Dick Smith – Australian Entrepreneur, Explorer and Philanthropist

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including the rights to the black and yellow logo with Dick Smith’s name and face because market research had shown the consumers equated the name of the company with being an Australian retail success. Today, the name and face of Dick Smith is still strongly connected with the company for the same reason. Dick Smith Electronics continues to be a success. It has grown to over 130 metropolitan company-owned stores, 10 franchise stores in smaller towns and country areas and 70 authorised stockists in Australia and New Zealand, and employs over 2000 people.

After selling the company to Woolworths, Dick Smith left the electronic industry to explore interests in publishing, exploration and philanthropy. In 1985 he began the quarterly magazine Australian Geographic, which was sold to Australian-owned John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd in 1995. The magazine is now privately owned after a management buy-out in 1998.

A new tasty adventure: Dick Smith Foods

Dick Smith is passionate about Australian made and owned food and food companies and publicising those quintessentially ‘Australian’ foods like Vegemite, Rosella, Life Savers and Arnott’s which are now foreign-owned. In 1999 he invested A$5 million to launch Dick Smith Foods. ‘Australians are patriotic but at the moment the labelling is so deceptive you don’t know what’s Australian. What I can say to people (is) “if you buy a product with a Dick Smith Foods label on it – it’s as Australian as you can get”’.

Less than a year after it was established, Dick Smith Foods was selling over 80 supermarket products, including peanut butter, ice cream, cereals and soups. The products are manufactured by local companies such as Greens Foods, Bega Cheese, SPC, Golden Circle and Sanitarium, and are sold under licence with the Dick Smith logo.

The manufacturers pay Dick Smith a royalty, which is donated to charities. From 1999 to 2002, Dick Smith Foods generated A$157 million in retail sales and donated A$1.3 million to charities such as the Salvation Army.

In 2002, Dick Smith granted a 10-year licence to Sanitarium health Food Company to run the everyday business of his food label. He approached Sanitarium, which is owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, because he wanted to lift sales and expand the product range. To achieve this he sought the expertise of an Australian company known to have the strength, integrity and experience in the food industry. By joining forces with Sanitarium, Dick Smith Foods received the backing it needed to compete on a more even footing with the big foreign-owned companies. But one important reason for the Sanitarium choice was the pursuit of Dick Smith Foods philosophy to support Australian –owned businesses and Australian farmers. Another benefit of the new growth potential will be increased funding for important charities and sponsorships. This is an important social commitment that combines the philanthropic policies adopted by both Dick Smith and Sanitarium.

Questions

1. Identify the multiple entrepreneurial outcomes described in the case study.

2. To what extent does an entrepreneur like Dick Smith foster the economic growth of Australia?

3. What entrepreneurial traits does Dick Smith exhibit?

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