The IFRE 07-08 concluded at New Delhi with two days of exhibition, summit and award function, held on 22nd and 23rd February 2008 at Hotel Ashok. This was the second consecutive year of the show, organised by Franchising Association of India (www.fai.co.in), a leading trade body that promotes growth of franchising in the country in partnership with Franchise Plus.

Exhibition

Franchise business in our country has demonstrated success and become an apt business platform for entrepreneurs as franchising is not only a concept for expansion but itself constitutes a complete business system with regard to a successful brand.

The biggest draw to the expo this year was undoubtedly the exhibition, a platform for prospective franchisees to meet the franchisors and retail brands of their interest. Besides retail brands from India; this event was supported by US Commercial Services, International Enterprise, Singapore, Malaysian Franchise Association and Franchising and Licensing Association of Singapore.

Several leading brands from these nations present at the expo were the ones who want to expand their reach in India through franchising.

Titan Industries, Top Careers & You, Tech-Kidz, Tru Frut ice-cream, Sweet World, Way2wealth Securties Pvt. Ltd., Sify Technogies, Smart Zone, The NIS Academy, REBI, Zapak Gameplex, Magic Methods, Mahan Computer Services, Ashtang Ayurveda, US Dollar Store, IIFT, Horizon Aviation Academy, HCL DigiLife, Clara International, Dr. Lal Path Labs, Cartridge World, Balloon Man, Makeover, Dosa Plaza, Coffee Day Express, Abacus Mental Mathematics Academy, Suncity Projects Ltd and retail consultants like Team India Managers and Laurent & Benon were some of the Indian brands that participated in the exhibition. US participants included Apple Bees Restaurants, Wellness Waters Spa, www.franchise2Win.com and US Dollar Store Singapore participants included Fly Entertainment, Blush Lingerie, Eye Relax, Astreem Corporation, Highlander Bar and Autosaver Malaysian participants included () and Thai exhibitors included Mrs. Flowers, Café De Iyara, Dairy Farm, SMEI, Pata Jewel Cloning and Mini Pump.

India Franchise and Retail Summit 2008

The summit was held on the second day, and witnessed eminent speakers from the national and international franchise industry share their experience and knowledge on franchising. The effort was to attract prospective franchisees to embrace franchising as a route to business. The speakers highlighted the factors influencing the growth of retail, its boom, new strategies and business opportunities for new entrants, as well as pitfalls to be avoided.

Delivering the welcome address, C.Y Pal, President, FAI, said, “Franchising is a subject which is gaining fast growth in India. Comparing the number of franchise systems in Australia, China and the US, which has 1000, 1500 and 2000 respectively, with 800 franchise systems India is yet to catch up.” He added, “Franchising as a business model will grow at the rate of 30-40 per cent in the coming 4-5 years. The reason for this popularity is because of very less capital required for a person who is keen on being an entrepreneur. Most of the new outlets opening up in malls these days are by franchisees.” Think innovatively and graduate to a modern way of operation was his message to all retailers especially the mom and pop stores.

Rajeev Karwal, Founder & CEO, Milagrow was the moderator for the first session of the summit on “How to start a business in less than ten lakhs”. His advice to prospective franchisees is to ponder on the following aspects before entering any business: Product, Pricing at which the products are to be sourced and sold, People, Promotion, Place, Policy and processes and Pace of expansion.

The panelists of the first session were Paresh Rajde, Suvidhaa Infoserve, O P Manchanda, COO of Dr. Lal Pathlabs and Naresh Ajwani, Sify Ltd. According to Manchanda, “Healthcare franchising is a sunrise industry. From US $ 30 billion, the industry is set to grow to US $ 40-55 by 2012. Of this, the pathology segment accounts for US $ 1 bn. With per capita income growing in the country, money spend on healthcare and penetration of life and health insurance is also increasing.” Speaking about the franchise opportunities with his brand, the most popular in the country, Manchanda said, “All our collection centres are franchised. For a town of 2-3 lakh of population, five centres are required and for each centre a fixed investment of two lakhs is required. Similarly, for a city of around 10-15 lakh of population, a collection centre can be set up with a total investment of ten lakhs.

In Ajwani’s view, attitude of the franchisee plays a pivotal role in the success of any business. He took the audience through a presentation on Sify’s retail venture iway, which is much more than a cyber café. With less than ten lakhs, one can own a Sify iway, have the freedom of being in your own business backed by Sify’s support. The franchisor sets up the center, provides marketing aids as well as trains the iway personnel. Rajde’s message to the prospective franchisees who are in the look out for low-budget business is, “People who are ready to accept change and seek more and more information will find success.” He suggested telecom, tours and travel and financial services are some of the sectors people can look for more opportunities.

Samir Kuckreja, CEO, Nirula’s, Joydeep Singh, Chief Business Developer, Yo! China, Major KV Rajan, VETA and Dale Tasharski, Deputy. Sr. Commercial Officer, US Commercial Service were the speakers of the second session on “How to become a franchisor”. Sharing the secret behind a win-win relationship, Singh says, “A franchisor should be a customer maniac, a person who has passion for the brand and have high integrity towards the brand”. An ideal franchisor should be able to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship according to Rajan whereas Kuckreja believes in entering the franchise route because franchisees can be a great source of idea. Economies of scale can be achieved only through franchising”, saying this Tasharski was calling interested franchisees who have the right resources, network, a good location and the desire to do business to partner with American brands.

Real estate being the priciest factor when it comes to retail expansion, “Deciding on the right real estate for your franchise” was the most looked-for session in the summit. Ananta Raghuvanshi, Chief Executive –Retail, Emaar MGF, Lakshmi Narayan, CEO, REBI and Rahul Narvekar, Suncity Projects was the panelists of this session. Raghuvanshi feels the increasing cost of land will make it next to impossible for a small franchisee to have a space in the mall in the coming years so the solution is to book a property as early as possible. Nevertheless, she adds, “Innovation and not location that is more important for retailers to survive in this highly competitive times”. “For bigger brands/anchor stores, malls may go for revenue sharing but the mall owners are forced to pass on the high rate of land to retailers/franchisees”, said Narvekar. Narayan grabbed the attention of the audience completely with his informative and entertaining session. Comparing the food, gem and jewellery, garment and education industry, he alleged, “Real estate is one industry which scores over others because franchisees can be more independent as they are not product dependent, have the satisfaction of offering customers what they want, requires just one time infrastructure, no inventory, not many employees are required and the market is growing and there is huge returns.”

Pinakiranjan Mishra, E&Y moderated the session on “Understanding the economics behind franchising”. Sandeep Dutt, MD, Book Café feels, “If franchisee is the heart and franchisor the soul, both have to come together to win customers which is the core of any business relationship.” Money involved is intangible if the product/service is of your passion. Self-actualisation should be the level at which the franchisor-franchisee relationship work,” according to Sanjay Shivnani, Career Launcher. Paul Merrifield, National Shopping Centre Development Manager, Aditya Birla Group, explained that the only factor that would make a franchisee go to a retailer was desperation for growth. He added, “Economics is important but the focus should be passion for the brand, respect and transparency.” Manoj Chawla, VP, The NIS Academy, Vivek Seigell, HCL and all the panelists in this session unanimously concluded, “be passionate about your brand and one is sure to achieve success.”

In the final session of the summit Gautam Sahni, Director, US Dollar Store, Sanjay Shivnani of Career Launcher and Vivek Seigell, HCL Digilife spoke on the franchise success stories of their brands. The entire summit was moderated by Jayant Kochar of Go Fish Retail Solutions.

Indian Franchising Awards 2008

Indian Franchising Awards 2008 are given to recognise and reward excellence in franchising to outstanding brands with a proven track record of success. We have several interesting categories like FAI Woman of the Year to encourage women franchisee/ franchisor who has achieved significant success in franchising operations and Indian Franchisee of the Year to reward excellence in franchising across several parameters by an Indian Franchisee.

This year the process for selection involved self-nomination option across twelve categories, the forms were validated by Ernest and Young and the winners were chosen by the jury comprising of industry captains like C Y Pal, President- FAI, Pinaki Mishra, Partner - Ernst & Young, Vivek Kaul, National Director- JLLM, Rajeev Karwal, Founder & CEO- Milagrow, Vinod Behl, Editor- Franchise Plus Magazine and Kalyan Kar, Editor- exchange4media.com.

Award Category

Citation

Award Winner

New Concept in Franchising

To recognise the innovative and successful introduction of a franchising model for a product / business category / industry that did not previously have a franchising model on a large scale

Cartridge World

Franchise Growth Driver

To recognise new franchising initiatives that revolutionized the industry

Coffee Day Express

Win-Win Franchising Partnership

To recognise franchising arrangements with fair and equal rights, duties and rewards for franchisors and franchisees

Aptech

Franchisee Innovativeness Award

To recognise franchisees’ Innovative ideas that resulted in improvement of business operations / results

Joint Winners: HCL Digilife & ATR Jewellery Design

Supportive Franchisor

To recognise franchisors that have extended relevant and timely support to franchisees in terms of IT, process, training, manpower, etc.

HCL Digilife

Innovative Franchise Model

Innovation introduced in the franchising agreement or model which has resulted in increased benefits for both franchisor and franchisee

Ceat Shoppe

FAI Woman of the Year

Woman Franchisee/ Franchisor who has achieved significant success in franchising operations

Ms. Priti Malik, VP, Avalon Aviation Academy

Indian Franchisee of the Year

Excellence in franchising across several parameters, by an Indian Franchisee

Ms. Reema Khosla, Franchisee, Arena Multimedia

Indian Global Franchisor

Excellence in overseas franchising operations

Aptech

Indian Franchisor of the Year

Excellence in franchising across several parameters, by an Indian Franchisor

Coffee Day Express

For more information about forthcoming events, visit us at www.fai.co.in or email us at info@fai.co.in

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The Franchising Association of India is a Membership Organisation of Franchisors, Franchisees, Vendors, Consultants, Financial Institutions and Students and others. Our services are dedicated to provide a one-stop shopping experience for franchising business and with membership of the prestigious World Franchise Council we have ongoing access to knowledge of the World accepted best practice related to Franchising in different areas of business activity as also networking contacts with the WFC member Franchising Associations in different parts of the world for generating new business opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs.

In recognition of the increasing role of franchising in the market place and the very beneficial positive contributions of franchising to the Indian economy, the franchisor and franchisee members of the FAI believe that franchising must reflect the highest principles and standards of fair business practices.

Mission
Tap the vast entrepreneurial energy available in the country by promoting the concept and practice of franchising in India.

Objectives
- Exchange and safeguard the business environment for franchising, both with regard to franchisors and franchisees
- Act as the resource centre for current and prospective franchisors, franchisees, the media and the Government.
- Disseminate knowledge to promote the concept of 'franchising' and propagate it as a healthy business practice.
- Establish a forum for discussion and deliberation on Franchising related matters and problems and help promote the interest of members by organising seminars, conferences and meetings.

Activities
To work towards achievement of the above mission and objectives our activities will include:
- Creation of appropriate forums for discussion of issues and problems related to Franchising.
- International linkages to promote - bringing in of foreign frachisors and best practice for doing business in India through Marketing India at International Expos and otherwise.
- Make representations to the Government with regard to legislative and other measures affecting the promotion of concept and practice of Franchising.
- Encouraging Bank and Venture Capital funding for franchisees.
-Publication of Franchising Successes
- Creation of India's most comprehensive Online Franchise Directory - which helps franchisors promote their business's and attract new franchisees.

For more information about FAI, please visit www.fai.co.in