Franchise Business Development Services (FBDS) has urged the creation of access to single digit franchise funding to enable the development and expansion of the critical sub-sector of the economy.
This was a crucial take-away from the recent Franchise Matchmaking Investment forum recently held in Lagos, the second of its kind by FBDS –the pioneer franchise consulting company in Nigeria.
The event highlighted the nitty-gritty of franchise investment procedures, pointing to the fact, if properly harnessed; franchise businesses have the potentials to create over 500,000 new jobs in the next four years in Nigeria.
The event featured sessions by experts from the industry who discussed exhaustively on how to manage a franchise and drive profit in a very competitive business economy.
Prospective corporate and individual investors were taken through the curriculum by both the organizers and the franchisors pitching for prospective investors, on how they can own their franchised businesses at virtually no business failure risks, while gaining sufficient education through the sessions, on losses rather associated with venturing into new business. They pointed to such facts as that franchises have only 5% failure rate in South Africa, while start-up businesses record 80% failure rate within few years in Nigeria.
Chiagozie Nwizu, the forum’s convener, said it was part of FBDS’ measure, to facilitate risk free venturing, business sustainability, growth of the enterprise sector and attraction of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to the economy, through the franchise business model.
“Franchise Matchmaking Forum is a quarterly franchise investor’s forum creating opportunities where the franchisor finds qualified potential franchisees who meet his brand’s criteria, and the potential franchisee meets the franchisor with a suitable proposition for his investment interest,” he said.
The forum also created a platform for participating investors to meet and interact with CEOs of successful franchise brands, with the CEOs and Executive representatives of over 40 local and foreign franchise brands in attendance.
Some of the participating brands included: Meadow Foods, Chicken Republic, Rockin Jump, Bakaria, Avis, Studio24, Sweet Factory, Coffeeshop Company Tantalizers PLC; House Of Tara; Five Senses Schools, Best Choice, Tolaram Group, The Toy Store, Yogurt Frenzy and Innova Pharmacies to mention a few. While some of the supporting organizations included Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; Ciuci Consulting, Enterprise Development Center; Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission and Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce.
