Franchising is a proven and effective strategy to grow one’s business from one to many.
Today’s successful brands serve as proof that franchising is the most flexible method for growth and has been tried and tested over time with a 90% success rate.
Francorp Philippines Managing Director Noel Siggaoat is a passionate advocate of franchising. Early on, he saw how significant an impact franchising can make on the economy because it multiplies businesses and creates thousands of jobs.
Originally working in the financial sector abroad, Siggaoat wanted to venture into something different. “In spite of the financial rewards,” Siggaoat narrated, “I didn’t feel a strong sense of fulfilment helping out US and European banks who were already rich, successful financial institutions become even richer. There was an inner voice telling me that I should be using my skills to help out in my own country,” he said.
This prompted him to move back to the Philippines to find opportunities that would be beneficial to the country and be personally fulfilling at the same time. “When the opportunity at Francorp came along, I immediately saw its connection to my personal mission. Helping small and medium businesses grow through franchising, making entrepreneurs out of franchisees, and employing lots of workers through franchising was an opportunity to contribute in my own small way to the Philippine economy,” he said.
It took some time before the company’s services were accepted by the market, Siggaoat shares. “Part of the challenge when Francorp Philippines began was educating the market that yes, franchising is a simple concept but preparing a company for franchising requires a lot of planning, analysis, and transformation. There are many layers involved in a franchise program that require expertise in different fields — strategy, finance, legal, operations, marketing and sales.”
When the market understood the value of Francorp’s services and saw the success of its early clients, Philippine companies in food and retailing started to get on board.
The Generics Pharmacy (TGP) was one of the business that benefited greatly from franchising. In the beginning, the look of the store and its operating system needed work.
When TGP eventually launched their franchise program a few months after working with Francorp, the once small pharmacy grew from one to 2,000 branches in a span of eight years.
Another early client was Bo’s Coffee. When it started working with Francorp, Bo’s Coffee was a startup Cebu player looking to expand outside of its base. ”Today, Bo’s Coffee is not only the premier homegrown coffee brand, it is holding its own against the international coffee brands that have entered the Philippines,” Siggaoat proudly shares.
While there are other methods of growing businesses, franchising has become the preferred method adopted by many local businesses. Siggaoat said that franchising, when done correctly, outperforms other methods because of its low cost and built-in incentive system for the franchisee. He sees that more companies will adopt franchising as its go-to method of expansion because of its win-win outcome for both franchisor and franchisees.
Meanwhile, Siggaoat sees more innovative products and services going into franchising in the coming years, signifying a brighter future in the local franchise industry. “In the last few years, education franchises and medical services have started to expand through franchising. We will see more franchises in these fields as well as in business services, tourism, and technology-based products and services.”
