The burgeoning franchise and retail industry in India was brought under the scanner at the final leg of Indian Franchising and Retailing Expo (IFRE) 2007-08 in New Delhi.
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. Milagrow was the Knowledge Partner for this event.
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.
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.”
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 recognize 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 Xpress
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 Xpress
Source : Franchise wire
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