Franchising has always been a popular choice of business because of its relative reliability, and it remains one of the most powerful ways to stimulate entrepreneurship and job creation. In South Africa, franchising contributes to GDP and there is scope for the growth of this sector.
Morné Cronjé, Head of FNB Franchising says, “There’s no doubt that franchising remains an attractive prospect for businessmen and entrepreneurs. The beauty of franchising is that you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself. FNB’s upcoming Franchise Event in Umhlanga on the 10 September is aptly named ‘Planning for the future’, – which will look at ways of doing business in today’s economic climate.”
There are a number of distinguished speakers, one being Craig MacKenzie, Co-founder of Debonair’s Pizza, who shares his journey with us on how important it is to build an attractive franchise.
“During my second year at varsity, Andrew Harvey and I started Debonair’s Pizza out of the back of my brother’s supermarket bakery in Pietermaritzburg. We opened our first Debonair’s in September 1991, says MacKenzie, who got the idea from his travels to the US prior to starting university.
MacKenzie says that while a number of trusting suppliers provided credit, he did not have the capital to roll out company stores. Franchising was consequently an attractive option, but it was key to build an attractive franchise.
“From a potential franchisee perspective an exceptional return on investment is vital. In order to sustain the business in the long term innovation across all aspects of the business is essential and as with any business, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Planning should always go hand in hand with trend analysis and sector specific research. In South Africa we typically have the benefit of having access to international best practice which can be included in future strategies,” says MacKenzie.
“A responsible businessman or woman always plans for the future, and as Craig has demonstrated, it is imperative to build an attractive franchise for present and future purposes,” concludes Cronjé.
