Australian uniform manufacturer Total Image Group is expecting a surge in demand following a tough few years.
This included the official loss of a 13-year-long contract in 2021 that made up 40 per cent of the company’s revenue. Total Image Group founder and CEO Pamela Jabbour said the key reason that the business ended its contract with Total Image was to take its uniform manufacturing in-house.
This came as Total Image Group’s yearly revenues dropped to around $12 million in the first year of the pandemic, from a peak of around $15 million prior.
Jabbour said Total Image Group still has a great relationship with that client, but said the crunch led the business to undertake a review of its operations, which has then right-sided the business to nearing its $15 million goal once again.
Whilst the business has yet to reach this mark, Jabbour said that Total Image Group is growing. But it’s slow.
“I don't know what the other industries are like, but I remember when I started this business, it took me one year to get my first sale and I couldn't understand why,” she said. “But I now know the sales cycle in our industry can be anywhere from six to 24 months, depending on the size of the contract.”
Jabbour confirmed that the business has now secured its biggest pipeline to date but added that clients are not making decisions yet.
“And I'm comfortable with that,” she said. “I've had 19 years in business. I understand that projects are on hold, people are nervous. And so our sales cycle can take, as I said, depending on the year, anywhere from six to 24 months, and we are probably in a cycle right now where it's more like 12 to 24 months for a decision.”
“So that's how I know we're growing,” Jabbour added. “Because of the pipeline. It's coming, we just don't know exactly when.”
Jabbour said her business strategy edges on diversity for risk first and foremost, as well as for growth. The brand’s core verticals are in retail, healthcare, hospitality and automotive.
For instance, Jabbour said when COVID hit, its retail category wasn’t doing so well, but that there was a healthcare boom.
“We also saw an opportunity in early learning, and that it would fit with the products and services that we really specialise in, as well as teamwear,” she said. “And so we broadened our categories, maybe three years ago.
“Now we work with one of the largest fitness chains in Australia, Anytime Fitness, and the largest Early Learning Centre in Australia.
“I can see when I run our numbers on vertical that as a result of targeting new industries, early learning has really grown over the last two years for us as a sector.”
Looking ahead, Jabbour has her eyes set on Australia’s 2024 Budget, where she and her team will look at the sectors that the government is investing in.
“We would very mindfully look at our strategy because we are capable of servicing all of these sectors,” Jabbour said. “But where should we exhort our marketing spend, our resources?”
Total Image Group’s other key clients include RSPCA, Ford and Honda in automotive, as well as Venues NSW (Sydney Cricket Ground, Allianz Stadium) and retailers like Fantastic Furniture.
Today, the business dresses over 350,000 people across Australian workforces, and employs 40 people across the business - which includes local operations in Australia and its manufacturing arm in China.