theceomagazine.com | 111our products and we’re up to about the
85–90 per cent mark now.
“In the next three years, we also
hope to expand from 2,200 stores to
more than 3,000, and we’re targeting our
online sales business to increase to around
75–80 per cent. I think we’ll achieve that.
It’s been a successful journey so far, but we
have a long way to go.”
Andrew attributes his years as a semi-
professional rugby player to helping him
understand teamwork and leadership. His
approach to leadership is simple: hire great
people and no micromanagement.
“I believe in hiring people and giving
them the freedom within a framework to do
their job,” he says. “If I have to micromanage
someone, I clearly haven’t hired the right
person, unless of course they’re in training
and you’re teaching them a new skill set.
“I tend to lead from the front. My role is
to remove any barriers and roadblocks in the
way of their success. Obviously, if I can help
the people working for me be more
competent and accomplished, it promotes me
and makes me more successful. I’m all about
giving people the opportunity to reveal their
skill set and see what they can do given the
right environment.
“One of the things I was most proud of
as a franchisee was watching several of my
team members who started with me at 15
years of age go on to become successful
multi-unit franchisees. I’m very successful
today because of them; I wouldn’t be where
I am today without their achievements.”
In fact, Andrew says that almost all of the
CEOs in each of DPE’s seven countries
started as franchisees. Domino’s Group CEO
and Managing Director Don Meij began as a
delivery driver at Silvio’s Dial-A-Pizza, while
Nick Knight, CEO of DPE Australia and
New Zealand, also delivered pizzas before
buying his first franchise.
“We all started as franchisees, and I think
having been there we have real empathy and
understanding of how franchisees think
during their struggles. Part of our success
stems from never forgetting where we came
from. We have a real entrepreneurial approach
to running a public company because we
started at the bottom.”
Andrew is unable to play rugby anymore
and has taken up a more solitary sport to
keep fit. He gets on his bike, often riding
long distances to clear his head and plan the
road ahead.
“On a long-distance ride, you tend to go
into a subconscious state where you can
switch off,” he says. “While riding is a great
way to keep fit, it’s almost like meditation for
your brain and quite often you find solutions
to problems, or stimulating ideas and vision
for the future.
DPE’s vision is clear. It will deliver more
than a million pizzas in its countries every
day, whether by drone, robot or human, and
no doubt someone, somewhere will conjure
up yet another pizza combination to add to
the 34 million already available. Meanwhile,
Andrew will continue to live by the best
piece of advice he’s ever been given: “You
have two ears and one mouth and they
should be used in proportion,” he laughs.
“Very important.”“ One of the things I was most
proud of as a franchisee was
watching several of my team
members who started with
me at 15 years of age go
on to become successful
multi-unit franchisees.”