let me come back to them.

 

Tim

Customer service I reckon you’re big on this. What’s your philosophy?

 

Peter

Customer. Very very 100 percent important. Customer is always right.

 

Tim

are they

 

Peter

Until you can correct them. So they are always right but they might be right for the wrong reasons. So if you can help them and someone might be right in the way they fish for a certain type of species but we’ll show a different way and they come back and say I was so wrong. I like your way now. They were right to start with. We just helped them. We just helped them do it the right way in our way the Davos way.

 

Tim

How do you handle difficult customers?

 

Peter

Yeah we do actually have a spreadsheet for that

 

Tim

Like a black list.

 

Peter

Oh no I wouldn’t. I don’t think I’d blacklist anyone. we have a variety of customers from 107 our oldest one to date that we know of and our youngest ones like one week old.

 

Tim

What’s the spreadsheet?

 

Peter

Just how to handle it. Identify it. Work with it just basic business principles. Don’t engage and find out what their problem is and try and help. You’re not going to help 100 percent of the people but if you can get that person leaving thinking or at least they’ve tried some things are out of control sometimes warranties are probably a typical example where we can’t make calls on warranties where suppliers actually make calls and sometimes the suppliers don’t honor it for their own reasons and we normally cop the brunt of that. But we’ve just got to show the customer that we tried 100 percent to get everything they can and will do certain things for them that will make them feel better at the end of the day. We’ll take a bit of a hit just so they know okay next time I’m going back to Davos because they’ve tried for us.

 

Tim

What’s the customer service training look like at Davos because I’ve walked in there probably five or six times. I have never not been greeted within five seconds of actually walking through the door. How do you train. Do you have ongoing training for them? Do you put them through courses?

 

Peter

Our courses probably the course of life we have a meeting once a month where we sit around, we have a few beers rums or soft drink we get the whole team in. We do it after hours and

 

Tim

I hope so.

 

Peter

But we’ll talk about customer service and we’ll talk about exactly difficult customers and how we handle it. If we had a particular customer that month a difficult one how we handle that and if we could have done it better how we would have done it better. And then we’ll do pointers on how to serve customers how to greet them how to know that when there’s five people in the store where everyone is boys are still serving a person you’ve got to know who’s in the store and when. That can be difficult especially I think last Christmas we had 83 people in the store at once. And everyone was running around silly but every customer is just as important as each other. People come in rags and they might spend a fortune. They might just want a 50 dollar combo that doesn’t matter. We just want to make them happy. We want to get them to catch fish. I keep getting it all the boys I say and the girls we do employ females staff I say you’ve got to tell them all your secret spots. That’s the favourite question. Where’s the secret spot. Because if they’re not catching fish well out of a job. So we share everything. We share all the information almost everything almost.

 

Tim

But you can’t give away all secrets surely.

 

Peter

Oh no but 90 percent of them at least 90 percent of it because I’ve had team members before that haven’t always shared their secret spots or their secret ideas and then once I get them to do that and someone comes back running in says chigo you told me where it is you told me how to do it look what I caught. Chigo gets more of a kick out of that than if he was catching the fish. And that’s just not Chigo other stuff.

 

Tim

And a great nickname by the way ichigo. Tell me Noosa is a small regional town in Queensland. Staff are hard to come by. A good staff are hard to come by wherever you are. You seem to have 18 great staff. I spoke to a restaurant owner recently down the other into Noosa who couldn’t open because he couldn’t find staff. What’s your secret to attracting great people?

 

Peter

Probably our customers and word of mouth. I mean I don’t think there’s too many people around noosa or around Southeast Queensland that haven’t got positive words to say about Davos so we have people ringing up dropping in wanting to work there. That’s good and as I say a lot of them come in and they think they’re going to work in fishing tackle go fishing all the time but it is actually worked from six to six. But when you can engage with customers get them to catch that fish that we just told them about 90 percent of your secret stuff and when they come back in happy you’ll be happy so you’ll stay in the job.

 

Tim

You’re saving a lot of dough by not having to run employment ads. How do you make Davos a place that people want to work. The culture. Is there anything you do from a cultural point of view?

 

Peter

We definitely care. They can see my whole family works in the business and works hard. They can see that we work long hours and we expect them to work long hours or at least work hard while they’re there. We probably set the example. We try to make it. If they have any issues and that will bend over backwards to help them with their issues or if they have any problems whatsoever, we’re more than happy to work with them. We all have troubles

 

Tim

That’s real family it’s beautiful. let’s carve up some of the other marketing you do just quickly I’ve heard you on radio you’re doing some promos on radio. Sounds like you’ve got a 12 month agreement with the local station does it work.

 

Peter

I think so. We’re just doing our analysis at the moment. It definitely hasn’t hurt us. You must spend so much on advertising it is silly if you don’t, you’ll only be asking why aren’t they coming in the door you must be just part of it must be part like your customer service.

 

Tim

That’s interesting.

 

Peter

That’s got to be there. You just let people know you’re there. You must let people know you’re open from 6 to 6. Not everyone listens to Facebook.

 

Tim

It was very local targeted radio campaign involves ads library ads live crosses.

 

Peter

Yes everything. All the above. And once again if they hear a bit of that Davos name that will stick in their subconscious and they’ll go okay that’s where I’ve got to go.

 

Tim

Do you do TV.

 

Peter

Not for a while. We have done TV before.

 

Tim

A bit of a bottomless pit that one.

 

Peter

It is and it’s very hard. Certain times of the year it seems the big multinationals and chains definitely soak up the TV now and they have a lot bigger budgets than us so they can afford it. So we’ve got to take out other avenues.

 

Tim

Litter box drops.

 

Peter

Definitely but hard work in Noosa

 

Tim

I think they are too as a person who lives in Noosa.

 

Peter

Transient population.

 

Tim

Yeah okay. I was going to say I just cannot believe the amount of an I will call it junk mail that I get in my letterbox. It is extraordinary. I mean it’s thick and you know I’d hate to be one of them. I’d hate to be the one on the outside because someone always gets ripped it doesn’t fit the box slot. I mean amazing. You know I look at these businesses and sometimes I know I understand the big guys like Bunnings. They do it and they’re kind of an Aldi. We’re sort of what everyone’s waiting for the old catalogue to come out each week but yeah again could be a bottomless pit. What do you do from a local area marketing point of view how do you really immerse yourself in the community? Do you give away donations do you give prizes at events? What do you do?

 

Peter

We support everyone. We’ve supported the Coast Guard. Currently we’re not but we have supported in the past very heavily. They name a boat after us Davos rescue that was a very important moment.

 

Tim

Why just stop.

 

Peter

Just we’ve got to share it around. We definitely share it around. We’ve just finished last year we finished sponsoring pirates which is the local rugby league club the genius. Next year we’re looking at other rugby league clubs we sponsor the local netball. We sponsor the local AFL probably our main thing is our social fishing comps that we do. We get in the community so we do a social fishing comp roughly every two months and we put that out there and that gets people out there that don’t fish that just want to come and do it and have a chat around other fishermen they want to learn because they’re a bit shy to come and ask all the time. So we just do a social one where we always wound up having a drink having a sausage and everyone chats.

 

Tim

That sounds awesome what do you do down there. You find a spot on the river and promote it and see you there at 3 o’clock on a Friday or something.

 

Peter

No at the shop. We do it at the back around the front so they’ll come in on a Friday they’ll get their token they’ll get their basic set of rules which is about three we’re trying to make it as simple as possible the KISS principle. We want people to have fun and then we want it up on Sunday about lunchtime when people come in and they know just the competitors do come in they bring their families or their kids or their parents in everyone’s welcome. They can have a sausage sizzle. They can have a cold beer or a cold soft drink of water and we sit around and chat and we dug up people have done it years ago that didn’t know each other are now the best fishing partners known to man.

 

Tim

How fantastic.

 

Peter

We’re looking forward to our first engagement over it so really wait and see them over the next interview.

 

Tim

Could be a Davos baby. I was chatting with Davos fishing tackle owner Peter Wells thanks to American Express Pete just to wrap up. Is there a big idea that you would love to try within the business that you’re just too scared to?

 

Peter

I have a lot of big ideas and they go through me years pretty quick. I’d just still like to expand. I’d like to expand. The coast is a big place. The coast is growing at a phenomenal rate. I’d like to expand more bricks and mortar. Definitely. Our online shop is expanding it will continue to expand but definitely in bricks and mortar I don’t want to own the world I don’t want to become a big box chain but I would like to offer our service that we supply here in Noosa to other places around the coast.

 

Tim

You know there will come a tipping point where you will expand to the point that you might not become a big box chain but you lose the family nature of the Davos business.

 

Peter

Definitely definitely. So that is balance and that’s probably why that has pulled us up because we’ve got to find ways to manage that and we can manage it by once again we have. If we did start another shop by doing that community events that we’d done, we just talked about we can get people engaged in that but that’s just to find balance.

 

Tim

How do you maintain a work life balance Pete or don’t you?

 

Peter

My wife would say I don’t. I do by having a good team I’d probably balance it out a lot more the last 18 months than I have had before. I do travel and when I travel. I do social things as well. So I try to if I have to go to Sydney I’ll just come back from Sydney for a couple of days so I spent a couple of days extra and caught up a couple of my other family members down there so.

 

Tim

Combine a bit of work and play. What’s the one thing that you wish you’d known at the start of becoming the owner of Davos.

 

Peter

Working weekends, I didn’t think about it.

 

Tim

I could have told you that What’s a business you wished you owned and why.

 

Peter

I wish I had Coca-Cola. I could retire. Any business I’d be willing to have a go at. A totally different business if you could buy the right business. You should always buy a business that’s not at the top it’s day I believe it should be something you can work on build up be proud of and be handed over to someone else or handed over to a family member.

 

Tim

What is it in particular that you love about business Pete?

 

Peter

Been able to grow it out. To use your energy and then at the end of the day okay I’ve made it I’ve made something better today and you can do that as an employee you can do that just as well. But at the end of the day I’ve got a retirement plan. I’ve got a name. I like socialising around Noosa especially so I like catching up with other business people I like going down like some of the community knowing who we are and and sharing a drink with them or share and chat on the riverbank with them. So it’s yeah camaraderie is very strong.

 

Tim

And finally as a business owner who do you seek inspiration from.

 

Peter

My family.

 

Tim

In what way.

 

Peter

Just to keep going forward when you have them tough days. Its definitely not all roses. You have them tough days. You definitely got a seat there. They’ll tell you you’re always doing a good job and keep going even if you’re not where some people tell you bluntly that you’re not. So they give inspiration. I can shut my eyes and think of my dad and he’ll give me inspiration every time I do that. He was a very strong person in that. And probably my friends. Definitely my friends. I moved here. I was a first submariner from my era to move around the Sunshine Coast now currently in Noosa there’s nine members of a certain submarine that I was on in 1985 that are now living in Noosa.

 

Tim

No.

 

Peter

They’ve all followed us.

 

Tim

You’ve lured them up here. On that joke I will say. Great story. Love the Davos brand and thanks for sharing some insights into it.

 

Peter

Thank you very much