An American chain of Mexican restaurants will open its first branch outside the USA in Khar on Monday. Taco Fresco, which has 16 outlets in the USA, and specialises in authentic Mexican cuisine, opens up on 14th Road, Khar,Mumbai, where Bamboo Shoot used to be.
The casual dining restaurant is run by Sayeeda Kurlawala, who holds the franchise for all Taco Frescos in Asia. She plans to open more restaurants and Taco Fresco quick eateries in Mumbai, and across Asia. She has just returned from the USA, where she lived for 20 years, to start the venture.
“There is very little Mexican food on offer in Mumbai. People don’t use the right ingredients and don’t know how to make it. A lot of it is too sweet and they used tamarind, which is not Mexican at all.”
Indian touch
The restaurant, which seats 42 spread across an indoor and outdoor area, serves Burritos, Tacos, Nachos, Tortillas, Quesadillas and Fajitas with either chicken, fish, shrimps, or vegetables, and options of sour cream, refried beans, pico de gallo (tomato, onion and chilli), melted cheese, and guacamole.
A few dishes have Indian flavours such as Paneer Tacos and Chicken Tikka Burritos. They also serve authentic Maragaritas, Sangria and Mexican beers.Most items are made with locally sourced ingredients. This includes the tortilla chips, tortillas, sour cream and salsa “The only problem we are facing is in finding good avocadoes in Mumbai, “ says CEO and founder of Taco Fresco, Anthony Gambino, who is training the local chefs.
“Indian food is quite similar to Mexican food. Both have breads, sauces and meat and use tomatoes, onions, and chillies. But Indian food is spicier.”
Tags:Mexican Restaurant Franchise,Taco Fresco, Anthony Gambino, Master Franchise, Franchise Mumbai,American Chain, Fast Food Franchise, Mumbai Franchise, Sayeeda Kurlawala, Mexican Food Franchise.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Naukri Chaupal Seeks Investor Franchisee Partner For Its Employability Skill Training Franchise
The project on offer is a higher education institution to impart UG and PG level Technology, Business and other professional courses on contemporary and sunrise sectors like fashion, lifestyle, retail, wellness, hospitality, aviation, etc.
The fundamental difference between this institution and thousands of others across the country will be its 100% goal will be to impart a very high level of professional skills through extensive hands on training and industry exposure to enhance the employability level much higher than its competitors.
Today, any institution’s success solely dependent on the success of its students which is measured by the placements and their career growth in sue course. The student community is very well aware about these and they always run for admissions in those institutions.
It takes just a year to earn 50% of such reputation when students are offered with excellent internships and only 2 years to earn 100% of it when students are being placed.
It has been just 8 years, I have moved from overseas from a global industry career to education management in India and just like my exceptionally result oriented global career of nearly 24 years, my tenure in education has been extremely successful. I have earned a national level reputation as an academician, as an academic leader and also as a outstanding profit center head.
I am looking for investor/s who are keen to get into this high profile, high profit and extremely safe as well as recession free industry. The return on investment in this industry is far more faster than most others and its most prestigious industry too.
The franchisee partner/investor should be able to invest between Rs. 5 to 10 crore based on which the project size will differ.
The uniqueness of the proposed institution is that it will offer UG and PG level technology, management and media related courses with the specializations which are not offered by the competitors and so its students will be much more employable than its competitors in the market.
There are many other areas which will make this institution unique in India such as Teaching-Learning culture, Pedagogy, Hands on and application oriented learning, longer industry internships, Technology usage, Global curriculum, larger ratio of industry professional faculty members, in-house technology and business incubation, etc. are just to name a few.
There are millions of finer details that makes this project the best of its kind in the country and like all my previous projects my Midas touch will make a great difference with guaranteed success.
The project has an expansion plan to set up 5 more campuses across the country within 4-5 years and there will be no more expansions of campuses in India to ensure continuity and quality. There could be overseas campuses in Dubai, Manila, Bangkok and Singapore in due course.
What is Naukri Chaupal:
Naukri Chaupal is a network which will provide corporate world an easy access to the latent talent pool that is dispersed all across India. Naukri Chaupal will gather this dispersed human resource capital into a single easily accessible unit and make it available to the national and multinational companies.
Is Naukri Chaupal a New Concept?
Yes. It’s an initiative of Laurent and Benon which links the latent talent pool of the urban and semi urban areas with major brands and reputed corporates. It’s an effort to reach out to the human resource in small towns and cities which remains untapped by the national and multinational corporations (including many Fortune 500 companies).
Why Naukri Chaupal?
* Based nation wide.
* Deals with front-line to corporate positions.
* Has its own corporate client base.
* Direct connection with corporate.
* It’s a dynamic link between corporate and the HR prospect pool that is scattered all across the country.
* Extensive grass root penetration.
Tags:Education Franchise, naukri chaupal,skill enhancement franchise, vocational franchise, Investment Franchise,unique franchise, new franchise.
The fundamental difference between this institution and thousands of others across the country will be its 100% goal will be to impart a very high level of professional skills through extensive hands on training and industry exposure to enhance the employability level much higher than its competitors.
Today, any institution’s success solely dependent on the success of its students which is measured by the placements and their career growth in sue course. The student community is very well aware about these and they always run for admissions in those institutions.
It takes just a year to earn 50% of such reputation when students are offered with excellent internships and only 2 years to earn 100% of it when students are being placed.
It has been just 8 years, I have moved from overseas from a global industry career to education management in India and just like my exceptionally result oriented global career of nearly 24 years, my tenure in education has been extremely successful. I have earned a national level reputation as an academician, as an academic leader and also as a outstanding profit center head.
I am looking for investor/s who are keen to get into this high profile, high profit and extremely safe as well as recession free industry. The return on investment in this industry is far more faster than most others and its most prestigious industry too.
The franchisee partner/investor should be able to invest between Rs. 5 to 10 crore based on which the project size will differ.
The uniqueness of the proposed institution is that it will offer UG and PG level technology, management and media related courses with the specializations which are not offered by the competitors and so its students will be much more employable than its competitors in the market.
There are many other areas which will make this institution unique in India such as Teaching-Learning culture, Pedagogy, Hands on and application oriented learning, longer industry internships, Technology usage, Global curriculum, larger ratio of industry professional faculty members, in-house technology and business incubation, etc. are just to name a few.
There are millions of finer details that makes this project the best of its kind in the country and like all my previous projects my Midas touch will make a great difference with guaranteed success.
The project has an expansion plan to set up 5 more campuses across the country within 4-5 years and there will be no more expansions of campuses in India to ensure continuity and quality. There could be overseas campuses in Dubai, Manila, Bangkok and Singapore in due course.
What is Naukri Chaupal:
Naukri Chaupal is a network which will provide corporate world an easy access to the latent talent pool that is dispersed all across India. Naukri Chaupal will gather this dispersed human resource capital into a single easily accessible unit and make it available to the national and multinational companies.
Is Naukri Chaupal a New Concept?
Yes. It’s an initiative of Laurent and Benon which links the latent talent pool of the urban and semi urban areas with major brands and reputed corporates. It’s an effort to reach out to the human resource in small towns and cities which remains untapped by the national and multinational corporations (including many Fortune 500 companies).
Why Naukri Chaupal?
* Based nation wide.
* Deals with front-line to corporate positions.
* Has its own corporate client base.
* Direct connection with corporate.
* It’s a dynamic link between corporate and the HR prospect pool that is scattered all across the country.
* Extensive grass root penetration.
Tags:Education Franchise, naukri chaupal,skill enhancement franchise, vocational franchise, Investment Franchise,unique franchise, new franchise.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
US Based Toy Manufacturer Ty Inc Enters India
Ty Inc, a US-based toy manufacturer has entered India through its licensee partner Ty India Pvt. Ltd. The company aims to cash in on the increasing expenditure on toys and has plans to expand the brand presence in India through franchising, confirmed Ramchandram Dhannaram, Publicist, Ty India Pvt. Ltd.
The American toy company has entered India by launching its products in Hyderabad. The Ty Toys will be available only in specialty retail locations, hypermarkets, and departmental stores through franchising. It is all set to compete with prominent international brands such as Disney, Barbie, Funskool, and Wild Republic. The company is known for its popular brands such as Beanie Babies, Punkies, and Ty Girlz. In India the choice in the soft toys category is limited to teddy bears, whereas Ty will offer over 250 designs of animals. The company intends to fill the gap in the soft toys segment.
The company will expand its presence to southern states and selected towns in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and so on. The Ty Toys price range is affordable to Indian consumers and starts from Rs 189 to Rs 1200. Founded in 1986 by Ty Warner and creator of the widely popular Beanie Babies, all the product line of Ty Toys are the most sought after in India.
Tags:Ty Inc, Toy Store, Toy Franchise, Disney, Barbie, funskool, Wild Republic,Beanie Babies, Ty Toys,Ty India Pvt Ltd, Ty Girlz, children franchise, Kids Franchise,
The American toy company has entered India by launching its products in Hyderabad. The Ty Toys will be available only in specialty retail locations, hypermarkets, and departmental stores through franchising. It is all set to compete with prominent international brands such as Disney, Barbie, Funskool, and Wild Republic. The company is known for its popular brands such as Beanie Babies, Punkies, and Ty Girlz. In India the choice in the soft toys category is limited to teddy bears, whereas Ty will offer over 250 designs of animals. The company intends to fill the gap in the soft toys segment.
The company will expand its presence to southern states and selected towns in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and so on. The Ty Toys price range is affordable to Indian consumers and starts from Rs 189 to Rs 1200. Founded in 1986 by Ty Warner and creator of the widely popular Beanie Babies, all the product line of Ty Toys are the most sought after in India.
Tags:Ty Inc, Toy Store, Toy Franchise, Disney, Barbie, funskool, Wild Republic,Beanie Babies, Ty Toys,Ty India Pvt Ltd, Ty Girlz, children franchise, Kids Franchise,
Godrej Interio Opens Its First Franchise Store In Chennai
Godrej Interio brings to Chennai a new Designer Furniture destination at Velachery, Bypass Road Godrej Interio arrives with the latest spring 2010 collection
Godrej Interio, India's leading home, office furniture & Interior Solutions Company today launched its first Franchise store in the city at Velachery, Bypass Road in association with Sarada Agencies, one of the leading Wholesale Dealers of Home & Office furniture in Chennai. The store is located in key retail hub of Chennai and is a perfect lifestyle destination. The store was inaugurated by Mr. Anil Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio.
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, April 28, 2010 -- Godrej Interio is totally committed to providing the highest quality furniture. The design teams work closely with consumers to determine their likes and preferences and these requirements are what can be seen in the products. While the designs are contemporary they reflect the lifestyle needs of the Indian consumers.
The store showcases vibrant, innovative furniture designed by renowned In house designers at Godrej Interio to give its customers the best shopping experience. Spread over an area of 5500 sq ft the Godrej Interio store has great visibility and is located at the most happening shopping area in Chennai.
Mr. Anil Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio on the occasion said "We are delighted to open our first franchisee store in Chennai. Godrej Interio is India's largest furniture brand and has been committed in delivering and bringing alive every consumers dream space. We are looking at expansion constantly to reach more and more consumers and plan to launch 70 stores by the year 2013".
Mr. Mathur also added that foraying into the franchise business will not only provide improved & consistent customer experience across all Godrej Interio stores but will also help in delighting customers by gaining better control and knowledge through a direct interface.
Notes to Editor
Godrej Interio integrates the concept of functional and contemporary furniture. A perfect amalgamation of time tested values and contemporary outlook. It's vibrant stylish and comfortable. When it comes to furniture, be it office, home or even designer furniture like the recent range of home furniture designed by Krsna Mehta, Godrej Interio has the entire range under one roof. Godrej Interio delivers ergonomically designed & contemporary Seating, Desking, Open Plan Office Systems, Storages, Bedroom Sets, Dining sets, Kitchens, Labs, Hospitals, Interiors, Carpets, Modular accommodation for the Navy and Kid's furniture-that are comfortable, healthy and productive. With the range of Home furniture & decor solutions, Godrej provides the warmth & comfort that reflects a happy, at ease family.
Sarada Agencies, a Company set up in 1952 by the promoter family of Facit Typewriters, diversified into the field of Office Furniture in 1970. It took up wholesale dealership of Godrej range of Home & Office Furniture in 2001 and in a short span of time topped the list of major contributors. They set up their first home store for Godrej Furniture in 2001 in Adyar, a cosmopolitan area in South Chennai. Since the potential of home furniture business was growing, they set up furniture showroom at Velachery, in June 2008 displaying all range of Godrej Home and Office Furniture and has been a one stop shop for all Furniture requirements. Taking that relation forward they now have a brand new, modern and spacious franchise store, which will make the Godrej Interio shopping a Bigger, Brighter, Better experience.
The Godrej Interio group to stand true to the Godrej mission to conserve the environment, designs products, sets up processes and uses raw materials that are eco-friendly to do their bit to preserve natural resources.
Source:PR Wire
Tags:Chennai Franchise,Godrej Interio, furniture franchise, Franchise Business, furniture business, best franchise,franchise store, new franchise, godrej franchise, furniture store
Godrej Interio, India's leading home, office furniture & Interior Solutions Company today launched its first Franchise store in the city at Velachery, Bypass Road in association with Sarada Agencies, one of the leading Wholesale Dealers of Home & Office furniture in Chennai. The store is located in key retail hub of Chennai and is a perfect lifestyle destination. The store was inaugurated by Mr. Anil Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio.
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, April 28, 2010 -- Godrej Interio is totally committed to providing the highest quality furniture. The design teams work closely with consumers to determine their likes and preferences and these requirements are what can be seen in the products. While the designs are contemporary they reflect the lifestyle needs of the Indian consumers.
The store showcases vibrant, innovative furniture designed by renowned In house designers at Godrej Interio to give its customers the best shopping experience. Spread over an area of 5500 sq ft the Godrej Interio store has great visibility and is located at the most happening shopping area in Chennai.
Mr. Anil Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio on the occasion said "We are delighted to open our first franchisee store in Chennai. Godrej Interio is India's largest furniture brand and has been committed in delivering and bringing alive every consumers dream space. We are looking at expansion constantly to reach more and more consumers and plan to launch 70 stores by the year 2013".
Mr. Mathur also added that foraying into the franchise business will not only provide improved & consistent customer experience across all Godrej Interio stores but will also help in delighting customers by gaining better control and knowledge through a direct interface.
Notes to Editor
Godrej Interio integrates the concept of functional and contemporary furniture. A perfect amalgamation of time tested values and contemporary outlook. It's vibrant stylish and comfortable. When it comes to furniture, be it office, home or even designer furniture like the recent range of home furniture designed by Krsna Mehta, Godrej Interio has the entire range under one roof. Godrej Interio delivers ergonomically designed & contemporary Seating, Desking, Open Plan Office Systems, Storages, Bedroom Sets, Dining sets, Kitchens, Labs, Hospitals, Interiors, Carpets, Modular accommodation for the Navy and Kid's furniture-that are comfortable, healthy and productive. With the range of Home furniture & decor solutions, Godrej provides the warmth & comfort that reflects a happy, at ease family.
Sarada Agencies, a Company set up in 1952 by the promoter family of Facit Typewriters, diversified into the field of Office Furniture in 1970. It took up wholesale dealership of Godrej range of Home & Office Furniture in 2001 and in a short span of time topped the list of major contributors. They set up their first home store for Godrej Furniture in 2001 in Adyar, a cosmopolitan area in South Chennai. Since the potential of home furniture business was growing, they set up furniture showroom at Velachery, in June 2008 displaying all range of Godrej Home and Office Furniture and has been a one stop shop for all Furniture requirements. Taking that relation forward they now have a brand new, modern and spacious franchise store, which will make the Godrej Interio shopping a Bigger, Brighter, Better experience.
The Godrej Interio group to stand true to the Godrej mission to conserve the environment, designs products, sets up processes and uses raw materials that are eco-friendly to do their bit to preserve natural resources.
Source:PR Wire
Tags:Chennai Franchise,Godrej Interio, furniture franchise, Franchise Business, furniture business, best franchise,franchise store, new franchise, godrej franchise, furniture store
Monday, April 26, 2010
Jetking To Add 20 New Locations For Its Computer Education Franchise Network.
Jetking to open 20 new franchises across India
New Delhi | Sunday, Apr 25 2010 IST
Aiming to bring education to every door step, Jetking Infotrain Ltd is all set to open 20 new franchises in the country this year. The institute, that trains youth in computer hardware and networking, has over 135 training centers at present and claims to have placed about four lakh technical and non-technical students in various companies. ''The new centres will be primarily focused in eastern and southern part of the country. The locations will include Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in south, along with the north-eastern states,'' Urvashi Bharwani, Vice-president, Sales and Marketing, Jetking Infotrain Ltd, told UNI today. The present centres include more than 10 in Delhi and NCR wherein students from all over the country such as Rewari, Sri Ganganagar, Bijnor, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Haldwani and Delhi and NCR study. Talking about the teaching methodology used at the centres, Ms Bharwani stated that building confidence along with providing right skills to the students remained their priority. ''The students are trained by certified trainers who have already been trained by our technical team. Efforts remain constant to upgrade their knowledge according to the industry needs so as to motivate them in performing well,'' she said. The institute uses its unique Smartlab Plus teaching methodology that focuses on personality development, English-speaking, Yoga, sixty per cent practical, CBT, field visits and quizzes.
''Through this methodology, we break the journey of the student into small interesting steps maintaining his or her interest,'' Ms Bharwani said. The institute has launched a new course this year named Jetking Certified Hardware and Networking Engineer (JCHNE). It is a year long course wherein the classes are held for two hours daily. The institute also organises placement weeks in every city annually. The last one was held on April 6 wherein more than 35 students got on the spot job offers and around 260 students were short-listed at the fair, Ms Bharwani claimed. She added that 950 students (under-graduates and graduates) from 19 different centers and representatives of 13 IT companies had participated in the event.
Tags:Computer Franchise,education franchise,hardware franchise,top franchise,best franchise,franchise brand,training franchise
New Delhi | Sunday, Apr 25 2010 IST
Aiming to bring education to every door step, Jetking Infotrain Ltd is all set to open 20 new franchises in the country this year. The institute, that trains youth in computer hardware and networking, has over 135 training centers at present and claims to have placed about four lakh technical and non-technical students in various companies. ''The new centres will be primarily focused in eastern and southern part of the country. The locations will include Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in south, along with the north-eastern states,'' Urvashi Bharwani, Vice-president, Sales and Marketing, Jetking Infotrain Ltd, told UNI today. The present centres include more than 10 in Delhi and NCR wherein students from all over the country such as Rewari, Sri Ganganagar, Bijnor, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Haldwani and Delhi and NCR study. Talking about the teaching methodology used at the centres, Ms Bharwani stated that building confidence along with providing right skills to the students remained their priority. ''The students are trained by certified trainers who have already been trained by our technical team. Efforts remain constant to upgrade their knowledge according to the industry needs so as to motivate them in performing well,'' she said. The institute uses its unique Smartlab Plus teaching methodology that focuses on personality development, English-speaking, Yoga, sixty per cent practical, CBT, field visits and quizzes.
''Through this methodology, we break the journey of the student into small interesting steps maintaining his or her interest,'' Ms Bharwani said. The institute has launched a new course this year named Jetking Certified Hardware and Networking Engineer (JCHNE). It is a year long course wherein the classes are held for two hours daily. The institute also organises placement weeks in every city annually. The last one was held on April 6 wherein more than 35 students got on the spot job offers and around 260 students were short-listed at the fair, Ms Bharwani claimed. She added that 950 students (under-graduates and graduates) from 19 different centers and representatives of 13 IT companies had participated in the event.
Tags:Computer Franchise,education franchise,hardware franchise,top franchise,best franchise,franchise brand,training franchise
Friday, April 23, 2010
Foreign Retail Brands Hotting Up For India Expansion
Foreign retailers increase India focus and look at India Expansion
New Delhi, April 19
The positive sentiment in the domestic retail market is driving foreign retailers to increase their focus on the Indian shores. After lying low for nearly two years, retailers are firming up plans to increase their presence in the sub-continent not just through retail expansion but also price cuts to find a foot here.
Major retailers Walmart, The Body Shop and Artsana Inc. are putting expansions back on their strategies and are looking to expand business in india. Most companies had put a brake on expansions into India after the economic recession put their plans in a limbo.
Scouting for locations
Bharti Walmart, the 50:50 joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the US-based Walmart Inc, said it is also looking to foray into southern and western parts of India within the next 18-24 months. The company is also understood to be scouting for locations in these regions but is yet to take a decision on the total number of outlets likely to be set up. “Within 12-18 months we should be able to be in the southern markets. We are focusing on all four southern states. And, probably after that, within two years, we will be in west India,” Mr Raj Jain, Managing Director and CEO, hief Executive Officer, said. Bharti Walmart had set up its first venture last year. “We see India as a mega place for our worldwide sourcing. Indian products can be exported to other Asian countries, Europe and even the US,” Mr Scott Price, Wal-Mart Asia President and CEO, said.
Similarly, cosmetic retailer The Body Shop is taking its store presence to 35 stores across 16 cities in India. The company said its expansion will include shop-in-shops as well as standalone stores.
“We have a tie with Future Group's Central Mall and Debenhams. We are also looking to forge a similar alliance with Shopper's Stop. We are also going aggressive on our pricing. Our price reduction strategy has helped us reach a broader spectrum of shoppers, thereby, widening our consumer base in India,” Mr Jonathan Price, Managing Director, The Body Shop, said, adding accessibility and affordability will be the key to its expansion in India.
In India, the company also has a franchising arrangement with Planet Retail Group where the former focuses on product development and training while the latter takes care of expansion into new territory.
Italian conglomerate Artsana, a €1.4-billion company, engaged in the business of babycare and healthcare, has entered India through single-brand retailing.
“We decided to come to India after we saw the growth potential in this market. The BRICs region is important for us and we are looking for investments here,” Mr Michele Catelli, Chairman and Managing Director of the family-led Artsana Group, said.
The company operates in 120 countries with over 21 subsidiaries globally. The group opened its maiden flagship ‘Chicco' store in Delhi, said it will be opening a slew of stores in major metros.
“We will be opening at least 8-10 stores in the next couple of months. This will help us not just in brand building but also give a keen insight into consumers' buying behaviour and price positioning for the Indian market,” he said, adding the company is keeping its pricing competitive in India.
Positive signals
The London-based property development and property search company Casa Forma said the sentiment in the real estate sector is positive. “We are seeing a turnaround in India and to step up our presence here we have hired a team,” Mr Fazia Seth, CEO, said. The company is exploring possibilities to design properties for individual and institutional clients.
Source:Bindu D. Menon:Hindu Business Line
New Delhi, April 19
The positive sentiment in the domestic retail market is driving foreign retailers to increase their focus on the Indian shores. After lying low for nearly two years, retailers are firming up plans to increase their presence in the sub-continent not just through retail expansion but also price cuts to find a foot here.
Major retailers Walmart, The Body Shop and Artsana Inc. are putting expansions back on their strategies and are looking to expand business in india. Most companies had put a brake on expansions into India after the economic recession put their plans in a limbo.
Scouting for locations
Bharti Walmart, the 50:50 joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the US-based Walmart Inc, said it is also looking to foray into southern and western parts of India within the next 18-24 months. The company is also understood to be scouting for locations in these regions but is yet to take a decision on the total number of outlets likely to be set up. “Within 12-18 months we should be able to be in the southern markets. We are focusing on all four southern states. And, probably after that, within two years, we will be in west India,” Mr Raj Jain, Managing Director and CEO, hief Executive Officer, said. Bharti Walmart had set up its first venture last year. “We see India as a mega place for our worldwide sourcing. Indian products can be exported to other Asian countries, Europe and even the US,” Mr Scott Price, Wal-Mart Asia President and CEO, said.
Similarly, cosmetic retailer The Body Shop is taking its store presence to 35 stores across 16 cities in India. The company said its expansion will include shop-in-shops as well as standalone stores.
“We have a tie with Future Group's Central Mall and Debenhams. We are also looking to forge a similar alliance with Shopper's Stop. We are also going aggressive on our pricing. Our price reduction strategy has helped us reach a broader spectrum of shoppers, thereby, widening our consumer base in India,” Mr Jonathan Price, Managing Director, The Body Shop, said, adding accessibility and affordability will be the key to its expansion in India.
In India, the company also has a franchising arrangement with Planet Retail Group where the former focuses on product development and training while the latter takes care of expansion into new territory.
Italian conglomerate Artsana, a €1.4-billion company, engaged in the business of babycare and healthcare, has entered India through single-brand retailing.
“We decided to come to India after we saw the growth potential in this market. The BRICs region is important for us and we are looking for investments here,” Mr Michele Catelli, Chairman and Managing Director of the family-led Artsana Group, said.
The company operates in 120 countries with over 21 subsidiaries globally. The group opened its maiden flagship ‘Chicco' store in Delhi, said it will be opening a slew of stores in major metros.
“We will be opening at least 8-10 stores in the next couple of months. This will help us not just in brand building but also give a keen insight into consumers' buying behaviour and price positioning for the Indian market,” he said, adding the company is keeping its pricing competitive in India.
Positive signals
The London-based property development and property search company Casa Forma said the sentiment in the real estate sector is positive. “We are seeing a turnaround in India and to step up our presence here we have hired a team,” Mr Fazia Seth, CEO, said. The company is exploring possibilities to design properties for individual and institutional clients.
Source:Bindu D. Menon:Hindu Business Line
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Bradford To Bring Its Licensed Brands Portfolio To India
Bradford looks to bring up to 5 licenced brands to India
US-based brand licencing agency Bradford today said it plans to extend its agreements with international clients to sell and market merchandise sporting global brand names in India.
The company, which has international clients such as Pepsi, Beverly Hills, Mountain Dew, 7 Up and Hollywood star Denise Richards, said it is negotiations with some of them to sell their licenced merchandise in India.
Under brand licencing, Bradford will enter into agreements with its clients for marketing and sale of merchandise and other accessories in India as a means to promote these brands among consumers.
"Our target will be to have 3-5 clients in India within two years. We are already talking with some of our existing global clients to start merchandising their accessories in India and we are also keen to tap local India players," Bradford Licensing President Michelle Minieri told PTI.
She said the company is also looking at tapping local Indian corporates, besides Bollywood icons and cricket stars, as part of its plan to gain a foothold in the newly emerging licensing market in the country.
"We see lot of potential in segments like apparels and accesories like socks, bags and ties as licensing items for the brands. In addition, we are also keen to tap Bollywood icons, cricket stars and events like the IPL, which are all recognised globally," Minieri said.
"Globally, licencing is a multi-billion dollar industry, but it is only evolving in India. However, Indian customers crave for brands and for companies, licencing is an easy way to make their brands recognisable," Minieri said.
She added that Bradford will also explore the option of taking Indian companies and individual industrialists abroad as global licencees
Source:Press Trust of India / New Delhi, April 22, 2010, 17:25 IST
US-based brand licencing agency Bradford today said it plans to extend its agreements with international clients to sell and market merchandise sporting global brand names in India.
The company, which has international clients such as Pepsi, Beverly Hills, Mountain Dew, 7 Up and Hollywood star Denise Richards, said it is negotiations with some of them to sell their licenced merchandise in India.
Under brand licencing, Bradford will enter into agreements with its clients for marketing and sale of merchandise and other accessories in India as a means to promote these brands among consumers.
"Our target will be to have 3-5 clients in India within two years. We are already talking with some of our existing global clients to start merchandising their accessories in India and we are also keen to tap local India players," Bradford Licensing President Michelle Minieri told PTI.
She said the company is also looking at tapping local Indian corporates, besides Bollywood icons and cricket stars, as part of its plan to gain a foothold in the newly emerging licensing market in the country.
"We see lot of potential in segments like apparels and accesories like socks, bags and ties as licensing items for the brands. In addition, we are also keen to tap Bollywood icons, cricket stars and events like the IPL, which are all recognised globally," Minieri said.
"Globally, licencing is a multi-billion dollar industry, but it is only evolving in India. However, Indian customers crave for brands and for companies, licencing is an easy way to make their brands recognisable," Minieri said.
She added that Bradford will also explore the option of taking Indian companies and individual industrialists abroad as global licencees
Source:Press Trust of India / New Delhi, April 22, 2010, 17:25 IST
Remax Seeking Agressive Franchise Expansion In India
Remax scouting for franchisee partners
The Denver (US)-based real estate brokerage firm Remax brings its franchisee model into India and is scouting for partners. The company, which has over 7,000 offices and presence in 80 countries, announced the launch of Remax operations in Andhra Pradesh through a franchisee partner with base in Hyderabad.
The Chairman and Managing Director of Remax India, Mr Samir Chopra, said that the company through its partners and franchisees plans to play the role of a facilitator for people scouting for properties, both commercial and residential. This is an extremely well organised business in other markets. “The day is not far away, when real estate brokerage will also become well organised in India,” he explained.
Addressing a press conference , Mr Chopra said that the company may also consider property management services in India as it provides in other markets in the long run. The licensing model for brokerages works well as it is mutually beneficial. This is based on revenue share with maximum returns for the local agent of the franchisee.
The US company is in the process of negotiations for franchisees . “In Andhra Pradesh alone, we will have about 8-10 franchisees in major towns in the State. We expect to commence transactions from June,” Mr A. Balajee Kumar, Regional Director, said.
Tags:Real Estate Franchise,licensing model,
The Denver (US)-based real estate brokerage firm Remax brings its franchisee model into India and is scouting for partners. The company, which has over 7,000 offices and presence in 80 countries, announced the launch of Remax operations in Andhra Pradesh through a franchisee partner with base in Hyderabad.
The Chairman and Managing Director of Remax India, Mr Samir Chopra, said that the company through its partners and franchisees plans to play the role of a facilitator for people scouting for properties, both commercial and residential. This is an extremely well organised business in other markets. “The day is not far away, when real estate brokerage will also become well organised in India,” he explained.
Addressing a press conference , Mr Chopra said that the company may also consider property management services in India as it provides in other markets in the long run. The licensing model for brokerages works well as it is mutually beneficial. This is based on revenue share with maximum returns for the local agent of the franchisee.
The US company is in the process of negotiations for franchisees . “In Andhra Pradesh alone, we will have about 8-10 franchisees in major towns in the State. We expect to commence transactions from June,” Mr A. Balajee Kumar, Regional Director, said.
Tags:Real Estate Franchise,licensing model,
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Xtreme Sports Bar To Open 30 Outlets By 2012
Xtreme Sports Bar (XSB) owned and operated by Hyderabad-based SuryaRay Elixirs Pvt Ltd is planning to operate 30 outlets (both owned and franchise) by end of 2012. Furthermore, the company aims to take the brand overseas in next two years in Europe, Australia and the US. Currently operating in Hyderabad (four outlets), Bengaluru (two outlets), Gurgaon (one outlet), it has recently opened its new outlet in Mumbai. There are plans to have around 10 more XSBs in India by the end of this year. The company is investing Rs 30 crore for its pan India expansion in the next two months.
Speaking exclusively with Hospitality Biz, Ramya Vankina, Chief Marketing Officer, Xtreme Sports Bar said, “With the sports season steaming up in India, the concept of Sports Bar is also emerging with a good pace. We are trying to tap the opportunity at the right time by targeting IPL (Indian Premier League) in cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Chandigarh for our pan India expansion. We are also working at opening additional XSBs in few cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru where the demand is high.” The company is opening one outlet in Vishakhapatnam by this month end, two more outlets in Mumbai, one each in Delhi and Bengaluru by end of this year.
Talking about the marketing strategies, Vankina said, “We will mainly focus on word-of-mouth marketing and try to reach our target audience through niche marketing tactics, which includes advertising in selective publications and cross marketing with sports brand. We also have a strong presence on social networking sites where we interact and take feedback from our members and clients. With increasing number of outlets across the country, we are slowly focusing on print and online media as well.” The bar have loyalty programme – Xtreme MPB (Most Valued Player) card in silver, gold and platinum category which can be used at all XSB across the country. It also sends out monthly newsletter to all its members updating them about their in-house events, rock bands performances, Karaoke nights and sport quizzes.
Tags:Xtreme Sports Bar,Bar franchise,Pub Franchise,Rock Pub Franchise,Sports Bar Franchise,Start A Franchise,Fast Food Franchise,Cafe Franchise
Speaking exclusively with Hospitality Biz, Ramya Vankina, Chief Marketing Officer, Xtreme Sports Bar said, “With the sports season steaming up in India, the concept of Sports Bar is also emerging with a good pace. We are trying to tap the opportunity at the right time by targeting IPL (Indian Premier League) in cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Chandigarh for our pan India expansion. We are also working at opening additional XSBs in few cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru where the demand is high.” The company is opening one outlet in Vishakhapatnam by this month end, two more outlets in Mumbai, one each in Delhi and Bengaluru by end of this year.
Talking about the marketing strategies, Vankina said, “We will mainly focus on word-of-mouth marketing and try to reach our target audience through niche marketing tactics, which includes advertising in selective publications and cross marketing with sports brand. We also have a strong presence on social networking sites where we interact and take feedback from our members and clients. With increasing number of outlets across the country, we are slowly focusing on print and online media as well.” The bar have loyalty programme – Xtreme MPB (Most Valued Player) card in silver, gold and platinum category which can be used at all XSB across the country. It also sends out monthly newsletter to all its members updating them about their in-house events, rock bands performances, Karaoke nights and sport quizzes.
Tags:Xtreme Sports Bar,Bar franchise,Pub Franchise,Rock Pub Franchise,Sports Bar Franchise,Start A Franchise,Fast Food Franchise,Cafe Franchise
Raymonds Franchise Stores to Be Added This Year In More Than 100 New Locations Across India
Raymond to take franchisee route to open 100 stores
Mumbai:Friday 16 April, 2010, The Rs 1,200-crore Raymond Ltd is planning to open 100 retail stores through its franchisee network in tier-IV and V cities like Bijapur, Mandya and Bellary in Karnataka, and Ahmednagar and Bhandara in Maharashtra, among others, in calendar year 2010. This is more than the 76 franchise stores the company opened in 2009-10 with an investment of around Rs 25 crore.
The branded apparel and textile major currently has approximately 10 lakh sq ft of retail space across 520-odd stores. Of these, around 60 are owned by the firm.
‘The Raymond Shop’ stores stock exclusive Raymond brands, which include ColorPlus, Park Avenue and Parx. Around 450 are the company’s franchisees. Retailing contributes 49% to the company’s overall revenues.
Raymond president (retail & business development) Rakesh Pandey said: “We are opening 100 stores through our franchisee network in tier IV and V cities by the end of this calendar year.” He added that the revenues from these stores are expected to be around Rs 30 crore.
The total revenue from the retail business could not be ascertained because some of Raymond's brands are produced by its subsidiaries, and will only be available in company’s annual balance sheet.
Last week, the company launched a ‘made-to-measure’ store at Palladium, located in the famous Phoenix Mills mall in Mumbai. The store is a 500 sq ft area, which mainly offers custom fits of garments.
In fiscal 2009, Raymond operated with a same-store-sales (SSS) growth of 7% and closed its third quarter with a total income of Rs 375 crore. The Raymond group has around 12 subsidiaries, out of which Raymond handles the textiles, engineering and aviation businesses. Other subsidiaries include Raymond Apparel Ltd, ColourPlus Fashion Ltd, EverBlue Apparel Ltd and Silver Spark Apparel.
Last October, the company CMD Gautam Singhania had announced an investment of Rs 100 crore to open about 300 stores across the country by end-March 2011 as part of Raymond’s expansion plans.
Tags:Best Franchise, Retail Franchise, Top Franchise,franchise companies, new franchise
Mumbai:Friday 16 April, 2010, The Rs 1,200-crore Raymond Ltd is planning to open 100 retail stores through its franchisee network in tier-IV and V cities like Bijapur, Mandya and Bellary in Karnataka, and Ahmednagar and Bhandara in Maharashtra, among others, in calendar year 2010. This is more than the 76 franchise stores the company opened in 2009-10 with an investment of around Rs 25 crore.
The branded apparel and textile major currently has approximately 10 lakh sq ft of retail space across 520-odd stores. Of these, around 60 are owned by the firm.
‘The Raymond Shop’ stores stock exclusive Raymond brands, which include ColorPlus, Park Avenue and Parx. Around 450 are the company’s franchisees. Retailing contributes 49% to the company’s overall revenues.
Raymond president (retail & business development) Rakesh Pandey said: “We are opening 100 stores through our franchisee network in tier IV and V cities by the end of this calendar year.” He added that the revenues from these stores are expected to be around Rs 30 crore.
The total revenue from the retail business could not be ascertained because some of Raymond's brands are produced by its subsidiaries, and will only be available in company’s annual balance sheet.
Last week, the company launched a ‘made-to-measure’ store at Palladium, located in the famous Phoenix Mills mall in Mumbai. The store is a 500 sq ft area, which mainly offers custom fits of garments.
In fiscal 2009, Raymond operated with a same-store-sales (SSS) growth of 7% and closed its third quarter with a total income of Rs 375 crore. The Raymond group has around 12 subsidiaries, out of which Raymond handles the textiles, engineering and aviation businesses. Other subsidiaries include Raymond Apparel Ltd, ColourPlus Fashion Ltd, EverBlue Apparel Ltd and Silver Spark Apparel.
Last October, the company CMD Gautam Singhania had announced an investment of Rs 100 crore to open about 300 stores across the country by end-March 2011 as part of Raymond’s expansion plans.
Tags:Best Franchise, Retail Franchise, Top Franchise,franchise companies, new franchise
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Franchise Agreement And Franchise Legalities In India
Today, India is one of the biggest emerging markets for various goods and services, ranging from bare necessities to expensive luxuries. Until 1991 due to the archaic Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA), almost all sectors of goods and services relating to the consumer markets in India were secure from the grasp of foreign investors. After the repeal of FERA and the coming into force of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), foreign investors found their passage into India with rules for entry becoming far more favourable. Today, a convenient medium of entry by foreign companies into the Indian market is the franchising model. Franchising also exists as a successful business module for local companies in India within various sectors.
The United States of America stands at the forefront of the franchise boom. Today, the legal environment in the United States is highly conducive to the healthy growth and evolution of franchising. With more than 50% of total retail businesses in the United States, 45% in Canada and 26% in Australia choosing a franchise model for expansion the impact of franchising on retail industries across the globe is considerable. To foster the rapid and sustained growth that this channel brings it is critical that laws to regulate the franchising business exist.
However, there are no laws enacted solely for the purpose of regulating the growing business of franchising in India, even though many nations across the world have enacted such laws. The result is that when franchisors enter India they are governed by a number of different statutes and codes rather than a single comprehensive enactment.
Franchise Laws across the Globe
There are many countries which have developed comprehensive legislation to cover franchising in their respective dominions. At the federal level in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission ’s Rules on Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising and Business Opportunity Ventures (1979) regulate the information a franchisor is required to supply the prospective franchisee in order to enable the franchisee to make an informed decision on the prospects of venturing into the business. The North American Security Administration Association (NASSA) has adopted a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) which delineates the information required to be disclosed to a prospective franchisee. Disclosure requirements under franchising are well-defined in the USA.
In 2000, the Ontario Legislature in Canada adopted the Arthur Wishart Act which deals comprehensively with disclosure requirements as well as important aspects of the franchisee-franchisor relationship such as fair dealing by each party to a franchise agreement as regards its performance and enforcement, and the right of action for damages for breach of the duty of fair dealing.
In the United Kingdom, there exists no operative franchise-related legislation. However different aspects are governed by norms laid down by the British Franchise Association (BFA), the regulatory body of the franchise industry in the United Kingdom. These include a code of ethical conduct, disciplinary procedure, complaints procedure and appeals procedure.
The Australian government has adopted a mandatory code of conduct and has also modified the Trade Practice Act 1974 to provide for franchising. The new code imposes comprehensive disclosure requirements and provides for mandatory mediation of franchising disputes and minimum standards for franchise agreements including, inter alia, a cooling period, refrain from seeking from a franchisee a general release liability, disclosing material facts and refrain from unreasonably withholding consent to transfer of the business.
In April 2002, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), the competition authority of Japan, published new guidelines on franchising. These guidelines contain three parts - a general description of franchising, provisions for the disclosure of necessary information (such as details of the assistance to be offered to franchisees, the nature, amount and conditions of repayment, if any, of the fee to be paid at the time of entering into a franchise agreement, etc.) at the time of the offer of a franchise and a part on vertical restraints between a franchisor and its franchisees. Under the guidelines, the failure to provide necessary information shall constitute deceptive customer inducement, which is considered an unfair trade practice.
On 31 December 2004 the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China promulgated the Measures for the Regulation of Commercial Franchises which became the sole legal framework for franchising in China. The measures became operative on 1 February 2005 and provide detailed regulations for franchising, comprising of 42 articles over nine chapters covering a wide span of areas from the franchise agreement to disclosure requirements, special rules for foreign invested enterprises and legal liabilities.
Need for a Franchise Law in India
A healthy legal environment is of great importance for franchising and should include provisions pertaining to all areas that fall within the ambit of franchising. This includes, inter alia, commercial law relating to contracts and joint ventures and intellectual property law for protection of trade marks and know-how. Franchise arrangements are subject to an array of laws and regulations in addition to those regulating commercial contracts and intellectual property rights. There are no specific laws governing franchising in India. As a result a draft franchise agreement may be governed by different laws.
Primarily a franchise agreement is a contract between the franchisor and the franchisee. The first law which comes into the picture is the Contract Act 1872 which governs contracts in India. A franchise agreement will be governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Specific Relief Act, 1963 which provides for both specific enforcement of covenants in a contract and remedies in the form of damages for breach of contract. If a party to the franchise agreement commits a breach of contract, the aggrieved party has the option to initiate a suit for specific performance in Indian courts and apply for relief in the form of a temporary or permanent injunction, which may be granted at the discretion of the court considering the balance of convenience and the interests of justice. An order granting or rejecting an injunction may be appealed by an aggrieved party.
Laws relating to taxation, property laws, insurance law and labour laws also apply to franchise transactions. Additionally, laws and regulations applying to specific sectors of goods and services will also apply depending on the franchised.
The following are the reasons why a comprehensive franchise law is required in India:
Application of Multiple Legislation
A well-defined legal structure is indispensable for the effective functioning of any business operation. The international business environment demands a well-defined suitable legislation that is complete in all respects. The lack of a comprehensive legislation on franchising in India leads to the applicability of multiple laws to a franchise transaction.
This poses the following problems:
Complexities: Parties to a contract normally prefer agreements with a simple approach and encompassing all the required law procedures and rules required to be complied with. However the application of different laws to one agreement makes it complex to decide various issues arising from the agreement.
Ambiguities: Due to the necessary application of multiple legislation, ambiguities are created as to certain issues. For example, a franchisor would imagine that a certain issue is the franchisee’s responsibility under one law, whereas the franchisee would think the opposite based on a different law.
Time-Consuming: Referring to multiple laws consumes a lot of time at the initial stages of a transaction as well as other points of time when the agreement is sought to be enforced. This proves to be detrimental to the smooth functioning of franchising operations in India and also makes time-bound operations involving new enterprises difficult.
Absence of Disclosure Requirements
Countries with specific franchising legislation make it imperative for parties to a franchise agreement to disclose certain factual information pertaining to the business of the parties. This ensures transparency and facilitates an informed decision. A franchisor should be required, by law, to make certain disclosure to the prospective franchisee wherein he is supposed to reveal detailed information regarding himself, his litigation and bankruptcy history, his financial position, the facilities he offers etc. In India, in the absence of effective disclosure norms, a prospective franchisee is rendered helpless as the franchisor is under no statutory obligations to make disclosures.
In the absence of a specific statute governing the franchise agreement, the franchisor refrains from providing any information that is likely to prejudice or make a franchisee reconsider the business proposition of the franchisor. The lack of proper disclosure requirements provides a golden opportunity to a franchisor to abuse his position of importance as he is virtually under no statutory obligation to make the requisite disclosure.
Applicability of Laws of other Countries
Normally, the absence of franchise laws enables foreign franchisors to make the laws of their own country applicable to the agreements entered into with the franchisees in India. The same is the case with franchisors who enter into franchising agreements with franchisees from other countries. This proves to be an additional burden on the parties, particularly the franchisee.
Lack of Proper Format for Franchising Agreements
Due to lack of a specific format, franchisors from other countries draft agreements which are in the same format as is approved or followed in their countries. Such agreements are made to suit the specific environment of their respective countries and hence are not suitable for Indian environment.
Liability of Parties Uncertain
Due to the lack of specific legislation, the liability of either party is either determined by the agreements entered into between them or on the basis of general prevailing law. The liability clause is different in different countries, and this leads to a great discrepancy among the courts which try such disputes on liabilities.
The Central Government is currently considering a franchise law aimed at fast resolution of disputes; the proposal is expected to be placed before a sub-committee of the National Development Council. The aforesaid problems surrounding franchising in India necessitate the enactment of a specific legislation pertaining to franchising in India and providing for the gamut of activities that franchising encompasses. A special franchise law would greatly accelerate dispute resolutions and fortify the Indian retail industry.
Source:Franchising Association Of India.FAI,
The United States of America stands at the forefront of the franchise boom. Today, the legal environment in the United States is highly conducive to the healthy growth and evolution of franchising. With more than 50% of total retail businesses in the United States, 45% in Canada and 26% in Australia choosing a franchise model for expansion the impact of franchising on retail industries across the globe is considerable. To foster the rapid and sustained growth that this channel brings it is critical that laws to regulate the franchising business exist.
However, there are no laws enacted solely for the purpose of regulating the growing business of franchising in India, even though many nations across the world have enacted such laws. The result is that when franchisors enter India they are governed by a number of different statutes and codes rather than a single comprehensive enactment.
Franchise Laws across the Globe
There are many countries which have developed comprehensive legislation to cover franchising in their respective dominions. At the federal level in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission ’s Rules on Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising and Business Opportunity Ventures (1979) regulate the information a franchisor is required to supply the prospective franchisee in order to enable the franchisee to make an informed decision on the prospects of venturing into the business. The North American Security Administration Association (NASSA) has adopted a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) which delineates the information required to be disclosed to a prospective franchisee. Disclosure requirements under franchising are well-defined in the USA.
In 2000, the Ontario Legislature in Canada adopted the Arthur Wishart Act which deals comprehensively with disclosure requirements as well as important aspects of the franchisee-franchisor relationship such as fair dealing by each party to a franchise agreement as regards its performance and enforcement, and the right of action for damages for breach of the duty of fair dealing.
In the United Kingdom, there exists no operative franchise-related legislation. However different aspects are governed by norms laid down by the British Franchise Association (BFA), the regulatory body of the franchise industry in the United Kingdom. These include a code of ethical conduct, disciplinary procedure, complaints procedure and appeals procedure.
The Australian government has adopted a mandatory code of conduct and has also modified the Trade Practice Act 1974 to provide for franchising. The new code imposes comprehensive disclosure requirements and provides for mandatory mediation of franchising disputes and minimum standards for franchise agreements including, inter alia, a cooling period, refrain from seeking from a franchisee a general release liability, disclosing material facts and refrain from unreasonably withholding consent to transfer of the business.
In April 2002, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), the competition authority of Japan, published new guidelines on franchising. These guidelines contain three parts - a general description of franchising, provisions for the disclosure of necessary information (such as details of the assistance to be offered to franchisees, the nature, amount and conditions of repayment, if any, of the fee to be paid at the time of entering into a franchise agreement, etc.) at the time of the offer of a franchise and a part on vertical restraints between a franchisor and its franchisees. Under the guidelines, the failure to provide necessary information shall constitute deceptive customer inducement, which is considered an unfair trade practice.
On 31 December 2004 the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China promulgated the Measures for the Regulation of Commercial Franchises which became the sole legal framework for franchising in China. The measures became operative on 1 February 2005 and provide detailed regulations for franchising, comprising of 42 articles over nine chapters covering a wide span of areas from the franchise agreement to disclosure requirements, special rules for foreign invested enterprises and legal liabilities.
Need for a Franchise Law in India
A healthy legal environment is of great importance for franchising and should include provisions pertaining to all areas that fall within the ambit of franchising. This includes, inter alia, commercial law relating to contracts and joint ventures and intellectual property law for protection of trade marks and know-how. Franchise arrangements are subject to an array of laws and regulations in addition to those regulating commercial contracts and intellectual property rights. There are no specific laws governing franchising in India. As a result a draft franchise agreement may be governed by different laws.
Primarily a franchise agreement is a contract between the franchisor and the franchisee. The first law which comes into the picture is the Contract Act 1872 which governs contracts in India. A franchise agreement will be governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Specific Relief Act, 1963 which provides for both specific enforcement of covenants in a contract and remedies in the form of damages for breach of contract. If a party to the franchise agreement commits a breach of contract, the aggrieved party has the option to initiate a suit for specific performance in Indian courts and apply for relief in the form of a temporary or permanent injunction, which may be granted at the discretion of the court considering the balance of convenience and the interests of justice. An order granting or rejecting an injunction may be appealed by an aggrieved party.
Laws relating to taxation, property laws, insurance law and labour laws also apply to franchise transactions. Additionally, laws and regulations applying to specific sectors of goods and services will also apply depending on the franchised.
The following are the reasons why a comprehensive franchise law is required in India:
Application of Multiple Legislation
A well-defined legal structure is indispensable for the effective functioning of any business operation. The international business environment demands a well-defined suitable legislation that is complete in all respects. The lack of a comprehensive legislation on franchising in India leads to the applicability of multiple laws to a franchise transaction.
This poses the following problems:
Complexities: Parties to a contract normally prefer agreements with a simple approach and encompassing all the required law procedures and rules required to be complied with. However the application of different laws to one agreement makes it complex to decide various issues arising from the agreement.
Ambiguities: Due to the necessary application of multiple legislation, ambiguities are created as to certain issues. For example, a franchisor would imagine that a certain issue is the franchisee’s responsibility under one law, whereas the franchisee would think the opposite based on a different law.
Time-Consuming: Referring to multiple laws consumes a lot of time at the initial stages of a transaction as well as other points of time when the agreement is sought to be enforced. This proves to be detrimental to the smooth functioning of franchising operations in India and also makes time-bound operations involving new enterprises difficult.
Absence of Disclosure Requirements
Countries with specific franchising legislation make it imperative for parties to a franchise agreement to disclose certain factual information pertaining to the business of the parties. This ensures transparency and facilitates an informed decision. A franchisor should be required, by law, to make certain disclosure to the prospective franchisee wherein he is supposed to reveal detailed information regarding himself, his litigation and bankruptcy history, his financial position, the facilities he offers etc. In India, in the absence of effective disclosure norms, a prospective franchisee is rendered helpless as the franchisor is under no statutory obligations to make disclosures.
In the absence of a specific statute governing the franchise agreement, the franchisor refrains from providing any information that is likely to prejudice or make a franchisee reconsider the business proposition of the franchisor. The lack of proper disclosure requirements provides a golden opportunity to a franchisor to abuse his position of importance as he is virtually under no statutory obligation to make the requisite disclosure.
Applicability of Laws of other Countries
Normally, the absence of franchise laws enables foreign franchisors to make the laws of their own country applicable to the agreements entered into with the franchisees in India. The same is the case with franchisors who enter into franchising agreements with franchisees from other countries. This proves to be an additional burden on the parties, particularly the franchisee.
Lack of Proper Format for Franchising Agreements
Due to lack of a specific format, franchisors from other countries draft agreements which are in the same format as is approved or followed in their countries. Such agreements are made to suit the specific environment of their respective countries and hence are not suitable for Indian environment.
Liability of Parties Uncertain
Due to the lack of specific legislation, the liability of either party is either determined by the agreements entered into between them or on the basis of general prevailing law. The liability clause is different in different countries, and this leads to a great discrepancy among the courts which try such disputes on liabilities.
The Central Government is currently considering a franchise law aimed at fast resolution of disputes; the proposal is expected to be placed before a sub-committee of the National Development Council. The aforesaid problems surrounding franchising in India necessitate the enactment of a specific legislation pertaining to franchising in India and providing for the gamut of activities that franchising encompasses. A special franchise law would greatly accelerate dispute resolutions and fortify the Indian retail industry.
Source:Franchising Association Of India.FAI,
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Virtuosity Education Franchise Offers Skills Enhancement Franchise
Virtuosity is a complete knowledge management, education and training company, pioneering Technology-aided, Global Learning Solutions in the Indian Academia, ushering in a new era of globally contemporary, boundary less, anytime anywhere learning opportunities for learners across the country.
Virtuosity offers suitable skills enhancement and measurement solutions for all job functions in IT, ITES & BFSI sectors, totaling to about 74% of hiring in the country.
Virtuosity has four baskets of portfolios: Manus, Technicus, Librus & Expertus.
Manus offers Business & Management Skills Franchise and therefore focuses on working with MBA Schools. Manus enables the institution and students with a library of 2800 Courses, 13 Business Certifications with Online Mentoring, Business Pro Books Collection,
130+ Skill Sims and 12 exclusive Knowledge Centers. We also offer the MBA schools as exclusive Leadership Development Channel with 1000+ Video lectures by world’s best Business Guru’s, CEO’s & Management Author on varied topics and expertise. Once a month we also have a Live Connect event with one such personality. The idea is to give our students here global exposure and an opportunity for them to interact with Industry leaders.
Technicus offers Information Technology Skills and therefore focuses on working with Engineering Institutions, and other Arts & Science colleges with IT Aspirants.
Under Technicus we have 2500 Courses, 122 IT Certifications with Test Preps and Online Mentoring, 10 exclusive Knowledge Centers with Practice Labs and Project Centers. Our solutions ensure acquisition of practical skills happen through the course of learning, therefore making the learner professionally skilled.
Librus is a digital library solution with more than 30,000 titles in 15 Collections from 100+ of the world’s most renowned publishers and authors. With rising infrastructure costs, and the explosion of resources available to the students, Librus offers a cost effective and efficient Library solution. What’s more, the Library follows the students wherever they go.
Expertus offers more than 300+ domain specific Technical Skills Assessments and also 200+ Job specific Aptitude and Psychometric tests. Our tests use a Human Intelligence Database for Adaptive Testing and produce highly detailed and accurate graphical reporting of one’s skill levels. Thus these tests enable the institution’s to assess their graduates ‘employability’ using tests that are industry benchmarked.
Tags:Education Franchise,Test Preparation Franchise,
Virtuosity offers suitable skills enhancement and measurement solutions for all job functions in IT, ITES & BFSI sectors, totaling to about 74% of hiring in the country.
Virtuosity has four baskets of portfolios: Manus, Technicus, Librus & Expertus.
Manus offers Business & Management Skills Franchise and therefore focuses on working with MBA Schools. Manus enables the institution and students with a library of 2800 Courses, 13 Business Certifications with Online Mentoring, Business Pro Books Collection,
130+ Skill Sims and 12 exclusive Knowledge Centers. We also offer the MBA schools as exclusive Leadership Development Channel with 1000+ Video lectures by world’s best Business Guru’s, CEO’s & Management Author on varied topics and expertise. Once a month we also have a Live Connect event with one such personality. The idea is to give our students here global exposure and an opportunity for them to interact with Industry leaders.
Technicus offers Information Technology Skills and therefore focuses on working with Engineering Institutions, and other Arts & Science colleges with IT Aspirants.
Under Technicus we have 2500 Courses, 122 IT Certifications with Test Preps and Online Mentoring, 10 exclusive Knowledge Centers with Practice Labs and Project Centers. Our solutions ensure acquisition of practical skills happen through the course of learning, therefore making the learner professionally skilled.
Librus is a digital library solution with more than 30,000 titles in 15 Collections from 100+ of the world’s most renowned publishers and authors. With rising infrastructure costs, and the explosion of resources available to the students, Librus offers a cost effective and efficient Library solution. What’s more, the Library follows the students wherever they go.
Expertus offers more than 300+ domain specific Technical Skills Assessments and also 200+ Job specific Aptitude and Psychometric tests. Our tests use a Human Intelligence Database for Adaptive Testing and produce highly detailed and accurate graphical reporting of one’s skill levels. Thus these tests enable the institution’s to assess their graduates ‘employability’ using tests that are industry benchmarked.
Tags:Education Franchise,Test Preparation Franchise,
Reliance Industries Ltd Invests In Franchise Driven Deccan 360
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday announced that the company would be investing an undisclosed amount in Capt. G.R. Gopinath-led Deccan 360.
This investment is being made a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL. However, Capt. Gopinath, refused to divulge details of the shareholding pattern of the entity and the capital expenditure, while addressing a press conference here.
Service providers
This investment would help Deccan 360 increase the air and surface network coverage across the country and introduce world-class services and systems to express end-to-end supply chain logistics space in business-to-business and the retail sector, said Capt. Gopinath. Deccan 360 has appointed national service providers on a franchisee model and has already set up over 80 service centres and eight surface hubs to service the operations. It has now deployed eight freighter aircrafts, covering 15 airports, with a fleet of over 300 trucks and 850 vehicles nationwide. It has a capacity of more than 300 tonnes per night by air, with over 60 warehousing hubs, delivering overnight services to 50 cities, all driven by 60 plus nationwide franchisee.
Deccan 360 has integrated a multi-modal capability ensuring clock-work precision in its operations and offers a never before reach, according to Capt. Gopinath, founder of the company Commenting on the initiative, RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh D. Ambani said “we believe that our collaboration with Deccan 360 will see a transformation in the logistics domain in India. I have full faith in Capt. Gopinath and his team to make this a big success. We are sure that this initiative will propel the customer experience to the next level in the logistics domain.”
On the occasion, Capt. Gopinath, Chairman and Managing Director, said, “Deccan 360's strategic partnership with Reliance will enable us to realize our dream faster — a dream of creating world class logistics reach to every nook and corner of India. Our air and surface network would open up backward reaches of India and integrate these with the Metros. We all know that supply chain is the lifeblood of a country's economy.”
Tags:RIL,Deccan 360,Logistics Franchise,Courier Franchise,cargo franchise,service franchise,
This investment is being made a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL. However, Capt. Gopinath, refused to divulge details of the shareholding pattern of the entity and the capital expenditure, while addressing a press conference here.
Service providers
This investment would help Deccan 360 increase the air and surface network coverage across the country and introduce world-class services and systems to express end-to-end supply chain logistics space in business-to-business and the retail sector, said Capt. Gopinath. Deccan 360 has appointed national service providers on a franchisee model and has already set up over 80 service centres and eight surface hubs to service the operations. It has now deployed eight freighter aircrafts, covering 15 airports, with a fleet of over 300 trucks and 850 vehicles nationwide. It has a capacity of more than 300 tonnes per night by air, with over 60 warehousing hubs, delivering overnight services to 50 cities, all driven by 60 plus nationwide franchisee.
Deccan 360 has integrated a multi-modal capability ensuring clock-work precision in its operations and offers a never before reach, according to Capt. Gopinath, founder of the company Commenting on the initiative, RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh D. Ambani said “we believe that our collaboration with Deccan 360 will see a transformation in the logistics domain in India. I have full faith in Capt. Gopinath and his team to make this a big success. We are sure that this initiative will propel the customer experience to the next level in the logistics domain.”
On the occasion, Capt. Gopinath, Chairman and Managing Director, said, “Deccan 360's strategic partnership with Reliance will enable us to realize our dream faster — a dream of creating world class logistics reach to every nook and corner of India. Our air and surface network would open up backward reaches of India and integrate these with the Metros. We all know that supply chain is the lifeblood of a country's economy.”
Tags:RIL,Deccan 360,Logistics Franchise,Courier Franchise,cargo franchise,service franchise,
Friday, April 16, 2010
Golds Gym Signs The Biggest Master Franchise Agreement With AAHG
Al Ahli Holding Group (UAE) and Gold’s Gym International Sign Landmark International Development Deal
April 16, 2010
UAE national company signs master franchise agreement to open 26 gyms in major Arabian Peninsula markets; further expansion includes potential for additional 62 gyms.
Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG), the holding arm of the leading multi-disciplined organization based in the United Arab Emirates with principal offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah (UAE), and Gold’s Gym International, the world’s leading authority on health and fitness, announced today the signing of an aggressive master franchise agreement. And the largest of its kind ever inked by the fitness giant. A landmark moment for both companies, the development deal is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, making the largest franchise agreement Gold’s Gym has signed in its storied 45 year history.
“We are importing world-class fitness into the Pan-Arabian region, the likes of which have yet to be experienced by this part of the world with experiences and amenities that have never been seen before in the art of fitness” said Mohamed Khammas, CEO of Al Ahli Holding Group. “AAHG shares the same commitment Gold’s Gym International has in helping individuals reach their potential by leading healthier, fitter lifestyles under the specialized leadership and camaraderie of the Gold’s experience. There is no other fitness brand we would rather partner with to expand the fitness options available in our part of the world than with the undisputed global leader in fitness, Gold’s Gym.”
Calling for an initial 26 gyms to be built in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, the agreement provides AAHG with the opportunity to expand the Gold’s Gym footprint with an additional 62 gyms in key areas spanning from South Africa to Morocco and from Cyprus to Jordan and beyond bringing their total to over 88 facilities. These key markets include 13 countries in all, making AAHG the largest potential Gold’s Gym master franchisee in the world.
The initial schedule is to develop within the UAE, with a heavy emphasis on the capital, Abu Dhabi, then to proceed onto other Emirates.
AAHG is planning enhanced facilities that range from condensed corporate clubs to full wet-clubs with swimming pools, hydro-therapy, sauna, steam and more that reflect the continuing commitment of Gold’s to expand its global presence in every region of the globe.
AAHG is one of sixteen multi-territorial Master Licensee’s and the largest in the Gold’s global family. AAHG has struck direct deals with the top equipment suppliers that will showcase never before seen fitness equipment that will transform the art of fitness into the future.
“Gold’s Gym seeks out proven operators and AAHG is an extraordinary organization in this regard. AAHG did a remarkable job with their due diligence, looking into all aspects of the business and its viability on the Arabian Peninsula. We are proud to be working with them to grow the Gold’s Gym brand,” said Joel Tallman, Senior Vice President of Franchising & Global Operations for Gold’s Gym International. “This is another indication of the trust that investors and our members have in Gold’s Gym to deliver the best fitness experience in the world.”
The agreement with AHHG marks a momentous occasion in the growth of Gold’s Gym from a single fitness facility in Venice Beach, California more than 45 years ago to an international brand with more than 700 locations across the globe. AAHG is introducing the famed brand’s tradition of commitment, passion and dedication for health, fitness and rehabilitation to a new audience in this important and growing region of the world.
Reinforcing Gold’s Gym’s position as the preferred investment for gym owners and operators around the world, the deal struck with AAHG is the third major Gold’s Gym master franchise agreement signed overseas in the past 12 months. In 2009, Gold’s Gym signed a 20-year contract extension with the master franchisee covering the India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives markets, and signed a separate agreement to open 26 new gyms in the Republic of the Philippines. Additionally, Gold’s Gym has taken several steps to begin growing its brand in China, where the company sees significant opportunity for extensive expansion in the years ahead. With hundreds of gyms currently outside the United States, Gold’s Gym projects its international gym count to equal or surpass the brand’s US presence within the next two years.
April 16, 2010
UAE national company signs master franchise agreement to open 26 gyms in major Arabian Peninsula markets; further expansion includes potential for additional 62 gyms.
Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG), the holding arm of the leading multi-disciplined organization based in the United Arab Emirates with principal offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah (UAE), and Gold’s Gym International, the world’s leading authority on health and fitness, announced today the signing of an aggressive master franchise agreement. And the largest of its kind ever inked by the fitness giant. A landmark moment for both companies, the development deal is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, making the largest franchise agreement Gold’s Gym has signed in its storied 45 year history.
“We are importing world-class fitness into the Pan-Arabian region, the likes of which have yet to be experienced by this part of the world with experiences and amenities that have never been seen before in the art of fitness” said Mohamed Khammas, CEO of Al Ahli Holding Group. “AAHG shares the same commitment Gold’s Gym International has in helping individuals reach their potential by leading healthier, fitter lifestyles under the specialized leadership and camaraderie of the Gold’s experience. There is no other fitness brand we would rather partner with to expand the fitness options available in our part of the world than with the undisputed global leader in fitness, Gold’s Gym.”
Calling for an initial 26 gyms to be built in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, the agreement provides AAHG with the opportunity to expand the Gold’s Gym footprint with an additional 62 gyms in key areas spanning from South Africa to Morocco and from Cyprus to Jordan and beyond bringing their total to over 88 facilities. These key markets include 13 countries in all, making AAHG the largest potential Gold’s Gym master franchisee in the world.
The initial schedule is to develop within the UAE, with a heavy emphasis on the capital, Abu Dhabi, then to proceed onto other Emirates.
AAHG is planning enhanced facilities that range from condensed corporate clubs to full wet-clubs with swimming pools, hydro-therapy, sauna, steam and more that reflect the continuing commitment of Gold’s to expand its global presence in every region of the globe.
AAHG is one of sixteen multi-territorial Master Licensee’s and the largest in the Gold’s global family. AAHG has struck direct deals with the top equipment suppliers that will showcase never before seen fitness equipment that will transform the art of fitness into the future.
“Gold’s Gym seeks out proven operators and AAHG is an extraordinary organization in this regard. AAHG did a remarkable job with their due diligence, looking into all aspects of the business and its viability on the Arabian Peninsula. We are proud to be working with them to grow the Gold’s Gym brand,” said Joel Tallman, Senior Vice President of Franchising & Global Operations for Gold’s Gym International. “This is another indication of the trust that investors and our members have in Gold’s Gym to deliver the best fitness experience in the world.”
The agreement with AHHG marks a momentous occasion in the growth of Gold’s Gym from a single fitness facility in Venice Beach, California more than 45 years ago to an international brand with more than 700 locations across the globe. AAHG is introducing the famed brand’s tradition of commitment, passion and dedication for health, fitness and rehabilitation to a new audience in this important and growing region of the world.
Reinforcing Gold’s Gym’s position as the preferred investment for gym owners and operators around the world, the deal struck with AAHG is the third major Gold’s Gym master franchise agreement signed overseas in the past 12 months. In 2009, Gold’s Gym signed a 20-year contract extension with the master franchisee covering the India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives markets, and signed a separate agreement to open 26 new gyms in the Republic of the Philippines. Additionally, Gold’s Gym has taken several steps to begin growing its brand in China, where the company sees significant opportunity for extensive expansion in the years ahead. With hundreds of gyms currently outside the United States, Gold’s Gym projects its international gym count to equal or surpass the brand’s US presence within the next two years.
McDonalds Of Fitness, Curves Fitness Franchise Signs Master License For India.
Curves, one of the largest fitness centre franchise, announced that its master license for India, CFW International Inc (Curves India) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based supermarket Q-Mart Retail Ventures.
“We want to bring our proven program of health and fitness to Indian women,” said David Ramadan, CEO, Curves India. "Now that Curves is the 'McDonald’s of fitness' in the USA and the world, with one Curves location for every three McDonalds, we want to bring 'the McDonalds of fitness' to India with over 200 locations in the next three years," he added.
Having begun franchising in 1995, Curves targeted 50 franchise locations at the end of the year and reached 1,000 locations within 36 months and nearly 10,000 locations in just 10 years.
Further, Q-Mart announced for the development of 15 Curves for women franchisees in Hyderabad.
Further Tags:Women Gyms,new franchise,women franchise, gym franchise,
“We want to bring our proven program of health and fitness to Indian women,” said David Ramadan, CEO, Curves India. "Now that Curves is the 'McDonald’s of fitness' in the USA and the world, with one Curves location for every three McDonalds, we want to bring 'the McDonalds of fitness' to India with over 200 locations in the next three years," he added.
Having begun franchising in 1995, Curves targeted 50 franchise locations at the end of the year and reached 1,000 locations within 36 months and nearly 10,000 locations in just 10 years.
Further, Q-Mart announced for the development of 15 Curves for women franchisees in Hyderabad.
Further Tags:Women Gyms,new franchise,women franchise, gym franchise,
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Caressaa Day Spa Looks at Franchising Across India
Caressaa Day Spa to launch its first outlet in Juhu, Mumbai
Plans to expand through franchise model in India
Caressaa Day Spa, a spa centre with six treatment rooms and one couple room will be launched in Juhu, Mumbai on April 15, 2010. The brand aims to expand its footprints across various cities of India through franchise model and is currently in talks with few potential franchisees. It is also open to tie up with five-star properties in India and to provide its spa services through management or franchise mode.
Talking exclusively with Hospitality Biz, Rekha Chaudhari, Co-Founder, Caressaa Day Spa said, “With increasing stress levels in today’s life, spa treatments are becoming a necessity more than a luxury. With rise in the annual disposable income among individuals coupled with the growing level of health awareness has created strong opportunities for spa treatments in India. We at Caressaa are planning to tap the ever growing spa industry by opening our first treatment centre in Juhu, Mumbai which is considered to be one of the high-end areas of the city.”
Caressaa is looking at franchising the brand across India, an alternative to build ‘chain stores’ to build the brand and avoid investment and liability over a chain. However, the brand has set certain quality and standards for the franchisee to sustain service standards across the board. Chaudhari said, “Once our Mumbai centre starts its operations, we will start accepting franchisee applications. However, we will be very selective in giving and approving franchise as per the service standards. We are currently in talks with few five-star properties in India for Caressaa Spa brand, but can only disclose the details once the deal gets finalised.”
The treatment centre will offer France-based Silicium+ products along with Dermalife Capsule for multi sensory spa experience. Caressaa will also include Kerastase Hair Station for hair treatments and hair packs.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 10:00 Hrs [IST]
By Hospitality Biz India| Anita Jain | Mumbai
Plans to expand through franchise model in India
Caressaa Day Spa, a spa centre with six treatment rooms and one couple room will be launched in Juhu, Mumbai on April 15, 2010. The brand aims to expand its footprints across various cities of India through franchise model and is currently in talks with few potential franchisees. It is also open to tie up with five-star properties in India and to provide its spa services through management or franchise mode.
Talking exclusively with Hospitality Biz, Rekha Chaudhari, Co-Founder, Caressaa Day Spa said, “With increasing stress levels in today’s life, spa treatments are becoming a necessity more than a luxury. With rise in the annual disposable income among individuals coupled with the growing level of health awareness has created strong opportunities for spa treatments in India. We at Caressaa are planning to tap the ever growing spa industry by opening our first treatment centre in Juhu, Mumbai which is considered to be one of the high-end areas of the city.”
Caressaa is looking at franchising the brand across India, an alternative to build ‘chain stores’ to build the brand and avoid investment and liability over a chain. However, the brand has set certain quality and standards for the franchisee to sustain service standards across the board. Chaudhari said, “Once our Mumbai centre starts its operations, we will start accepting franchisee applications. However, we will be very selective in giving and approving franchise as per the service standards. We are currently in talks with few five-star properties in India for Caressaa Spa brand, but can only disclose the details once the deal gets finalised.”
The treatment centre will offer France-based Silicium+ products along with Dermalife Capsule for multi sensory spa experience. Caressaa will also include Kerastase Hair Station for hair treatments and hair packs.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 10:00 Hrs [IST]
By Hospitality Biz India| Anita Jain | Mumbai
Just Dial To Spread Across The Globe Eyeing International Franchise
The owner of an all-India virtual directory service plans to expand to every major English-speaking country in two years
In March this year, a Tamilian from Kolkata, who claims he grew up in an India that was “anti-capitalist and anti-growth”, expanded his Rs 500 crore-plus search engine business, Just Dial, to the world’s capitalist heartland, the US.
He’s not planning to merely leverage low-cost India to maximise revenues from a standard offshore back-office model. For now, Just Dial’s US operations will be handled out of India, where the company employs about 4,000 people. “We soon plan to hire up to 1,000 people in the US, mostly in under-employed, rural areas,” says 42 year-old Venkatachalam Sthanu Subra Mani.
The days to come will see Just Dial expanding to Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong to fulfil Mani’s target of being present in all major English-speaking countries in the next two years. The company also intends to leverage the brand and know-how for an international franchise.
Fourteen-year-old Just Dial is a directory service that provides information on basically any entity that has a telephone existence — restaurants, plumbing services, shopping malls, colleges and so on.
In India, Just Dial receives over 240,000 calls everyday and hosts over 200,000 visitors to its website. It caters to over 2 million users across 240 cities in the country. Its revenue model involves a nominal fee to those who list but is free to consumers.
Users need to dial a helpline number and explain to an operator what service they are looking for (this service is free in the US but customers in India need to pay for outgoing calls). Text and email alerts are then sent to users listing the four best options.
In some cases, the Just Dial executive patches through an instant call between the user and the service provider. Although this service is common to both the US and India markets, the US features have been tweaked. Americans can avail of unlimited free call connect to businesses and instant search on movies and events anywhere in America.
“The American service also has a facility that allows establishments to bid and compete with each other to offer the user the best deal. This is our way of ensuring that the customer is king,” says Mani.
Unlike in India, the US already has multiple ways of accessing business listings. So why is he entering such a competitive market? “The market in the US is more evolved and mature. In India, you may need a large sales force on the ground to get local businesses and services providers to sign up and get listed. In developed economies it is easier to accomplish this because there are middle-level players who act as aggregators,” he says.
He has also drawn up new services such as Just Dial Genie, a personal assistant that will enable consumers round-the-clock service for a monthly or annual fee. Genie will allow instant call connect to any business establishment, reminder services and the like.
The company is currently fighting a case in the Delhi High Court against Infomedia 18 Ltd, which allegedly copied and hosted Just Dial’s database, its single biggest asset. The high court has put an injunction against the site, but with the final verdict awaited, neither Mani nor his team want to comment on this dispute.
When Mani started his career in Delhi as a salesman with city-based United Database — a business directory service — he would watch people leafing through heavy books and lots of fine print to get at that one small but important piece of information. Why not offer a similar service on the phone, he thought.
“In 1994, a telephone connection costed Rs 15,000 so I could afford only three lines. I waited for a year to start the company, dreaming of numbers and millions of people using my service,” Mani recalls.
In 1996, he heard that the Kandivali Exchange in Mumbai was coming out with its 888 series. “I presented my business plan to the general manager, he liked it and the dream number of 888-8888 was mine.”
The business, which has now attracted venture capital from Hong Kong’s SAIF Partners, US-based Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, started with borrowed furniture, rented computers and a small office where employees had to play musical chairs.
Today, Just Dial’s headquarters in Mumbai measures 20,000 square feet, and the company owns 1,25,000 square feet across India. How did he grow so quickly? By following this business philosophy: “Stay put, never give up and maintain fiscal discipline”.
Considering his early ventures involved selling a wrist watch to a relative for Rs 10 and organising a movie show with a colour television and a rented video (there were more people than tickets), Mani’s certainly proved his self-made entrepreneurial adage right.
Source:Business Standard,Pravda Godbole / Pune April 14, 2010, 0:16 IST
In March this year, a Tamilian from Kolkata, who claims he grew up in an India that was “anti-capitalist and anti-growth”, expanded his Rs 500 crore-plus search engine business, Just Dial, to the world’s capitalist heartland, the US.
He’s not planning to merely leverage low-cost India to maximise revenues from a standard offshore back-office model. For now, Just Dial’s US operations will be handled out of India, where the company employs about 4,000 people. “We soon plan to hire up to 1,000 people in the US, mostly in under-employed, rural areas,” says 42 year-old Venkatachalam Sthanu Subra Mani.
The days to come will see Just Dial expanding to Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong to fulfil Mani’s target of being present in all major English-speaking countries in the next two years. The company also intends to leverage the brand and know-how for an international franchise.
Fourteen-year-old Just Dial is a directory service that provides information on basically any entity that has a telephone existence — restaurants, plumbing services, shopping malls, colleges and so on.
In India, Just Dial receives over 240,000 calls everyday and hosts over 200,000 visitors to its website. It caters to over 2 million users across 240 cities in the country. Its revenue model involves a nominal fee to those who list but is free to consumers.
Users need to dial a helpline number and explain to an operator what service they are looking for (this service is free in the US but customers in India need to pay for outgoing calls). Text and email alerts are then sent to users listing the four best options.
In some cases, the Just Dial executive patches through an instant call between the user and the service provider. Although this service is common to both the US and India markets, the US features have been tweaked. Americans can avail of unlimited free call connect to businesses and instant search on movies and events anywhere in America.
“The American service also has a facility that allows establishments to bid and compete with each other to offer the user the best deal. This is our way of ensuring that the customer is king,” says Mani.
Unlike in India, the US already has multiple ways of accessing business listings. So why is he entering such a competitive market? “The market in the US is more evolved and mature. In India, you may need a large sales force on the ground to get local businesses and services providers to sign up and get listed. In developed economies it is easier to accomplish this because there are middle-level players who act as aggregators,” he says.
He has also drawn up new services such as Just Dial Genie, a personal assistant that will enable consumers round-the-clock service for a monthly or annual fee. Genie will allow instant call connect to any business establishment, reminder services and the like.
The company is currently fighting a case in the Delhi High Court against Infomedia 18 Ltd, which allegedly copied and hosted Just Dial’s database, its single biggest asset. The high court has put an injunction against the site, but with the final verdict awaited, neither Mani nor his team want to comment on this dispute.
When Mani started his career in Delhi as a salesman with city-based United Database — a business directory service — he would watch people leafing through heavy books and lots of fine print to get at that one small but important piece of information. Why not offer a similar service on the phone, he thought.
“In 1994, a telephone connection costed Rs 15,000 so I could afford only three lines. I waited for a year to start the company, dreaming of numbers and millions of people using my service,” Mani recalls.
In 1996, he heard that the Kandivali Exchange in Mumbai was coming out with its 888 series. “I presented my business plan to the general manager, he liked it and the dream number of 888-8888 was mine.”
The business, which has now attracted venture capital from Hong Kong’s SAIF Partners, US-based Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, started with borrowed furniture, rented computers and a small office where employees had to play musical chairs.
Today, Just Dial’s headquarters in Mumbai measures 20,000 square feet, and the company owns 1,25,000 square feet across India. How did he grow so quickly? By following this business philosophy: “Stay put, never give up and maintain fiscal discipline”.
Considering his early ventures involved selling a wrist watch to a relative for Rs 10 and organising a movie show with a colour television and a rented video (there were more people than tickets), Mani’s certainly proved his self-made entrepreneurial adage right.
Source:Business Standard,Pravda Godbole / Pune April 14, 2010, 0:16 IST
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Ekru-India's Organic Eco Friendly Garment Retailer Looks At Franchise Expansion
With the penchant for eco-friendly products increasing among the affluents, Kolkata-based Indian ethnic wear brand, Ekru plans to tap the segment by expanding its range of apparels made from chemical and pesticide free fibres.
"A major area of focus for us in future will be on organic garments, which are eco-friendly and also becoming popular among the conscious consumers in India," said Ekru Co- founder Ekta Jaipuria.
Already organic garments are popular in the West and is catching up in India too," Jaipuria said.
The company plans to expand its retail footprints by doubling sales point to over 40 outlets this year in both the exclusive franchise stores and multi-brand categories.
"We are targeting to have over 40 points of sales by this year across the country, from 20 currently. Besides, we have just opened our second exclusive outlet in Delhi and our next target will be to set up standalone stores in Mumbai and Bangalore," Jaipuria said.
"A major area of focus for us in future will be on organic garments, which are eco-friendly and also becoming popular among the conscious consumers in India," said Ekru Co- founder Ekta Jaipuria.
Already organic garments are popular in the West and is catching up in India too," Jaipuria said.
The company plans to expand its retail footprints by doubling sales point to over 40 outlets this year in both the exclusive franchise stores and multi-brand categories.
"We are targeting to have over 40 points of sales by this year across the country, from 20 currently. Besides, we have just opened our second exclusive outlet in Delhi and our next target will be to set up standalone stores in Mumbai and Bangalore," Jaipuria said.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Hamleys, UK's Top Toy Retailer Opens To India In Mumbai Through Reliance Retail
Mumbai: Hamleys, a 250 year-old toy retailer of the UK, on Thursday opened its first store in Mumbai in a franchise agreement with Reliance Retail, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reliance Industries. The tie-up is valid for 20 years. The company plans to invest Rs 150 crore in the next seven years to set up 20 more stores across the country, including tier-II cities.
The size of the Mumbai store is around 21,000 square feet, while the one being opened in Chennai within six months will be close to 10,000 sqft, according to Bijou Kurien, president and chief executive officer, Reliance Lifestyle division. The Indian division of Hamleys, though, is going to be headed by Sudhir Pai.
Hamleys is based in London and is one of the world’s largest toy companies. Its flagship store located at the Regent Street is a five-storey building spread over 54,000 sqft. It is considered one of London’s major tourist attractions.
The first store has seen an investment of Rs 6 crore. Kurien explains that the investment has been significant as far as setting up this store is concerned. “The hard investment for the stores in terms of occupying retail space is going to be made by Reliance Retail. As for the soft investment in terms of store design and staff training, it will be done by Hamleys.”
Reliance Retail in 2008 had said it was in talks with the UK toy retailer. So what took them so long to launch their first store? The reason for this, as Kurien reckons, is “finding the right location for the store”.
Moreover, the company is also looking at spending around Rs 50 lakh on advertisement for the first store.
The total organised toy market is India is around Rs 1500 crore. It caters to about 30 crore kids upto 15 years of age. Reliance Retail will be looking to have a “sizeable” share in it.
Apart from stocking Hamleys merchandise, Reliance Retail will stock products that are exclusively available to the UK retailer. Other global brands from companies such as Mattel and Funskool will also be available at these outlets.
Source:financial express Bureau
Posted: Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 2358 hrs IST
Updated: Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 2358 hrs IST
Tags:Toys Franchise, Toy Store, Hamleys, Reliance Retail,
The size of the Mumbai store is around 21,000 square feet, while the one being opened in Chennai within six months will be close to 10,000 sqft, according to Bijou Kurien, president and chief executive officer, Reliance Lifestyle division. The Indian division of Hamleys, though, is going to be headed by Sudhir Pai.
Hamleys is based in London and is one of the world’s largest toy companies. Its flagship store located at the Regent Street is a five-storey building spread over 54,000 sqft. It is considered one of London’s major tourist attractions.
The first store has seen an investment of Rs 6 crore. Kurien explains that the investment has been significant as far as setting up this store is concerned. “The hard investment for the stores in terms of occupying retail space is going to be made by Reliance Retail. As for the soft investment in terms of store design and staff training, it will be done by Hamleys.”
Reliance Retail in 2008 had said it was in talks with the UK toy retailer. So what took them so long to launch their first store? The reason for this, as Kurien reckons, is “finding the right location for the store”.
Moreover, the company is also looking at spending around Rs 50 lakh on advertisement for the first store.
The total organised toy market is India is around Rs 1500 crore. It caters to about 30 crore kids upto 15 years of age. Reliance Retail will be looking to have a “sizeable” share in it.
Apart from stocking Hamleys merchandise, Reliance Retail will stock products that are exclusively available to the UK retailer. Other global brands from companies such as Mattel and Funskool will also be available at these outlets.
Source:financial express Bureau
Posted: Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 2358 hrs IST
Updated: Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 2358 hrs IST
Tags:Toys Franchise, Toy Store, Hamleys, Reliance Retail,
Franchise Expansion Of Your Business In India: Whats the perfect recipe for a succesful franchise rollout:
7th April, Bangalore, India. 15.00 Hrs.
What Most Business Owners/ Franchisors Must Know before they start expanding their businesses through franchising.
Yesterday, another franchisor met us, keen to expand his business and trying to explore the various options, he had on hand. Like most business owners who are seeking to expand their business in India, the dilemmas were the same, as is the case generally from such entrepreneurs. So I thought, for the use of such franchisors, I write out this blog, to inform them, firstly, these are common hurdles that most businesses that want to expand using the franchise route in India, face. Secondly, it is very important that you learn quickly from the knowledge base available around you and look at franchising very deeply, instead of experimenting with franchising. I am going to run you through the interaction I had with this franchisor, which is in the ice cream business and has a popular brand in one of our bustling metros. For me, he is the classic example, of all business owners who have a successful business and are thinking of franchising or have already begun franchising and have a few franchisees.
He has been operating for a couple of years now and has been receiving several requests from customers to take up his franchise. After discussing the situation on hand and with guidance from a few friends and well wishers, he went ahead and signed up a couple of them. Instantly, he realized, this was much more than just teaching a franchisee how to do his business. From, thereon started, the everyday nitty gritties of how should he deal with the franchisee on ‘this issue,' and the issues were many. Infact one of them discontinued the franchise and is still continuing the business, but in a different name. There would have been the definite daily issues that most franchisors and franchisees go through whilst the reality of what they get from the marriage, comes on screen. The franchisor did tell me, that he knew it would be difficult, but then he was ready to learn from the mistakes, he would commit, amend them and move forward. I liked his willingness to adopt and the honesty to do his best. These alone would not be sufficient for me.
I was smiling from within, thinking why does one need to take the difficult path, when experts like us, can guide the franchisors with the most common mistakes that they commit. (Not that they are not going to make mistakes, alongside us, but then, they would definitely not be elementary or the basic ones, that hurt franchising the business most). There is a clear learning curve that we have gone through while working for so many clients in the same domain specifically and franchising more microscopically, that the franchisor, could quickly learn, adapt and run...instead of getting up, falling, crawling, falling and then get walking. In fact, that's the very reason, that we bring in the best practices from different business and segments, into every business that we are franchising, and that, not necessarily is what your competition is doing or other companies in your industry following.
The other thing off course being the present market dynamics. Does he have the liberties of the 80's / 90's when he would have had the time to expand and could take his own time, while the competition is limited. This is the case with most business owners in our country today. There is so much of learning available, all that they need to do is look around for specific experts and move forward professionally, instead of thinking of doing it from scratch, all by themselves. You always hire an architect and a contractor engineer, before you build your house, you don't do it all yourself. Why re-invent the wheel, when it's already done for you. India has been franchising from the late 80's and there is a lot of localized learning's that is already available across different segments.
The franchisor on the other end was continuously thinking of getting a few more franchisees, which were when, he decided to participate in a franchise exhibition and was ready to sign up a couple more. The general perception being, that you have thousands of entrepreneurs lining up for these franchise shows and you could easily get a couple of them to sign your franchise up. A franchise exhibition organizer once pitched to us that we will have in excess of 10,000 new business seekers visiting the show and all you need is 0.05% conversion out of that to have 5 franchisees. Another client of ours, then was excited and said lets take that to 0.01% and we have our franchise ready. In reality, that does not happen. All you do is end up spending a couple of lakhs on initial franchise marketing, which otherwise could have been spent more judicially on franchise development or initial franchise foundation laying, after which the franchise marketing and recruitment have to be carefully planned. Even if you are good at marketing and have been able to get a couple of franchisees to sign up, I am not sure that the business is ready to take on the franchisee from an operation, marketing, legal, training and other perspective. Hence you need to first lay a strong franchise foundation and a concrete franchise development programme and that would be the best way of getting the desired results at least costs.
The ice cream franchisor spent nearly a month chasing all the leads that said that they would get back, but to no result. We have also met a lot of clients who have just gone ahead and advertised in franchise magazines, franchise websites/portals, newspapers and other media's. The first thing when one thinks of expanding the business, is how will I get a franchisee, and what would I get from them. Let me prepare a projected P&L, a profitability sheet from my chartered accountant and an agreement from a lawyer (who in most cases is not a franchise lawyer), create a so-called franchise model, and get started. In a way, I am glad that clients come to us after such exercises, because its generally easier to explain to such franchisors, the task on hand, while they begin to understand the nuances of franchising vis-à-vis the ones who come fresh out of their business wombs.
What is the ideal Return on Investment (R.O.I), that I must explain, quizzed the franchisor. Will a particular % justify my claim? How should I guarantee a return...should I actually guarantee returns?
Entrepreneurs threw questions like, Will you get me the right property or will I get rent and % on sales, if I take up your franchise. What happens if we do not get the expected business, What are the terms of the franchise agreement and a million other things that each person wanted to be clear of, at the onset itself.
This is the typical cycle any new franchisor goes through. What we do here is, orient the client before hand on these questions and what repercussions, each answer has. The long term implication of the same is clearly measured and studied before deciding upon the path to be taken. That's what a cohesive franchise strategy does to a business, before it embarks on its expansion journey.
Another approach, a few franchisors take, is to hire franchise managers from the industry and then they assign the task of franchising their business, to these professionals. In most cases, the business then takes shape of the experience that these managers have had from their previous experience, and more often, limited to the areas in which they are strong. However, in most cases, we have been able to get the best out of these managers. We work closely with the organization, understand their strengths and help the owners/top management, align their personnel correctly on each of the defined tasks.
The franchisor then realised he needs an experienced franchise consultant, which is how he reached us. This has been the case with a lot of business owners who have been seeking franchise expansion services and do not have the direction to move forward or have been contemplating to hire the services of a expert franchise consulting company, but have also been parallely thinking, of whether they really need to take the complete plunge. The initial concerns are about the costs of franchising. What could be the amount that one needs to apportion to start franchising? What are the ongoing resources that would be required? A lot of successful business owners really do not have the time, from their existing business schedules, to really concentrate on franchise expansion. The ice cream franchisor seemed to have the resource allocations queries in his talk, and was trying to analyse what more will he have to put in, to get going, from where he was now.
At Sparkleminds, we take this question very analytically. While franchise expansion can be a self funding exercise in the medium term, it definitely requires initial investments, and that varies from business to business. In the long term, it not only pays back the costs of franchising, but also adds tremendously to the growth and profitability of the business. Hence, business owners who have a long term view in their mind, seek various time tested franchise solutions and want to give it the best try, engage us, while the rest of them, go about their own ways of expanding their business.
We do a lot of free franchise discovery sessions with franchise business owners who are seeking franchise development and get them prepared initially for franchising even before they engage us. Our initial discussions are aimed at franchise feasibility and basic assessment on readiness of the business for franchising. Only if the business owners pass these tests do we move forward to an engagement, or else, we ask them, to complete their homework, before getting started with franchising. We do this because we believe that this is very important for the franchise industry on the one end to have the right franchisors and that there are possibly, as many successful franchisors, that can be and on the other, it augers well for our reputation, of being associated with successful franchise companies and being a leading franchise consulting company in India.
Conclusion
Franchising is bustling in India. We have been getting requests from all kinds of businesses from party shops to mobile car service franchises, from laundry services franchises to fashion jewellery. The list is exciting and we are even more excited to serve the needs of different kinds of businesses that want to franchise. This blog highlights the typical path that these businesses take and the solutions they seek. The typical shortcuts that are taken, to save initial costs, and the long-term repercussions. The knowledge base that exists and how one can harness the franchising experience that the country already has, and what it has been learning from the finest franchise practices followed world over. When we put all of this together, we have the recipe to franchise success and that's what we want to prescribe to franchisors in India.
You only get one chance in franchising. Give it your best.
What Most Business Owners/ Franchisors Must Know before they start expanding their businesses through franchising.
Yesterday, another franchisor met us, keen to expand his business and trying to explore the various options, he had on hand. Like most business owners who are seeking to expand their business in India, the dilemmas were the same, as is the case generally from such entrepreneurs. So I thought, for the use of such franchisors, I write out this blog, to inform them, firstly, these are common hurdles that most businesses that want to expand using the franchise route in India, face. Secondly, it is very important that you learn quickly from the knowledge base available around you and look at franchising very deeply, instead of experimenting with franchising. I am going to run you through the interaction I had with this franchisor, which is in the ice cream business and has a popular brand in one of our bustling metros. For me, he is the classic example, of all business owners who have a successful business and are thinking of franchising or have already begun franchising and have a few franchisees.
He has been operating for a couple of years now and has been receiving several requests from customers to take up his franchise. After discussing the situation on hand and with guidance from a few friends and well wishers, he went ahead and signed up a couple of them. Instantly, he realized, this was much more than just teaching a franchisee how to do his business. From, thereon started, the everyday nitty gritties of how should he deal with the franchisee on ‘this issue,' and the issues were many. Infact one of them discontinued the franchise and is still continuing the business, but in a different name. There would have been the definite daily issues that most franchisors and franchisees go through whilst the reality of what they get from the marriage, comes on screen. The franchisor did tell me, that he knew it would be difficult, but then he was ready to learn from the mistakes, he would commit, amend them and move forward. I liked his willingness to adopt and the honesty to do his best. These alone would not be sufficient for me.
I was smiling from within, thinking why does one need to take the difficult path, when experts like us, can guide the franchisors with the most common mistakes that they commit. (Not that they are not going to make mistakes, alongside us, but then, they would definitely not be elementary or the basic ones, that hurt franchising the business most). There is a clear learning curve that we have gone through while working for so many clients in the same domain specifically and franchising more microscopically, that the franchisor, could quickly learn, adapt and run...instead of getting up, falling, crawling, falling and then get walking. In fact, that's the very reason, that we bring in the best practices from different business and segments, into every business that we are franchising, and that, not necessarily is what your competition is doing or other companies in your industry following.
The other thing off course being the present market dynamics. Does he have the liberties of the 80's / 90's when he would have had the time to expand and could take his own time, while the competition is limited. This is the case with most business owners in our country today. There is so much of learning available, all that they need to do is look around for specific experts and move forward professionally, instead of thinking of doing it from scratch, all by themselves. You always hire an architect and a contractor engineer, before you build your house, you don't do it all yourself. Why re-invent the wheel, when it's already done for you. India has been franchising from the late 80's and there is a lot of localized learning's that is already available across different segments.
The franchisor on the other end was continuously thinking of getting a few more franchisees, which were when, he decided to participate in a franchise exhibition and was ready to sign up a couple more. The general perception being, that you have thousands of entrepreneurs lining up for these franchise shows and you could easily get a couple of them to sign your franchise up. A franchise exhibition organizer once pitched to us that we will have in excess of 10,000 new business seekers visiting the show and all you need is 0.05% conversion out of that to have 5 franchisees. Another client of ours, then was excited and said lets take that to 0.01% and we have our franchise ready. In reality, that does not happen. All you do is end up spending a couple of lakhs on initial franchise marketing, which otherwise could have been spent more judicially on franchise development or initial franchise foundation laying, after which the franchise marketing and recruitment have to be carefully planned. Even if you are good at marketing and have been able to get a couple of franchisees to sign up, I am not sure that the business is ready to take on the franchisee from an operation, marketing, legal, training and other perspective. Hence you need to first lay a strong franchise foundation and a concrete franchise development programme and that would be the best way of getting the desired results at least costs.
The ice cream franchisor spent nearly a month chasing all the leads that said that they would get back, but to no result. We have also met a lot of clients who have just gone ahead and advertised in franchise magazines, franchise websites/portals, newspapers and other media's. The first thing when one thinks of expanding the business, is how will I get a franchisee, and what would I get from them. Let me prepare a projected P&L, a profitability sheet from my chartered accountant and an agreement from a lawyer (who in most cases is not a franchise lawyer), create a so-called franchise model, and get started. In a way, I am glad that clients come to us after such exercises, because its generally easier to explain to such franchisors, the task on hand, while they begin to understand the nuances of franchising vis-à-vis the ones who come fresh out of their business wombs.
What is the ideal Return on Investment (R.O.I), that I must explain, quizzed the franchisor. Will a particular % justify my claim? How should I guarantee a return...should I actually guarantee returns?
Entrepreneurs threw questions like, Will you get me the right property or will I get rent and % on sales, if I take up your franchise. What happens if we do not get the expected business, What are the terms of the franchise agreement and a million other things that each person wanted to be clear of, at the onset itself.
This is the typical cycle any new franchisor goes through. What we do here is, orient the client before hand on these questions and what repercussions, each answer has. The long term implication of the same is clearly measured and studied before deciding upon the path to be taken. That's what a cohesive franchise strategy does to a business, before it embarks on its expansion journey.
Another approach, a few franchisors take, is to hire franchise managers from the industry and then they assign the task of franchising their business, to these professionals. In most cases, the business then takes shape of the experience that these managers have had from their previous experience, and more often, limited to the areas in which they are strong. However, in most cases, we have been able to get the best out of these managers. We work closely with the organization, understand their strengths and help the owners/top management, align their personnel correctly on each of the defined tasks.
The franchisor then realised he needs an experienced franchise consultant, which is how he reached us. This has been the case with a lot of business owners who have been seeking franchise expansion services and do not have the direction to move forward or have been contemplating to hire the services of a expert franchise consulting company, but have also been parallely thinking, of whether they really need to take the complete plunge. The initial concerns are about the costs of franchising. What could be the amount that one needs to apportion to start franchising? What are the ongoing resources that would be required? A lot of successful business owners really do not have the time, from their existing business schedules, to really concentrate on franchise expansion. The ice cream franchisor seemed to have the resource allocations queries in his talk, and was trying to analyse what more will he have to put in, to get going, from where he was now.
At Sparkleminds, we take this question very analytically. While franchise expansion can be a self funding exercise in the medium term, it definitely requires initial investments, and that varies from business to business. In the long term, it not only pays back the costs of franchising, but also adds tremendously to the growth and profitability of the business. Hence, business owners who have a long term view in their mind, seek various time tested franchise solutions and want to give it the best try, engage us, while the rest of them, go about their own ways of expanding their business.
We do a lot of free franchise discovery sessions with franchise business owners who are seeking franchise development and get them prepared initially for franchising even before they engage us. Our initial discussions are aimed at franchise feasibility and basic assessment on readiness of the business for franchising. Only if the business owners pass these tests do we move forward to an engagement, or else, we ask them, to complete their homework, before getting started with franchising. We do this because we believe that this is very important for the franchise industry on the one end to have the right franchisors and that there are possibly, as many successful franchisors, that can be and on the other, it augers well for our reputation, of being associated with successful franchise companies and being a leading franchise consulting company in India.
Conclusion
Franchising is bustling in India. We have been getting requests from all kinds of businesses from party shops to mobile car service franchises, from laundry services franchises to fashion jewellery. The list is exciting and we are even more excited to serve the needs of different kinds of businesses that want to franchise. This blog highlights the typical path that these businesses take and the solutions they seek. The typical shortcuts that are taken, to save initial costs, and the long-term repercussions. The knowledge base that exists and how one can harness the franchising experience that the country already has, and what it has been learning from the finest franchise practices followed world over. When we put all of this together, we have the recipe to franchise success and that's what we want to prescribe to franchisors in India.
You only get one chance in franchising. Give it your best.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Liberty To Franchise Outside India.
Apr 06, 2010
Footwear firm Liberty Shoes plans to open 60 outlets, including 10 overseas stores, this fiscal. Liberty's outlets overseas would be on the franchise model, according to its top official.
"We plan to open 50 outlets pan-India, primarily in tier II destinations which will take our network-strength to 550 by end-this fiscal. Besides, we plan to open 10 outlets overseas as well," said Adesh Gupta, chief executive officer, Liberty Group.
Within India, the company will focus primarily on tier II destinations while overseas it plans to set up shops in South Africa, Singapore, the Middle-East and Kuala Lumpur. "We currently have 50 outlets overseas and plan to add 5-10 more -- this should take our overseas network to between 55-60. The Middle-East, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and South Africa are on our radar," Gupta said.
The footwear major has pegged the investment for its domestic expansion at Rs 10 crore. To keep pace with its expansion, Liberty plans to up its head-count and will hire between 300-500 professionals this fiscal.
The company netted a Rs 40 crore revenue from its overseas operations while the domestic market contributed Rs 200 crore in FY10. "We expect a double-digit revenue growth this fiscal in both our overseas and Indian operations," he said.
Tags:Footwear Franchise, Shoe Franchise, Retail Franchise, Franchise Business, India Franchise,
Footwear firm Liberty Shoes plans to open 60 outlets, including 10 overseas stores, this fiscal. Liberty's outlets overseas would be on the franchise model, according to its top official.
"We plan to open 50 outlets pan-India, primarily in tier II destinations which will take our network-strength to 550 by end-this fiscal. Besides, we plan to open 10 outlets overseas as well," said Adesh Gupta, chief executive officer, Liberty Group.
Within India, the company will focus primarily on tier II destinations while overseas it plans to set up shops in South Africa, Singapore, the Middle-East and Kuala Lumpur. "We currently have 50 outlets overseas and plan to add 5-10 more -- this should take our overseas network to between 55-60. The Middle-East, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and South Africa are on our radar," Gupta said.
The footwear major has pegged the investment for its domestic expansion at Rs 10 crore. To keep pace with its expansion, Liberty plans to up its head-count and will hire between 300-500 professionals this fiscal.
The company netted a Rs 40 crore revenue from its overseas operations while the domestic market contributed Rs 200 crore in FY10. "We expect a double-digit revenue growth this fiscal in both our overseas and Indian operations," he said.
Tags:Footwear Franchise, Shoe Franchise, Retail Franchise, Franchise Business, India Franchise,
Friday, April 2, 2010
The India Franchise Business Synopsis: A Perspective To Franchising In India
Abstract:
Quoting from Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, it can be said that ‘every Individual is an entrepreneur’, but it is evident that the degree of one being an entrepreneur varies. This is because people thinks, interprets and practices ‘entrepreneurship’ differently and that is why it is rightly said that there are many ‘models’ for Entrepreneurship. Even in today’s modern business place, the idea of getting associated with entrepreneurial activity as a part time business (read finding side income source) is also catching. With these background, when people explored ‘options’ for entrepreneurship, franchising as a route towards entrepreneurship comes in a profound manner because this is considered as an entrepreneurial business option with lesser Investment and risk. Moreover, the events like phenomenal retail boom in India, entry of various international brands in Indian market, increasing number of people with substantial invest-able funds and importantly recognizing the idea of ‘own boss’ give further boost to the ‘Franchising route to Entrepreneurship’. Still, as study says Franchising’ in India as business contribution is still in a nascent stage, it is also true that franchising as an entrepreneurial practice still not much explored and practiced in India. This paper try to put some light on the same line and also put effort to understand associate issues with franchising system in India and how entrepreneurs can exploit Franchising as a viable business option.
***************************************************
Introduction:
The understanding of entrepreneurship seems to be very interesting because different people think, interpret and practice entrepreneurship in different manners. So the issue ‘what is entrepreneurship or who is an entrepreneur’ has become less relevant, rather ‘what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial’ become very purposeful to the entrepreneurship researchers. This issue is addressed by D. Sarasvathy in one of his Harvard Business Review submission as, ‘Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial, as differentiated from managerial or strategic, because they think effectively; they believe in a yet-to-be made future that can be substantially be shaped by human action’. Traditional start up’s, intrapreneurship or social entrepreneurship what ever may the route the driving mantra for an entrepreneur remain same. Today, encouraged by the same mantra – effective thinking and a yet-to-be made future, people find new routes to experience entrepreneurship. Changing mindset and positive entrepreneurial environment give birth of the new models of ‘entrepreneurial journey’, which are very much relevant and prevalent in the society.
In his article ‘The many models of entrepreneurship’, entrepreneurship thinker Mohan Babu manifested the same and came up with such relevant and prevalent models of entrepreneurship. According to him, the followings are the new ‘entrepreneurship models’ that has emerged in the society.
Consultant model: Mostly common among academicians, corporate executives, IT
Professionals – who have niche domain expertise and gain a ‘brand’ name while working. They find it convenient and lucrative to start consultations using the industry contacts and domain expertise, after retiring from their regular job.
Moonlighting model: This model is common among those who want to practice
Entrepreneurship ‘part-time’ without involving full-time. For example, doctors working for hospitals or clinics as a ‘visiting consultant’. Some professionals take the public speaking or column writing in the same fashion.
Brilliant Idea model: Professionals and other workings may have a “million dollar idea” that has altogether different perspective from the same every day idea. Many times, these people take their new/ innovative idea to the employer with a suggestion to implement it on the job. Sometimes, when the management does not take up the ideas, they adopt the entrepreneurial route if they have strong believed/ faith about it.
Existing business/Franchise model: Sometimes, individuals who do not want to continue in the corporate world decide to start their own venture in a domain they are comfortable. Such ventures may take the form of small businesses or franchises. In the franchise model, the aspiring entrepreneur approaches a corporation (franchisor) and takes on the responsibility of running his business using the brand and marketing support from the enterprise. Though Babu does not mention it, it is also seen that people with surplus capital like to invest to take a franchisee ownership along with an existing job or after retiring a full service life. Now this Franchise model as an entrepreneurial route is extremely interesting because of its certain characteristics like – flexibility of involvement (part time/ full time) as an entrepreneur, unrestricted domain choice irrespective of expertise and significant high success rate compared to start ups. As a result, ‘franchising route to entrepreneurship’ is considered as a highly attractive entrepreneurial proposition and proving its potentiality (if already not proved! at least In India) amongst the entrepreneurs. Hence from an entrepreneur point of view, it become extremely important to understand the franchising system, associate issues with it and to know how they can exploit Franchising as a viable business option.
Understanding Franchising:
Franchising happen when some enterprise develops a proven concept and then transfers the trademark and business know-how to an entrepreneur, termed franchisee. The franchisee usually gets the right for a specific time period and in a specific geographic area for a one time franchisee fee and loyalty. The enterprise, which develops the business concept, is termed as franchisor. The franchisor provides different systems and supports to the franchisee.
Hence in technical terms, franchising is neither an industry nor a business, rather franchising is a method of doing business within a given industry. It is a business partnership and like all business partnerships it involves two parties, the franchisor and the franchisee. The franchisor provides the know-how, training, system and the brand, whereas the franchisee forms the front end and is responsible for managing his business unit. Technically, the ‘Franchising contract’ binds the two parties is the system.
Figure 1: Franchising System and Support Services Model
A Win – Win Proposition:
The most interesting part of franchising system is its win – win propositions between the two parties – franchisors and franchisee. Both the parties engaged in the ‘deal’ can reap substantial benefit from the franchising system. It is said that, a franchisor gets three fold benefits from franchising. Firstly, franchising acts as a distribution model for the franchisor, which helps them to growth rapidly. Secondly, it reduces the set up risk as risk is shared by the franchisee members and thirdly, franchising ultimately.
Helps in brand building and acts as a consumer interface amongst the populace.
Franchising help franchisors to have –
o Greater access to capital
o Better utilization of operating cost
o Presence rapidly both in known and less unknown market places
On the other hand, franchisee also enjoys benefits from franchising. In most of the cases,
Entrepreneurs have limitations in terms of capital, business know-how and have to deal with certain degree of risk. But franchising helps an entrepreneur (franchisee owner) in various aspects like –
o Get an association with an already known trade mark or service mark.
o Lesser investment and degree of risk
o Shorter learning curve
o Economies of scale
o Business System and operation support
o Advertising and promotional support
o Recruitment and training (of the employee) support, etc.
Most common form of Franchising Systems:
Master Franchising System: In master franchising the franchiser grants rights for a particular area to the master franchise for a front-end master franchisee fee. The master franchiser takes the responsibility for appointing further individual franchisees within that area. McDonald's, TGIF, Pizza Hut etc. have adopted this system in India.
Area Development Franchising System: In an area development agreement, the franchiser grants development rights of a particular area to the franchisee in turn for a front-end development fee. The franchisee on his part is responsible for developing a certain number of units within a given period of time. Excel InfoTech EIIT has adopted this unique mode of franchising.
Exclusive Showrooms: In an exclusive showroom the company or the franchiser grants
Exclusive showroom rights to the franchisee with the condition that the franchisee shall stock only his brand of products. The franchisee profits by being given stocks at lesser price than other retail outlets. This system is widely followed by brands like Raymond's, Allen Solly, and ColorPlus.
Successful entrepreneurship through Franchising:
Though India is considered as a country of entrepreneurship, it hardly ever witnessed entrepreneurship at a mass level in any of the form. Franchising also is not an exception for that and the reasons are specific of its context. It was limited to the few people with better ‘information and capital’, and was never able to attract the mass level of the society. But with the course of time the scenario has changed and has accepted by mass level (specially middle, lower middle class) at a much greater extent. People, who are not from very high business background come forward, opt franchising and found it effective. Many people made their best possible future from out of that. The simple proposition of ‘franchising’ and its uniqueness of business proposition play the crucial role and made possible for a mass level of entrepreneurship, yet not complete but just the beginning, thanks to franchising!
On a macro level, the greatest benefit of a ‘franchise system’ is that a large numbers of entrepreneurs in the form of franchisee owners work together to achieve a common goal. The franchisee is a dedicated entrepreneur and not a salaried employee, thus he/she is more likely to show greater commitment dedication, interest and involvement. They are they are intelligent enough to understand as they are working with a tried tested and proven business concept; the chances of failure of the venture reduce significantly.
Reasons that boost the idea of ‘Franchising route to entrepreneurship’:
The following are the primary and major reasons that boost up the idea of ‘Franchising route to entrepreneurship’.
Lesser investment and risk factor:
In franchising the initial investment and risk associated with it is much compared to a start ups. In most of the cases, ordinary start-ups face problem of huge investment, evaluating an opportunity and lack experience about the business know how. Thus they carry a huge risk. While in case of franchising the initial investment is generally lesser, in fact, the investment can be ‘chosen’ by the entrepreneur as per his/ her financial resource is available. Not only that, risk factor also significantly come down as the entrepreneur (owner of the franchisee) get the tested business concept, marketing and sales support, staining and staffing support, other consulting support. These facts actually encourage the people to become an entrepreneur by taking a franchisee ownership.
Proven track record and less failure rate:
Study says, 90% of start-ups fail in the first year itself and those survive, 90% of them fail in the next two years. On the contrary, for a franchised business, the result is completely opposite. In franchised business over 90% ventures are successful. This high success rate usually attracts entrepreneurs, with no experience but with a surplus capital and a will to succeed, to move towards franchising.
‘Wide range of options’ in franchising business:
Franchising as an entrepreneurial option is extremely flexible in nature. Franchising, by its nature and the way it operates in the market offers a wide range of ‘alternatives’ to the Entrepreneur. The entrepreneur can decide his/ her business as per his expertise, interest and resources.
The idea of such ‘alternatives/ options’ comes from different aspects.
o Options for choosing a sector: e.g.: food, education, clothing etc.
o Options for selecting a ‘franchisor brand’ from the chosen sector
o Options for engagement in business: Full time – part time; main business – side business
o Options for ‘investment’: Ranging from thousands to Crores. \
Increase in personal / household invest-able capital:
In the new economy, Indian individuals and households have more surplus capital because of better job opportunity and multiple earning members. And interestingly, unlike earlier, people, become more open to invest their surplus capital for a better return. They look for means of investment and find investment in the form of a franchised business is a better and smarter way to utilize the surplus capital. Again, they realize that the investment in franchised business is somewhat more ‘controllable’ and return are convincing. These help individual/ households to take decision in favour of a franchised business.
Recognizing and believing the idea of ‘own boss’:
These days people became more future conscious and look for job flexibility and freedom. They are now recognizing and believing the idea of ‘own boss’ and became more open to be an entrepreneur. And in many cases, realizing their lack of entrepreneurial experience and resources they decide to have a franchisee ownership and cherish the experience of running own business. This idea is gaining popularity in a rapid way. Depending on cases, they prefer to carry the franchised business either from home or from an outside location. Even the retired individual, housewife community also found this business proposition very convenient and shown keen interest about it.
Again, there are few factors, which play indirect role in emergence of franchised business. These factors can be categorized as - recent retail boom in India, entry of various international brands in Indian market, rapid growth of Indian economy, huge and fast growing consuming class, entrepreneurship revolution etc.
Franchising take in India:
In India, the concept of franchising started around seventies but didn’t get much acceptance till nineties. Traditionally it was limited to few sectors like IT training, clothing and footwear sector etc. Today in India, the acceptability for franchising system is much stronger, which helps franchising in India to touch a new height. It has forayed into all industries from Food and Fuel to health and travel. The franchising trend in India includes – domination of service sector, growth in retail franchising, introduction of many master franchisees by international franchisors etc. Today franchising spread across the country, providing immense opportunity to the entrepreneurs.
Franchising: Facts and figures in India:
There are more than 1200 active franchising systems currently operating in the country which are spread across the different sectors.
More than 50000 franchisees (across the sectors) are involved in the system.
The annual turnover achieved by franchise business in India touches Rs. 12,000 –
13,500 Crores approximately.
The total investment (annually) made by the franchisees is over Rs. 7,000 Crores and
Rapidly growing at the rate of 25-29%.
More than 650,000 people are directly employed by franchised business.
Around 180 foreign franchisors are already existing and operational in India and many are more coming or planning to come shortly.
Variety of franchising formats (retail franchising– non retail franchising / pure
Franchising – management contract franchising – hybrid franchising) are practiced across the sectors.
But even after having these encouraging facts and figures it can be said that, Indian franchising still remains in the nascent stage if compared with the global scenario. The concept of franchising is widely accepted and practiced globally, specially in USA and Western Europe supported by well-structured law, infrastructure and strong business framework.
In US, $1 trillion is estimated as annual sales from franchised outlets where 50 % retail trade is done through franchised outlets only. US franchisors often use franchising mode as a strategy for global expansion.
Franchising across the sectors:
As proven a mode of faster growth option of the business, franchising is found in almost all major sectors. Though, depending on the nature and practice of the sector, some sectors had already started experiencing the franchising revolution while in some sectors it is yet to start. Involvement of various foreign players also plays a key role in this issue. The major sectors which consider ‘franchising’ as a strategic growth vehicle includes beauty salons and supplies, business services, clothing, education & training, food & beverage, retail, travel etc.
Franchising: Different modes:
In practice franchising is found in different modes. Across the sectors, franchise systems offer varying types of units or programs of single type or in combination of more than one. Though the majority of franchise systems come in the form of stand-alone or in-line store, several other mode are also available includes, kiosk, satellite, express etc.
Broadly the major categories are as follows:
o Standard - a stand-alone or in-line store location
o Cart/Kiosk - non-fixed units, generally in malls or other captive market locations
o Express - smaller units, typically with limited services
o Home Office - franchisees may work out their homes
o Institutional Location - based in hospitals, military bases, schools, etc.
o Satellite - unit operates as a satellite or branch office of the system
o Vehicle/Mobile - units that are based out of a vehicle
o Other - a variety of unit-types
Different modes of Franchised Business in India
Source: Annual report by Franchise Association of India
Number of outlets:
The distribution of no of franchisees having by different franchisors is also very interesting. In India, it shows that almost 7% franchisors have more than 500 franchisees (each), which is very convincing figure for a relatively nascent concept.
Analysis of Franchising System:
When franchising is recognized as a viable entrepreneurial option, it becomes extremely important for an entrepreneur to know the technical and operational know-how of it. Typically many issues are associated with any franchise business – ranging from legal contract, financial deals, support system and delivery, relation between the franchisor and franchisee and many others. In US franchise mechanism is quite structured but in India it is not very much structured. As a result, ineffective and inefficient franchise mechanism often causes undesirable consequences for both the parties.
Most of the time franchisees become the ‘sufferer’ because of unstructured franchising mechanism and lack of prior business experience. The major challenge that is faced by Franchisee is the high financial obligations in the form of initial franchise fees, different other permits and insurance, marketing – training – consulting fees, royalty etc. set by the franchisors. Sometime, even after paying all those ‘fees’, control of the conduct of the business remain reserved by the franchisors. Last but not the least, termination or renewal of a franchise contract is often become hazards for the franchisee as franchisors deliberately create many complicacies in the whole process.
Franchisors are also not in the ‘safer’ side all the time. They also face several challenges because of the unstructured franchising mechanism and lack of professional commitment from the franchisee. In most of time ‘challenges’ come in the form of irregularity of payment of advertising – expert consulting and even royalty by the committed time. Resignation of a successful franchisee or clash between two franchisees also results disruption of the franchising distribution in the distribution system laid by the franchisors. Sometime franchisees do involve in different malpractices like providing misleading or misusing information, which badly affect the franchisors in their decision-making.
CSF for a franchising system:
Like all the sectors, franchising sector also has ‘critical success factors’ of its own kind.
Sparkleminds a leading consulting firm in franchising in India conducted a research on the same line and identified such few critical success factors (CSR).
The result of the research is shown in the table below.
Ranking Critical Success Factor
1 A well-established business network
2 Constant new product development
3 Innovative products/ services
4 Quality of franchisees
5 Transparencies
6 Return on investment to franchisees
Table 1: Critical Success Factor for Franchise Business
Source: Annual survey of the Indian Franchise Sector, conducted by Sparkleminds Franchise Catalysts India
Again, in practice it is often found that there is andidea mismatch’ between the franchisor and franchisee causing dispute, conflict and ultimately termination of the contract. To find the ‘reasons behind it’ the same franchise consulting firm conducted one research and identified the most common causes of frictions between the franchisors and franchisee.
The result of the research is shown in the table below.
Ranking Causes of Friction
1 Transparency
2 Training and Support
3 Revenue Sharing
4 Product/ Service Deliveries
Table 2: Most common causes of friction between the franchisee and franchisor
Source: Annual survey of the Indian Franchise Sector, conducted by Sparkleminds Franchise Catalysts
Future of Franchising in India:
India is always considered as a hub for entrepreneurial pool and it is quite interesting to observe that the traditional business acumen among the entrepreneurs has made a shift towards understanding and adopting business in a more scientific manner. And when it comes to science and systems of business, franchised business as a sector is evolving and thriving. Indian business environment is gradually experiencing the changes and now the concept and essence of franchising is permeating into the Indian entrepreneurial mind.
In the past one-decade International franchise brands like Pizza Hut, Mc Donald's, Gold's Gym, Kodak, Subway, Holiday Inn and many others understood the potential of Indian market and enter in the Indian market. Thanks to these brands today international franchising in India is one of the most exciting areas in the franchise industry. Indian brands also do not stay much back from their international counterparts. They are also taking the franchising pathway to success and made significant growth in areas like retail, education, beauty etc. Many new age Indian entrepreneurs has realized the scope of growth in franchising and thus many entrepreneurs already adopted the franchising route to entrepreneurship and many are in different phases of adopting. For these entrepreneurs becoming a national or International franchise seems much easier, safer and profitable than struggling for brand identity while running a small enterprise of their own.
The vast geographical expanse, diverse culture, powerful and growing economy, huge and fast growing consuming class, shifting focus on services from agriculture and manufacturing and acceptance of western concepts by Indian masses, provide excellent franchised business opportunities in India. Again, introduction and penetration of new technologies has added new dimensions in franchising. All these market conditions combined with the low rate of franchise failure and significant return on investment has made a bright future for franchising. It is predicted that in the coming future franchising industry will attain very high growth records. The industry has not yet touched its zenith. Till now only major cities in India has witnessed the growth of Indian Franchising, however as the Indian economy is witnessing new dimensions, more than 30 tier I and 100 tier II cities (towns) of the Indian sub continent is expected to emerge as new markets for franchised business. Both the consumers and entrepreneurs of these small cities now feel the thriving pulse of franchising and are ready to welcome the new shift in the trade and business. Also as the major cities are now on the verge of saturation, best of the brands and corporate companies are finding these small cities as their next hot destination.
Still among all these golden aspects, there are few grey areas as per Indian franchising is concern. The major concern is lack of regularity framework for franchise business. Lack of clear and specific franchising law often results ‘confusion’ in case of any legal dispute between the franchisor and franchisee. Not only that, Indian franchising sector does not have any solid financing mechanism in practice. Even, the skewed real estate market often poses as a threat to the growth of franchising in India.
Conclusion:
The growth of franchising in India is inevitable, because of its unique style of business proposition and presence of several other factors acting as ‘positive’ role concurrently. Entrepreneurs realize this fact and look forward to gain the best from this business option. As a result, the acceptability of ‘franchising’ as a business option has increased. Now people show keen interest in ‘franchising matters’. For them, it is a much flexible business options in terms of - choice of sector, franchisors-, degree of engagement (full time / part time) and even in the amount of investment.
Franchising system has a great impact on the society also. It creates a synergy in the society and unveils a unique kind of win – win – win proposition. The Franchisor wins by having a presence, whereas the franchisee wins by owning a profitable business and the society wins at large by emergence of numerous entrepreneurs and having superior products and services.
Annexure:Franchise List/ Franchise Directory / Franchise Brands
(A) Few upcoming strong Franchisor brands in India:Top Franchises
Business Vertical
Brands (Franchisors)
Beauty Salons & Supplies
Body Spa,
Naturals,
Fitness One India Ltd.,
Shahnaz Husain Group
Business Services
Eureka Forbes Ltd
Clothing
Blackberry,
Peter England,
Raymonds,
Fashion,
Reid & Taylor,
Hakoba Lifestyle LTD,
Design Institute
JDTI
Education & Training
NIIT
APTECH
Veta
British Academy,
Cadd Center,
Career forum
IMS
Florist
Ferns N Petals,
Florista
Food & Beverages
Baskin Robbins,
Swirls
Café Coffee Day
Yo China,
Gift & Greetings
Archies
Presto
Health & Aids Services
Proline Fitness,
Golds Gym
Vaidya Sane Ayurveda Clinic,
Fortis Health World Ltd,
Guardian Pharmacy,
Retail
Asmi,
Refeel
Bally Fabs,
Cartridge World,
Castrol Bike Zone,
Crossword,
D’damas,
Featherlite,
Marshalls,
Nilgiris
School (Play / Nursery)
Eurokids
ABC Montessori,
Bachpan
Fasttrack kids
Kidzee
Travel
Travel Tours,
Prime Travels,
Travel Port,
Via,
Arzoo
Cox and Kings
Properties
Remax
Source:
Manas Garai
Quoting from Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, it can be said that ‘every Individual is an entrepreneur’, but it is evident that the degree of one being an entrepreneur varies. This is because people thinks, interprets and practices ‘entrepreneurship’ differently and that is why it is rightly said that there are many ‘models’ for Entrepreneurship. Even in today’s modern business place, the idea of getting associated with entrepreneurial activity as a part time business (read finding side income source) is also catching. With these background, when people explored ‘options’ for entrepreneurship, franchising as a route towards entrepreneurship comes in a profound manner because this is considered as an entrepreneurial business option with lesser Investment and risk. Moreover, the events like phenomenal retail boom in India, entry of various international brands in Indian market, increasing number of people with substantial invest-able funds and importantly recognizing the idea of ‘own boss’ give further boost to the ‘Franchising route to Entrepreneurship’. Still, as study says Franchising’ in India as business contribution is still in a nascent stage, it is also true that franchising as an entrepreneurial practice still not much explored and practiced in India. This paper try to put some light on the same line and also put effort to understand associate issues with franchising system in India and how entrepreneurs can exploit Franchising as a viable business option.
***************************************************
Introduction:
The understanding of entrepreneurship seems to be very interesting because different people think, interpret and practice entrepreneurship in different manners. So the issue ‘what is entrepreneurship or who is an entrepreneur’ has become less relevant, rather ‘what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial’ become very purposeful to the entrepreneurship researchers. This issue is addressed by D. Sarasvathy in one of his Harvard Business Review submission as, ‘Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial, as differentiated from managerial or strategic, because they think effectively; they believe in a yet-to-be made future that can be substantially be shaped by human action’. Traditional start up’s, intrapreneurship or social entrepreneurship what ever may the route the driving mantra for an entrepreneur remain same. Today, encouraged by the same mantra – effective thinking and a yet-to-be made future, people find new routes to experience entrepreneurship. Changing mindset and positive entrepreneurial environment give birth of the new models of ‘entrepreneurial journey’, which are very much relevant and prevalent in the society.
In his article ‘The many models of entrepreneurship’, entrepreneurship thinker Mohan Babu manifested the same and came up with such relevant and prevalent models of entrepreneurship. According to him, the followings are the new ‘entrepreneurship models’ that has emerged in the society.
Consultant model: Mostly common among academicians, corporate executives, IT
Professionals – who have niche domain expertise and gain a ‘brand’ name while working. They find it convenient and lucrative to start consultations using the industry contacts and domain expertise, after retiring from their regular job.
Moonlighting model: This model is common among those who want to practice
Entrepreneurship ‘part-time’ without involving full-time. For example, doctors working for hospitals or clinics as a ‘visiting consultant’. Some professionals take the public speaking or column writing in the same fashion.
Brilliant Idea model: Professionals and other workings may have a “million dollar idea” that has altogether different perspective from the same every day idea. Many times, these people take their new/ innovative idea to the employer with a suggestion to implement it on the job. Sometimes, when the management does not take up the ideas, they adopt the entrepreneurial route if they have strong believed/ faith about it.
Existing business/Franchise model: Sometimes, individuals who do not want to continue in the corporate world decide to start their own venture in a domain they are comfortable. Such ventures may take the form of small businesses or franchises. In the franchise model, the aspiring entrepreneur approaches a corporation (franchisor) and takes on the responsibility of running his business using the brand and marketing support from the enterprise. Though Babu does not mention it, it is also seen that people with surplus capital like to invest to take a franchisee ownership along with an existing job or after retiring a full service life. Now this Franchise model as an entrepreneurial route is extremely interesting because of its certain characteristics like – flexibility of involvement (part time/ full time) as an entrepreneur, unrestricted domain choice irrespective of expertise and significant high success rate compared to start ups. As a result, ‘franchising route to entrepreneurship’ is considered as a highly attractive entrepreneurial proposition and proving its potentiality (if already not proved! at least In India) amongst the entrepreneurs. Hence from an entrepreneur point of view, it become extremely important to understand the franchising system, associate issues with it and to know how they can exploit Franchising as a viable business option.
Understanding Franchising:
Franchising happen when some enterprise develops a proven concept and then transfers the trademark and business know-how to an entrepreneur, termed franchisee. The franchisee usually gets the right for a specific time period and in a specific geographic area for a one time franchisee fee and loyalty. The enterprise, which develops the business concept, is termed as franchisor. The franchisor provides different systems and supports to the franchisee.
Hence in technical terms, franchising is neither an industry nor a business, rather franchising is a method of doing business within a given industry. It is a business partnership and like all business partnerships it involves two parties, the franchisor and the franchisee. The franchisor provides the know-how, training, system and the brand, whereas the franchisee forms the front end and is responsible for managing his business unit. Technically, the ‘Franchising contract’ binds the two parties is the system.
Figure 1: Franchising System and Support Services Model
A Win – Win Proposition:
The most interesting part of franchising system is its win – win propositions between the two parties – franchisors and franchisee. Both the parties engaged in the ‘deal’ can reap substantial benefit from the franchising system. It is said that, a franchisor gets three fold benefits from franchising. Firstly, franchising acts as a distribution model for the franchisor, which helps them to growth rapidly. Secondly, it reduces the set up risk as risk is shared by the franchisee members and thirdly, franchising ultimately.
Helps in brand building and acts as a consumer interface amongst the populace.
Franchising help franchisors to have –
o Greater access to capital
o Better utilization of operating cost
o Presence rapidly both in known and less unknown market places
On the other hand, franchisee also enjoys benefits from franchising. In most of the cases,
Entrepreneurs have limitations in terms of capital, business know-how and have to deal with certain degree of risk. But franchising helps an entrepreneur (franchisee owner) in various aspects like –
o Get an association with an already known trade mark or service mark.
o Lesser investment and degree of risk
o Shorter learning curve
o Economies of scale
o Business System and operation support
o Advertising and promotional support
o Recruitment and training (of the employee) support, etc.
Most common form of Franchising Systems:
Master Franchising System: In master franchising the franchiser grants rights for a particular area to the master franchise for a front-end master franchisee fee. The master franchiser takes the responsibility for appointing further individual franchisees within that area. McDonald's, TGIF, Pizza Hut etc. have adopted this system in India.
Area Development Franchising System: In an area development agreement, the franchiser grants development rights of a particular area to the franchisee in turn for a front-end development fee. The franchisee on his part is responsible for developing a certain number of units within a given period of time. Excel InfoTech EIIT has adopted this unique mode of franchising.
Exclusive Showrooms: In an exclusive showroom the company or the franchiser grants
Exclusive showroom rights to the franchisee with the condition that the franchisee shall stock only his brand of products. The franchisee profits by being given stocks at lesser price than other retail outlets. This system is widely followed by brands like Raymond's, Allen Solly, and ColorPlus.
Successful entrepreneurship through Franchising:
Though India is considered as a country of entrepreneurship, it hardly ever witnessed entrepreneurship at a mass level in any of the form. Franchising also is not an exception for that and the reasons are specific of its context. It was limited to the few people with better ‘information and capital’, and was never able to attract the mass level of the society. But with the course of time the scenario has changed and has accepted by mass level (specially middle, lower middle class) at a much greater extent. People, who are not from very high business background come forward, opt franchising and found it effective. Many people made their best possible future from out of that. The simple proposition of ‘franchising’ and its uniqueness of business proposition play the crucial role and made possible for a mass level of entrepreneurship, yet not complete but just the beginning, thanks to franchising!
On a macro level, the greatest benefit of a ‘franchise system’ is that a large numbers of entrepreneurs in the form of franchisee owners work together to achieve a common goal. The franchisee is a dedicated entrepreneur and not a salaried employee, thus he/she is more likely to show greater commitment dedication, interest and involvement. They are they are intelligent enough to understand as they are working with a tried tested and proven business concept; the chances of failure of the venture reduce significantly.
Reasons that boost the idea of ‘Franchising route to entrepreneurship’:
The following are the primary and major reasons that boost up the idea of ‘Franchising route to entrepreneurship’.
Lesser investment and risk factor:
In franchising the initial investment and risk associated with it is much compared to a start ups. In most of the cases, ordinary start-ups face problem of huge investment, evaluating an opportunity and lack experience about the business know how. Thus they carry a huge risk. While in case of franchising the initial investment is generally lesser, in fact, the investment can be ‘chosen’ by the entrepreneur as per his/ her financial resource is available. Not only that, risk factor also significantly come down as the entrepreneur (owner of the franchisee) get the tested business concept, marketing and sales support, staining and staffing support, other consulting support. These facts actually encourage the people to become an entrepreneur by taking a franchisee ownership.
Proven track record and less failure rate:
Study says, 90% of start-ups fail in the first year itself and those survive, 90% of them fail in the next two years. On the contrary, for a franchised business, the result is completely opposite. In franchised business over 90% ventures are successful. This high success rate usually attracts entrepreneurs, with no experience but with a surplus capital and a will to succeed, to move towards franchising.
‘Wide range of options’ in franchising business:
Franchising as an entrepreneurial option is extremely flexible in nature. Franchising, by its nature and the way it operates in the market offers a wide range of ‘alternatives’ to the Entrepreneur. The entrepreneur can decide his/ her business as per his expertise, interest and resources.
The idea of such ‘alternatives/ options’ comes from different aspects.
o Options for choosing a sector: e.g.: food, education, clothing etc.
o Options for selecting a ‘franchisor brand’ from the chosen sector
o Options for engagement in business: Full time – part time; main business – side business
o Options for ‘investment’: Ranging from thousands to Crores. \
Increase in personal / household invest-able capital:
In the new economy, Indian individuals and households have more surplus capital because of better job opportunity and multiple earning members. And interestingly, unlike earlier, people, become more open to invest their surplus capital for a better return. They look for means of investment and find investment in the form of a franchised business is a better and smarter way to utilize the surplus capital. Again, they realize that the investment in franchised business is somewhat more ‘controllable’ and return are convincing. These help individual/ households to take decision in favour of a franchised business.
Recognizing and believing the idea of ‘own boss’:
These days people became more future conscious and look for job flexibility and freedom. They are now recognizing and believing the idea of ‘own boss’ and became more open to be an entrepreneur. And in many cases, realizing their lack of entrepreneurial experience and resources they decide to have a franchisee ownership and cherish the experience of running own business. This idea is gaining popularity in a rapid way. Depending on cases, they prefer to carry the franchised business either from home or from an outside location. Even the retired individual, housewife community also found this business proposition very convenient and shown keen interest about it.
Again, there are few factors, which play indirect role in emergence of franchised business. These factors can be categorized as - recent retail boom in India, entry of various international brands in Indian market, rapid growth of Indian economy, huge and fast growing consuming class, entrepreneurship revolution etc.
Franchising take in India:
In India, the concept of franchising started around seventies but didn’t get much acceptance till nineties. Traditionally it was limited to few sectors like IT training, clothing and footwear sector etc. Today in India, the acceptability for franchising system is much stronger, which helps franchising in India to touch a new height. It has forayed into all industries from Food and Fuel to health and travel. The franchising trend in India includes – domination of service sector, growth in retail franchising, introduction of many master franchisees by international franchisors etc. Today franchising spread across the country, providing immense opportunity to the entrepreneurs.
Franchising: Facts and figures in India:
There are more than 1200 active franchising systems currently operating in the country which are spread across the different sectors.
More than 50000 franchisees (across the sectors) are involved in the system.
The annual turnover achieved by franchise business in India touches Rs. 12,000 –
13,500 Crores approximately.
The total investment (annually) made by the franchisees is over Rs. 7,000 Crores and
Rapidly growing at the rate of 25-29%.
More than 650,000 people are directly employed by franchised business.
Around 180 foreign franchisors are already existing and operational in India and many are more coming or planning to come shortly.
Variety of franchising formats (retail franchising– non retail franchising / pure
Franchising – management contract franchising – hybrid franchising) are practiced across the sectors.
But even after having these encouraging facts and figures it can be said that, Indian franchising still remains in the nascent stage if compared with the global scenario. The concept of franchising is widely accepted and practiced globally, specially in USA and Western Europe supported by well-structured law, infrastructure and strong business framework.
In US, $1 trillion is estimated as annual sales from franchised outlets where 50 % retail trade is done through franchised outlets only. US franchisors often use franchising mode as a strategy for global expansion.
Franchising across the sectors:
As proven a mode of faster growth option of the business, franchising is found in almost all major sectors. Though, depending on the nature and practice of the sector, some sectors had already started experiencing the franchising revolution while in some sectors it is yet to start. Involvement of various foreign players also plays a key role in this issue. The major sectors which consider ‘franchising’ as a strategic growth vehicle includes beauty salons and supplies, business services, clothing, education & training, food & beverage, retail, travel etc.
Franchising: Different modes:
In practice franchising is found in different modes. Across the sectors, franchise systems offer varying types of units or programs of single type or in combination of more than one. Though the majority of franchise systems come in the form of stand-alone or in-line store, several other mode are also available includes, kiosk, satellite, express etc.
Broadly the major categories are as follows:
o Standard - a stand-alone or in-line store location
o Cart/Kiosk - non-fixed units, generally in malls or other captive market locations
o Express - smaller units, typically with limited services
o Home Office - franchisees may work out their homes
o Institutional Location - based in hospitals, military bases, schools, etc.
o Satellite - unit operates as a satellite or branch office of the system
o Vehicle/Mobile - units that are based out of a vehicle
o Other - a variety of unit-types
Different modes of Franchised Business in India
Source: Annual report by Franchise Association of India
Number of outlets:
The distribution of no of franchisees having by different franchisors is also very interesting. In India, it shows that almost 7% franchisors have more than 500 franchisees (each), which is very convincing figure for a relatively nascent concept.
Analysis of Franchising System:
When franchising is recognized as a viable entrepreneurial option, it becomes extremely important for an entrepreneur to know the technical and operational know-how of it. Typically many issues are associated with any franchise business – ranging from legal contract, financial deals, support system and delivery, relation between the franchisor and franchisee and many others. In US franchise mechanism is quite structured but in India it is not very much structured. As a result, ineffective and inefficient franchise mechanism often causes undesirable consequences for both the parties.
Most of the time franchisees become the ‘sufferer’ because of unstructured franchising mechanism and lack of prior business experience. The major challenge that is faced by Franchisee is the high financial obligations in the form of initial franchise fees, different other permits and insurance, marketing – training – consulting fees, royalty etc. set by the franchisors. Sometime, even after paying all those ‘fees’, control of the conduct of the business remain reserved by the franchisors. Last but not the least, termination or renewal of a franchise contract is often become hazards for the franchisee as franchisors deliberately create many complicacies in the whole process.
Franchisors are also not in the ‘safer’ side all the time. They also face several challenges because of the unstructured franchising mechanism and lack of professional commitment from the franchisee. In most of time ‘challenges’ come in the form of irregularity of payment of advertising – expert consulting and even royalty by the committed time. Resignation of a successful franchisee or clash between two franchisees also results disruption of the franchising distribution in the distribution system laid by the franchisors. Sometime franchisees do involve in different malpractices like providing misleading or misusing information, which badly affect the franchisors in their decision-making.
CSF for a franchising system:
Like all the sectors, franchising sector also has ‘critical success factors’ of its own kind.
Sparkleminds a leading consulting firm in franchising in India conducted a research on the same line and identified such few critical success factors (CSR).
The result of the research is shown in the table below.
Ranking Critical Success Factor
1 A well-established business network
2 Constant new product development
3 Innovative products/ services
4 Quality of franchisees
5 Transparencies
6 Return on investment to franchisees
Table 1: Critical Success Factor for Franchise Business
Source: Annual survey of the Indian Franchise Sector, conducted by Sparkleminds Franchise Catalysts India
Again, in practice it is often found that there is andidea mismatch’ between the franchisor and franchisee causing dispute, conflict and ultimately termination of the contract. To find the ‘reasons behind it’ the same franchise consulting firm conducted one research and identified the most common causes of frictions between the franchisors and franchisee.
The result of the research is shown in the table below.
Ranking Causes of Friction
1 Transparency
2 Training and Support
3 Revenue Sharing
4 Product/ Service Deliveries
Table 2: Most common causes of friction between the franchisee and franchisor
Source: Annual survey of the Indian Franchise Sector, conducted by Sparkleminds Franchise Catalysts
Future of Franchising in India:
India is always considered as a hub for entrepreneurial pool and it is quite interesting to observe that the traditional business acumen among the entrepreneurs has made a shift towards understanding and adopting business in a more scientific manner. And when it comes to science and systems of business, franchised business as a sector is evolving and thriving. Indian business environment is gradually experiencing the changes and now the concept and essence of franchising is permeating into the Indian entrepreneurial mind.
In the past one-decade International franchise brands like Pizza Hut, Mc Donald's, Gold's Gym, Kodak, Subway, Holiday Inn and many others understood the potential of Indian market and enter in the Indian market. Thanks to these brands today international franchising in India is one of the most exciting areas in the franchise industry. Indian brands also do not stay much back from their international counterparts. They are also taking the franchising pathway to success and made significant growth in areas like retail, education, beauty etc. Many new age Indian entrepreneurs has realized the scope of growth in franchising and thus many entrepreneurs already adopted the franchising route to entrepreneurship and many are in different phases of adopting. For these entrepreneurs becoming a national or International franchise seems much easier, safer and profitable than struggling for brand identity while running a small enterprise of their own.
The vast geographical expanse, diverse culture, powerful and growing economy, huge and fast growing consuming class, shifting focus on services from agriculture and manufacturing and acceptance of western concepts by Indian masses, provide excellent franchised business opportunities in India. Again, introduction and penetration of new technologies has added new dimensions in franchising. All these market conditions combined with the low rate of franchise failure and significant return on investment has made a bright future for franchising. It is predicted that in the coming future franchising industry will attain very high growth records. The industry has not yet touched its zenith. Till now only major cities in India has witnessed the growth of Indian Franchising, however as the Indian economy is witnessing new dimensions, more than 30 tier I and 100 tier II cities (towns) of the Indian sub continent is expected to emerge as new markets for franchised business. Both the consumers and entrepreneurs of these small cities now feel the thriving pulse of franchising and are ready to welcome the new shift in the trade and business. Also as the major cities are now on the verge of saturation, best of the brands and corporate companies are finding these small cities as their next hot destination.
Still among all these golden aspects, there are few grey areas as per Indian franchising is concern. The major concern is lack of regularity framework for franchise business. Lack of clear and specific franchising law often results ‘confusion’ in case of any legal dispute between the franchisor and franchisee. Not only that, Indian franchising sector does not have any solid financing mechanism in practice. Even, the skewed real estate market often poses as a threat to the growth of franchising in India.
Conclusion:
The growth of franchising in India is inevitable, because of its unique style of business proposition and presence of several other factors acting as ‘positive’ role concurrently. Entrepreneurs realize this fact and look forward to gain the best from this business option. As a result, the acceptability of ‘franchising’ as a business option has increased. Now people show keen interest in ‘franchising matters’. For them, it is a much flexible business options in terms of - choice of sector, franchisors-, degree of engagement (full time / part time) and even in the amount of investment.
Franchising system has a great impact on the society also. It creates a synergy in the society and unveils a unique kind of win – win – win proposition. The Franchisor wins by having a presence, whereas the franchisee wins by owning a profitable business and the society wins at large by emergence of numerous entrepreneurs and having superior products and services.
Annexure:Franchise List/ Franchise Directory / Franchise Brands
(A) Few upcoming strong Franchisor brands in India:Top Franchises
Business Vertical
Brands (Franchisors)
Beauty Salons & Supplies
Body Spa,
Naturals,
Fitness One India Ltd.,
Shahnaz Husain Group
Business Services
Eureka Forbes Ltd
Clothing
Blackberry,
Peter England,
Raymonds,
Fashion,
Reid & Taylor,
Hakoba Lifestyle LTD,
Design Institute
JDTI
Education & Training
NIIT
APTECH
Veta
British Academy,
Cadd Center,
Career forum
IMS
Florist
Ferns N Petals,
Florista
Food & Beverages
Baskin Robbins,
Swirls
Café Coffee Day
Yo China,
Gift & Greetings
Archies
Presto
Health & Aids Services
Proline Fitness,
Golds Gym
Vaidya Sane Ayurveda Clinic,
Fortis Health World Ltd,
Guardian Pharmacy,
Retail
Asmi,
Refeel
Bally Fabs,
Cartridge World,
Castrol Bike Zone,
Crossword,
D’damas,
Featherlite,
Marshalls,
Nilgiris
School (Play / Nursery)
Eurokids
ABC Montessori,
Bachpan
Fasttrack kids
Kidzee
Travel
Travel Tours,
Prime Travels,
Travel Port,
Via,
Arzoo
Cox and Kings
Properties
Remax
Source:
Manas Garai
Franchise Courses and Training Programme Launched By Indian Franchising Association.
A study by Indian Franchise Association
Bridging practical training gap would be the biggest challenge for education institutes post economic recovery
New Delhi, Delhi, March 31, 2010 /India PRwire/ -- New Delhi- April 1, 2010: Indian Franchise Association (IFA) has taken an initiative of launching India's first short term professional training courses on retail and franchising for MBA students and working executives. In India, 400,000 engineers graduated last year but only one in four of them was employable, rest could not make through due to lack of required technical skills, fluency in English, ability to work in a team or delivering basic oral presentations. Similarly the case with management education, hence the core objective of these training courses would be to make them employable. IFA has aggressive plans to promote short term professional training courses by establishing training centres in various parts of the country to educate students or professionals on the modalities of franchising and retail.
On certification courses introduction, Mr. Arvind Singhatiya, Head-Training and Content, Indian Franchise Association, said "It's indeed a landmark education initiative by IFA for management students and working professionals, as this will benefit them with expert training vis-à-vis seamless support for their placement in the burgeoning modern retail and franchise sector. We are in the process of tying up with B- schools, franchise companies and retail organizations to create a common podium for knowledge workers and seeking companies".
Commenting on the continuous demand in the market with an optimistic approach, Mr. Singhatiya further added, "Economy is bouncing back, this time in a big way; this will lead to an enormous demand of trained professionals and these training sessions are so tailored as to prepare students to meet industry needs and bridge the gap between education and practical training".
Experts agree that India's knowledge based economy needs dynamic and analytical knowledge workers who can become the motivating force for innovation and growth in this country. Professional training is need of the hour and it would add immense value if induced with the regular professional courses.
These short terms courses are one of their kind and a first step in India taken by IFA towards youth for them to understand fresh franchise business models and patterns adopted in the practical marketplace to excel in future for their growth.
Notes to Editor
About Indian Franchise Association
Indian Franchise Association (IFA) is India's premier, non-political, not-for-profit body representing Indian Franchise Sector. IFA's endeavor is to promote, promulgate and popularize the concept of franchising as a mode of doing business across the industry verticals and to nurture the entrepreneurial skill of every Indian. IFA is acting as a catalyst for franchise and modern retail sector's growth through various policy papers, conference, B2Bs workshops and liaison with the government of India for policy issues.
Bridging practical training gap would be the biggest challenge for education institutes post economic recovery
New Delhi, Delhi, March 31, 2010 /India PRwire/ -- New Delhi- April 1, 2010: Indian Franchise Association (IFA) has taken an initiative of launching India's first short term professional training courses on retail and franchising for MBA students and working executives. In India, 400,000 engineers graduated last year but only one in four of them was employable, rest could not make through due to lack of required technical skills, fluency in English, ability to work in a team or delivering basic oral presentations. Similarly the case with management education, hence the core objective of these training courses would be to make them employable. IFA has aggressive plans to promote short term professional training courses by establishing training centres in various parts of the country to educate students or professionals on the modalities of franchising and retail.
On certification courses introduction, Mr. Arvind Singhatiya, Head-Training and Content, Indian Franchise Association, said "It's indeed a landmark education initiative by IFA for management students and working professionals, as this will benefit them with expert training vis-à-vis seamless support for their placement in the burgeoning modern retail and franchise sector. We are in the process of tying up with B- schools, franchise companies and retail organizations to create a common podium for knowledge workers and seeking companies".
Commenting on the continuous demand in the market with an optimistic approach, Mr. Singhatiya further added, "Economy is bouncing back, this time in a big way; this will lead to an enormous demand of trained professionals and these training sessions are so tailored as to prepare students to meet industry needs and bridge the gap between education and practical training".
Experts agree that India's knowledge based economy needs dynamic and analytical knowledge workers who can become the motivating force for innovation and growth in this country. Professional training is need of the hour and it would add immense value if induced with the regular professional courses.
These short terms courses are one of their kind and a first step in India taken by IFA towards youth for them to understand fresh franchise business models and patterns adopted in the practical marketplace to excel in future for their growth.
Notes to Editor
About Indian Franchise Association
Indian Franchise Association (IFA) is India's premier, non-political, not-for-profit body representing Indian Franchise Sector. IFA's endeavor is to promote, promulgate and popularize the concept of franchising as a mode of doing business across the industry verticals and to nurture the entrepreneurial skill of every Indian. IFA is acting as a catalyst for franchise and modern retail sector's growth through various policy papers, conference, B2Bs workshops and liaison with the government of India for policy issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)