In nearly 40 years in business, there have been two clear growth points for the Cairns-based Wholesale Paint Group.
The first came when Craig Bennetts took over the business from his father and two uncles, just over a decade ago.
"They concentrated on just the one location here in Cairns and they were comfortable," Craig says. "But when I took over, younger, you've got a bit more go in you, and you want to see what you can do."
He set about expanding the business, opening locations in Townsville, Mackay and Gladstone. The move saw turnover rise from $3 million in 2004, to $17 million last year.
The second growth spurt? It’s currently underway, as the Wholesale Paint Group pushed into the e-commerce space.
Wholesale Paint Group's Carins HQ. Source: Supplied
They began selling online for the first time only last year. Craig admits the business has been late to the game.
"Probably in the last four or five years, we've been thinking about [selling online]. But I don't know much about that side, I only joined Facebook this year. We worked out we had to get the right people.”
With the recruitment of an e-commerce manager, business is booming.
Wholesale Paint now ships 30 - 50 thousand dollars’ worth of products each month.
The bulk of sales are to North America and Europe, but orders come from all over the globe.
"I remember our first overseas sale was to Qatar," Craig recalls. "And we did one to French Polynesia the other day - got no idea where it is or how Australia Post even gets there!"
But while the name of the business is Wholesale Paint Group, that's the one thing they don't sell online.
A map in Wholesale Paint Group's e-commerce office shows the various places they've shipped to. Source: Supplied
"Because dangerous goods legislation doesn't allow it to go by air," Craig explains. "So we ship everything else to do with paint."
A growing revenue stream
While online sales still only represent about 5 to 10 per cent of Wholesale Paint's total revenue, the numbers are growing every month
Craig anticipates e-commerce will eventually overtake the traditional retail side of the business.
"We're restricted with a number of people that come into our stores to buy, restricted by population growth. I see e-commerce with billions of people being future of the retail market."
His focus now is fine-tuning the business's e-commerce strategy - while orders are increasing, the profit margins still need some work.
"The logistics of getting stuff up to Cairns is what makes things difficult," Craig explains. "We can get a container shipped from China to Brisbane for $1000. I can’t get a container shipped from Brisbane to Cairns for under $2500. But the growth has been fantastic, we've just got to continue that and figure out how to make a bit more money out of it.”
Want to find out the secret to small business success? Tune into #BizSecretsSBS at Sundays 7am on SBS, stream on SBS On Demand, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
