In an effort to provide options for newsagents considering alternative organisational structures, we have prepared a draft business plan called CFA: Circulation Fulfillment Australia. The heart of the plan is that newsagents pool their distribution businesses into a bigger business to achieve economies of scale and to improve competitiveness while retaining current newsagent ownership.
CFA is a business model for a distribution newsagent for the twenty first century.
Owned by newsagents, CFA is a business which amalgamates individual newsagent distribution operations into a more commercial logistics centered consumer fulfillment and marketing organisation, freeing some newsagents to concentrate on their retail businesses and others to exit the day to day operation of a newsagency.
Separation of retail and distribution newsagency businesses in this way allows the individual newsagent to have more resources available for managing and building the retail side of the business while retaining an economic interest in a distribution operation.
The initial partners in CFA gain an added benefit – that of developing this exciting model for the future of newsagencies and newsagents.
CFA provides a structured and viable exit mechanism for newsagents looking to exit the industry. CFA also provides a commercial alternative for newsagents who want to work together and aggregate their individual distribution businesses into something more competitive and valuable.
CFA aims to:
Leverage economies of scale and reduce the per delivery point delivery cost. Improve the service retail customers receive and therefore sales achieved and the number of locations reached. Improve the service home delivery customers receive and therefore improve retention and market penetration. Develop and implement successful home delivery customer recruitment campaigns. Surpass supplier customer service objectives. Provide a financially rewarding and lifestyle enhancing alternative for newsagents. Provide an ownership and management structure appropriate to the today’s commercial climate which enables newsagents to more easily compete. Eliminate the duplication of effort inherent in the current newsagent system.
Newsagents adopting this business plan will hand their entire distribution business over to CFA in return for an agreed shareholding in the company. At the same time CFA will enter into a five year agreements for the distribution of newspapers and magazines (home delivery and sub agents) in the handed up ‘territories’.
Newsagents not wishing to take up shares in CFA would have the option of receiving payment according to an agreed valuation formula and over an agreed period of time.
CFA will operate the distribution business from a separate specialist location with specialist distribution and marketing staff. From the time of take over, the selling newsagents would have no further involvement with distribution other than as shareholders in CFA.
CFA would employ distribution, marketing and customer service specialists and resource them with state of the art facilities to enable the most efficient and cost effective circulation product distribution operation possible. The product delivered out of the distribution facility would aim to set a new benchmark for the distribution of newspapers and magazines in Australia.
I have a 20 page business plan for anyone interested.
I would be interested in having a look at you thoughts. I am a CBD agent with a daily volume of 1200 papers with 200 business accounts. I beleive the nature of this type of distribution is specialised and i have had many discussions with fairfax and news about the value that we offer to these type of customers, which they agree. Please contact me if you would like to discuss some points.
joe rylands
riverside news
That’s very similar to what is happening in banking sector these days. small banks are merging with much larger banks to defeat competetors. That’s a good approach though even if banks didn’t mean to take hold of larger marketshare.
That’s very similar to what is happening in banking sector these days. small banks are merging with much larger banks to defeat competetors. That’s a good approach though even if banks didn’t mean to take hold of larger marketshare.