Issue 2 2019

24 Acquisition International - Issue 2 2019 Tell me about Francorp ME and your ongoing strategy. What techniques do you employ to ensure that you achieve this? At Francorp Middle East, we constantly work on developing our deliverables, expanding our franchise database and network, and staying one step ahead of the market. One of our ongoing strategy management techniques is maintaining regular communication with our shared global network of 23+ offices worldwide covering more than 55 countries. This is essential to us as every office’s experiences and business cases adds value, in their own unique ways, to the update and improvement of our deliverables. In addition to that, we also give a lot of importance to client feedback, as it can help in adding value to our deliverables as well. In terms of supporting unique businesses in the regions, we urge our business development consultants to be on the lookout for not only new, but also existing concepts. It is important to consider existing concepts as well, because not only may they be great ideas, but they may not have ventured into other potential markets that have a gap for what they can offer. In addition to that, we also work on expanding our network through one of the most important marketing mediums – events; specifically, the franchise exhibitions that we sponsor and partner in across the world in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, London, New York, Malaysia, Philippines and many more. Our most recent event was The Global Franchise Market in December 2018 in Dubai which is an economic hub in the GCC. What are your thoughts on the state of your industry currently? Are there any particular issues/changes that are affecting it? The Franchising industry is constantly evolving and growing to new heights. As with any other industry, there is a threat of a decline in the economy. However, the decline in the economy is not always a bad thing. As puzzling as it may seem, it is our belief, in fact, that recessions are almost as good for franchising as economic booms. This is because franchising itself isn’t an industry; it is just an expansion strategy, so it would never really get affected by a recession. Also, to many people, franchising is seen as an investment with a safety net, with people in better times looking to buy a business, and victims of layoffs and downsizing in worse times turning to invest their savings in a business to secure their future and be their own boss. With the threat of recessions being set aside, the other threat to consider would be the lack of understanding of what franchising really is and the benefits of it when compared to traditional forms of expansion. This is not an issue in developed regions such as the GCC, where currently the franchise economy is worth $30bn, with UAE alone worth $18bn, and growing. However, this is more of a threat in developing regions due to the lack of education and a lagging economy. Francorp’s role in these markets has been not only to help develop the leading concepts and import leading international franchises but rather a more educational role whereby we are constantly participating in seminars – workshops etc. to increase awareness about franchising, how it should be properly done, address its misconceptions and discuss its advantages. Are there any unique attributes which Francorp possesses that are essential to achieving success within your industry? We believe that one of our main unique attributes is our long history & extensive knowledge in developing franchising systems and structures for thousands of clients across a wide range of industries. From oil & gas to F&B to healthcare & wellness, education, beauty & fitness and anything in between, this has enabled us to gain solid experience and knowledge on the do’s & don’ts of a successful franchising system. Francorp is similar to a ‘ one-stop shop ’ for businesses that are looking to franchise when it comes to their expansion plans. We provide our clients advice and guidance to asses where they stand prior to engaging with us. Following that, we provide them with a tailored and an integrated franchise program with guidelines to ensure that their franchise journey is as smooth, hassle free and seamless as possible. The second important attribute is that all of our work and deliverables are done in-house by our various departments; from our strategic, to financial to legal to operations and marketing departments, everyone involved is part of the Francorp Middle East team. Having everything done in-house allows our different departments to communicate and cooperate with one another easily, and also considering that our deliverables are interrelated, it proves to be easier and faster when getting things done. In addition to that, one of the major reasons for doing everything in-house is because it reinforces confidentiality and that is also one of the primary reasons why we never consider outsourcing. What challenges and opportunities have you faced during your time here and how have they affected your role? One of the major challenges we faced is raising awareness about franchising as a business expansion method and the value it brings to businesses. Therefore, our main mission over the past 15 years has been and continues to be to spread the franchise culture, as well as to support small and medium enterprises as we know for a fact how franchising can add value to their brand, operations and the overall economic growth. For over a decade and with the goal of achieving this growth, we have worked with many governmental organizations around the Middle East such as Sheikh Mohammed Establishment, Khalifa Fund, Muscat SME, Kuwait SME, Ajman Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Saudi Chambers of Commerce across Jeddah, Riyad, Khobar and Hail, Qatar Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s operations in Jordan hosting seminars, workshops, subsidized programs and awareness campaigns. Aside from that, the political instability in certain regions in the middle east plaguing the economy has also been a challenge recently, as people are afraid to set up or run businesses as compared to earlier times. In order to prevent ourselves from being affected by these threats, we leveraged our abundance of knowledge, cumulated over the years, to provide only the best and tailored service to our clients, proposing the same to our future clients as well. This allowed us to establish and maintain a strong position in the market amongst our competitors. “...one of the major reasons for doing everything in- house is because it reinforces confidentiality and that is also one of the primary reasons why we never consider outsourcing.”