The father of invention

When working and learning from home became our new normal, ACU alumnus Benn Murphy realised he had a big idea for his small business.

With COVID-19 sending us all inside, the humble kitchen table is working overtime as our new centre for work, study and everything in between. For business owner Benn, who completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at ACU, this struggle for space inspired a fresh direction for his family’s printing company.

Building opportunities

“We knew that people working and schooling at home were being forced to improvise with  picnic tables and thrown together spaces. With the weet-bix now making a mess next to the laptop, for us it was an opportunity,” said Benn, who himself has four young daughters trying to learn from home.

His new Build-a-Desk, which is a sturdy flatpack cardboard desk – “I’m about 95 kilograms and almost two-metres tall, and it can hold me!” – is a simple solution to a big space problem that many people are experiencing right now.

And when you already own a business where speed is key to your success, turning around a new idea quickly was just another day at the office for Benn and his team.

“We made about five or six prototypes in March, and within 72 hours the website was up and running, ready for sales,” he said.

New experience

Even though the desk is a new innovation for Clarke Murphy Print, the business backing the new product was already well established.

“My family have been in printing for five generations, since 1905.

The current business was started by my mum and dad in their garage 31 years ago,” said Benn. “Clearly, ink is in our blood.”

While entering the family business was always in the back of his mind, Benn knew he needed to bring the right skillset to make it work.

“I studied a Bachelor of Business Administration. It gave me such a good foundation for my career. If you’re interested in business, it’s so important you have a clear understanding of all those basic accounting fundamentals, like knowing how to properly read a balance sheet or understand profit and loss statements. My degree has come in handy so many times over the years.”

Along with a huge amount of enthusiasm, Benn brought his new skills to his father and together they grew business from eight people in 2005 to a staff of 65 today.

Family matters

While working with family isn’t for everyone, Benn and his family make it work.

“I can count on one hand the number of times my father and I have locked heads. It’s because we’ve got great communication – and respect. I’ve brought enthusiasm and the modern world into the business, and dad brings years of experience.

“When I was just starting, I would go to him with 1,001 ideas. He would rein me in and say, ‘OK, let’s just work on a few.’ This has worked well for us!”

Small business benefits

While many students dream of rising through the ranks of global corporations, for Benn, a small to medium enterprise (SME) offers a different kind of opportunity for both himself and his employees.

“The impact you can have as an individual working in an SME is enormous. Your skillsets are broadened as you’re not pigeonholed into just one area of a business.

“Take our financial controller, for example. She’s a qualified chartered account, but she’s involved in payroll, working with creditors and debtors and she’s a part of all of our strategy meetings. Her exposure to our business is fully encompassing and there’s nothing she doesn’t know about. And this is the number one difference – in a small or medium sized business, you’re a part of everything and it’s easier to make an impact.”

Innovating to advance

Learning to adapt has been key to Benn’s success as a business owner.

“There’s a perception the printing industry is dying – I couldn’t disagree more,” he said. “It’s constantly innovating and evolving. We’ve pivoted away from just working on traditional jobs like printing annual reports, and now we have more than 1,000 active customers from every part of the economy.

“We are producing static media in a digital world and we’ve had to keep up. Speed is everything.

"When my great grandfather was working in his printing business, he had a turn-around time of 16 weeks for jobs. What took him four months, now takes us hours. That evolution is undeniable.”

Meaningful manufacturing

While Benn is excited about the potential of Build-a-Desk – “We want to make a chair and move into cubby houses and create a whole new area for the business to expand into” – solving a problem by creating more was never the plan.

“The desk is 100 per cent recyclable – it was very important that we weren’t creating a product that was going to end up in landfill. But we also made sure it was owned, designed and manufactured in Australia. In fact, the materials we use for the Build-a-Desk come from another small family business in Lithgow, New South Wales.”

Working for success

While Benn is making the most of this unique time to drive sales, he says it was hard work, not lucky timing, that has led to his success.

“Thanks to the digital world we live in and what we’re exposed to on social media, owning and running a business doesn’t seem that hard,” said Benn. “But what I’ve been taught, and seen for myself, is no matter what business you’re in, it’s all about putting in the work.

“Admittedly, it’s difficult to find balance and switch off sometimes. But I have 65 staff – that’s 65 families I’m helping support and that’s important to me. However, as a business owner you need to have key people around you to take on responsibilities so you don’t carry everything yourself.

“What I’ve really learnt is that my customers and my suppliers are equally important, and the people you employ are working with you, not for you.”

Discover where a degree in business from ACU can lead you.