Our Concept

Big Dad's Pie Shops sell a quality range of Bakery Products. The main line being our pies which are well complimented by a range of our delicious sausage rolls, pastries, cakes and slices. All our products are manufactured at the Big Dad's Pies production facility and are available fresh daily to our Pie Shops. 

A significant difference between our product and “other bakeries” is Big Dad's special recipe compiled with 68 years of knowledge, trials and experience. The other marked difference lies in the fact we use only the leanest quality beef possible at 95% CL (chemically lean). Along with these two great advantages our pies weigh approximately 300 grams as opposed to most at 220 grams.

Minimal training is required for a ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ operation, and unlike most franchises in the baking industry, you do not need to be a baker or a pastry chef. We provide a superior handmade product ready to bake on-site, emphasising the aroma and freshness of the product.

Our Pie Shops are fresh, modern and clean with a preparation area in full view of our customers. The filled pie cases are delivered to each site “unlidded”. This allows our customers to see the final process in producing our pies, by putting on the lids of each fresh pie and then baking it in the on-site oven.

“Finishing off” the pies at each Pie Shop enables regular fresh bakes to be done throughout the day. This provides a fresh, hot product regularly available to customers and ensures there is limited shrinkage and wastage of product and low cost of stock investment.  Our customers’ perception is that our product is produced on site however we provide a superior handmade product that is finished off and baked onsite.

The baking process is easy once training is completed, and it takes less than 30 minutes to bake a tray of pies, so we always have hot, fresh product ready to go.

And of course, our customers get a fresh, top quality pie with real (and lean) chunks of beef, that really is the “biggest and the best”!

The Big Dad's Brand

We nurture the Big Dad’s brand in a number of ways, including:

• Point of sale displays
• Cross media advertising including newspapers, radio, billboards & flyers
• Production of quality advertising & promotional materials
• Good internet presence
• Excellent signage at every location
• Special offers to customers

Advertising is an important part of Big Dad’s Pies ongoing marketing strategy. The positioning of each location is an integral part of our branding strategy, as a visible presence to our target market is essential.

Each Big Dad’s Pie Shop franchise contributes to a national marketing fund. 
We provide you with a promotional calendar to help drive the business throughout different times of the year and to help encourage loyalty from our customers. This is well supported with relevant press releases for local media, posters, vouchers and various marketing collateral. 
We also provide you with a model for a local community support program, which you can customise to fit your Pie Shop and your target customers.

We are proud to offer the biggest and the best pies around.

Our Typical Customer

The “good old” meat pie is a well-known Australian icon. Big Dad’s Pies have a cross-market appeal with people of all ages and backgrounds visiting our shops, from the smallest children to your own “Big Dad”. How your typical customer will vary is fully dependent upon your 
Big Dad’s Pies location. Our target customers are not a “type” of person who fit an age or background demographic, they are every one of the local residents in your geographical area, and each of the vehicle occupants who drive past your Pie Shop.

We assist you in identifying and marketing to the primary customer base for your location as part of our franchise commitment, combined with your focus at a local level.

Customer service

Our customers are the only reason Big Dad’s Pies is in business, and they are what make us successful. 

We have set very high standards on our service requirements and provide full training on how to meet these and work towards our customers becoming a loyal and regular clientele.

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Our Range

Creating and selling top quality, fresh products that lead in our field, is a key success factor for Big Dad’s Pie Shops. Our great tasting products are exclusive to Big Dad’s Pies and are not sold in any other outlets.

We are proud to offer the "biggest and the best" pies around and supplement this mainstay of our business with a range of related products. Some of these include: pie varieties (including a range of large family pies), sausage rolls, pasties, filos, cakes and slices. 

All Big Dad’s Pies products are manufactured within our own production facility. This way we can ensure we always have the freshest, best quality product with that special "Big Dad’s secret ingredient" to give them the flavour, which brings our loyal customers back time and time again.
We routinely test our product range for quality, through a stringent food safety regime. All of our fresh Big Dad’s Pies products provide a good profit margin to our franchisees, yet still offer excellent value for money to our customers at their retail price.

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Product Development

At Big Dad’s Pies, we are continually developing our current products and researching opportunities for further products. We constantly monitor the effectiveness of our equipment and seek improvements or upgrades where needed.

We aim to bring customers what they want, when they want it. Any new products are trialled initially in selected Pie Shops, in order to gauge customer feedback, before they are rolled out to the network.

Big Dad’s Pies management

Big Dad’s Pies is run by a strong team of people, ably led by Stephen Donnelly under Big Dad’s watchful eye

Noel Donnelly: 
Noel is the ideas man behind our great products. A pastry chef for 68 years, 
he is THE “Big Dad” to his grandchildren and now the same to a number of satisfied employees and franchisees.

Stephen Donnelly:
is the founder of Big Dad’s Pies, he took the business from a family dream to reality. Stephen has been a successful business owner for a number of years. Stephen’s main area of focus is running the overall Big Dad’s Pies organisation, with a strong emphasis on business and site development, on our overall production management and growing a national network. 

Peta Donnelly:
Peta has a broad background of experience and oversees all our administration, finances and accounting functions. Peta ensures everything is in order and is a mainstay who supports all parts of Big Dad’s Pies in many facets.

Amongst our franchising staff, we have a Franchise Manager, Franchise Operations Manager and a Franchise Support Manager, who work closely with Stephen and Peta to grow company and franchised retail network and to provide ongoing leadership to our existing franchisees.

Strategic plan

This is an exciting time for Big Dad’s Pies, our strategy is for strong, but controlled growth. This will maximise our brand exposure, while still enabling us to confidently manage and support our franchise network.

The strategic growth plan has been developed to enable the growth of a national network. This will build on the strong foundation in Queensland then spreading to other states in Australia in a controlled manner.

The long term plan is committed to growing internationally in markets such as Asia, Europe and America.

In developing the network Big Dad's Pies has leveraged the advice of Asia Pacific’s leading franchising, retail and distribution specialists DC Strategy. DC Strategy is a key advisor to Big Dad's Pies combining many years of successful experience associated with growing national and international networks.

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Franchising Overview

In the past 12 months, Big Dad’s Pies has been developing the business with an increased emphasis in establishing well-branded and easily accessed Pie Shops.
We are a member of the Franchising Council of Australia and fully comply with the Franchising Code of Conduct.

We have worked hard on creating a quality Franchise Model, which maintains uniform values and standards. Franchisees are provided with a new turn-key operation and undergo extensive training under a fully integrated system, knowing they belong to a well-managed
retail brand. 

Our Pie Shops are developed with consistent designs and clear, recognisable signage to keep our customers in familiar territory whichever Big Dad’s Pie Shop they visit, right down to the Big Dad’s Pies embroidered shirts and hats worn by staff.

 
Potential Franchisees

We are understandably careful about selecting franchise owners to work with us. We will be working together for a long time and other franchise owners will rely on all Big Dad’s Pie Shops to provide a consistent quality product, coupled with excellent service to maintain and protect our brand.

Some of the things we look for in potential franchisees are: 

• A friendly & outgoing personality
• A commitment to outstanding customer service
• A positive attitude & passion about your franchise business
• The ability to relate well with staff
• A strong desire to achieve & succeed
• A willingness to become actively involved in your business
• A high level of energy & enthusiasm
• The ability to be a team player within the franchise system
• Having clearly defined goals, whilst being flexible, progressive & intuitive
• Sufficient start-up capital & security to cover obligations
• Good written, oral & personal communication skills

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Required Qualifications for a Franchisee

No special education or prior experience in our type of business is required for a person to be considered as a possible Big Dad’s Pies franchisee. Even if you haven’t worked in retail before, we will ensure you the opportunity to succeed.

It is essential that our franchisees become personally involved in every facet of their business. You should be willing and able to perform all sales, on-site production and other functions required on a daily basis. 

By recruiting, training and retaining quality staff, the individual demands on you can be lessened, but your personal involvement is essential to maximise the potential of your business.

Whilst we can set you up in the business, train you and provide you with ongoing assistance and advice, we can’t run the business for you. It is important that you are highly motivated, have a positive attitude, excellent communication and customer service skills and a strong desire to succeed in your own business.

Systems, Support & Training

• Regular support & supervision from the franchise team through site visits and telephone support
• Ongoing business advice & coaching on how to operate the franchise and improve your bottom line
• Assistance with your individual strategic plan
• Continual improvements & updates to the Franchisee Operations Manual
• Research & development of new products
• Regular quality control in shop standards across the total franchise network 
• Annual business operations review for every franchisee
• Quarterly franchisee newsletter 
• Latest equipment advice
• Negotiating product supply agreements

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Earnings Potential

Due to factors such as your management skills, site location, overhead costs etc, which all have an influence on the earning potential of any retail outlet, Big Dad’s Pies does not guarantee that any new shop will reach any prescribed levels of sales and/or cash flows.

We believe that working with us in our Big Dad’s Pies business will reduce the element of risk and will enhance your opportunity for success. Of course, there is no substitute for commitment, dedication and hard work, which will all lead to your success as a Big Dad’s Pies franchisee.

Our recruitment and induction process will provide you with the necessary information to assist you in making a well-informed decision in relation to the business opportunity.

As with any business, it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself about the potential of a Big Dad’s Pie Shop before you commit yourself to a Big Dad’s Pies franchise.

Taking it Further

At this meeting you will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, after which you will be given information and other supporting material about Big Dad's Pies. It is important that you thoroughly investigate and assess the franchise opportunity and seek your own independent business and accounting advice.

You will also be given an Application Form to complete and if you, after consideration, decide to invest in a Big Dad's Pies franchise, you will be required to provide a refundable application fee of $3000.00 + GST. 

At this point, you will be given our Disclosure Document, a Franchise Agreement and other Franchise documentation. You are entitled to a period of 14 days before being required to sign the Franchise Agreement and the Franchise Offer. 

During this period, you must carry out your due diligence, including obtaining advice from your business advisor, solicitor and accountant. At this point, any negotiated site location will be reserved for you for this period.

During, or at the completion of this stage, if you do not wish to proceed, Big Dad's Pies will refund the full amount of the application fee prior to signing the Franchise Offer. 

Once you’re ready to proceed with the purchase of a Big Dad’s Pies Franchise, you will be required to sign and return all documentation referred to above and pay the balance of the Franchise Purchase Fee. 

After the expiration of the cooling off period, our Franchise Team will proceed with perspectives, plans and full documentation ready for the construction of your new Big Dad’s Pie Shop. 
During fit-out of your new Pie Shop, you and your business partner, if appropriate, will commence the Big Dad’s Pies Training Program and be on your way to becoming another member of the successful and fast-growing Big Dad’s Pies franchise operation.

 
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To take the 1st step towards owning a Big Dad's Pies franchise of your own - fill in the form below or ring our support centre on (07) 3723 6000.