The Philippine franchising sector is growing and based on the latest industry estimates, the sector could still grow by up to 15 percent in terms of the number of franchises in the coming years. To date, there are around 200,000 franchisors in the country which, when taken together, can easily account for a whooping P605 billion in terms of aggregate value. The franchise industry now also provides jobs for about two million Filipinos, either directly or indirectly.
One company that has been at the forefront of the growth of the industry is Francorp Philippines, a part of the worldwide leader in franchise development and consulting whose mission is to help Filipino entrepreneurs discover their franchise potential. Formed in Manila in 1996, the company has since developed and assisted over 700 successful franchises in various stages of their growth.
The golden age of franchising
Speaking at the sidelines of the “Franchise Asia Expo 2022” held at the SMX Convention in Pasay City recently, where his company also introduced to the media 25 of its newest franchisors, Sam Christopher Lim, Chief Executive Officer of Francorp Philippines and president of the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), commented that a lot of people already knows about franchising.
(L – R) 1st row, Marjorie Uy, representative of RAD Tattoo Studio; Angel Luck Pedro, founder of Eggluck; Heidelyn M. Tagam, representative of Bigasan Plus; Hannah Katipunan, representative of Funhan Mart; Manuel Siggaoat Jr., managing director of Francorp; Dr. Alegria Sibal-Limjoco, vice chairwoman of Francorp; Sam Christopher Lim, chief executive officer of Francorp; Chef Czarina Jagto – Sevilla, founder of Avocadoria.ph; Desiree Valencia – Pahati, founder of The Hungry Pita; Ida T. Guzman, general manager of Easy Day Shop and Rogelyn “Ghie” Pangilinan, founder of Tea Talk
“In the Philippines, (the concept of) franchising is already well developed. But not everyone knows how to do it well. Maramipa rin nagkakamali
“Some people say, ah, invention ko ito (this is my invention), this is what I’ve developed, so I want to be able to control everything. But then they realize they have to scale up. If you think about the big brands like Turks Shawarma and Shawarma Shack, they didn’t really invent the product. There were older brands but they (Turks Shawarma and Shawarma Shack) were the first ones to scale up. So today, it is not the inventor that gets the credit — it’s the one who scaled it up; the one who has hundreds of stores and more. The trend now, really, is to innovate a bit. You can’t be just copying (ideas),” he adds.
When asked for his thoughts about the future of the Philippine franchise industry, particularly with the onset of the new normal, he said, “Whenever there’s a big crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, that is when franchising really grows as the sector does well in the good times, but it does better during challenging times,” he said. “People become less inclined to take risks and become more inclined to flock to the industry for business opportunities. Our goal as an industry is to continue to grow, strengthen and advocate for the sector. We hope to accelerate and exceed our growth so we’d become top five in the world,” said Lim, adding that the Philippine franchise industry is aspiring to be within the top five in five years or by 2027.
The future looks bright with new franchisors joining Francorp
During the expo, Francorp Philippines also introduced 25 new franchisors to the media whom, they believe, could well be the future of the Philippine franchising industry. Foremost among the new franchisors and brands launched were Bang BangSpecial Crispy Bangus and Pepa Wings, part of the brave generation of entrepreneurs who have made the big decision to start a business and launch their franchises in spite of the pandemic.
(L – R) 2nd row, Ryan Alino, owner of Mrs. Fried Rice; Terence Padrique, founder of The Lemon Co.; Efren Tanyen, co-founder of Sugar Panda and Milky Cakes and Sweets; Paul Lanquino, founder of Pepa Wings; Inigo Arellano, chief executive officer of Primus Management House (Bad Dogs and Mad Café); Mike Canlas, chief executive officer of Bang Bang Special Crispy Bangus; Benjamin Batac, chief executive officer of Grainsmart, Chef Boy Logro, representative of La Parillada; Maq Agapito, chief operating officer of Illo’s Group
Bang Bang is now nearing 100 outlets, while Pepa Wings has since opened over 50 branches in just after a year since they started to franchise. Other franchisors which participated in the event were women-led enterprises such as Tea Talk, Avocadoria.ph, Pizza Stack, The Hungry Pita, Bigasan Plus, Easy Day, Egg Luck, and Health Screen Diagnostic. There were also franchisors led by young entrepreneurs such as Mama Lou’s, Bad Dog and Mad Café, as well as franchisors who are a first-of-their-kind. These are Rad Tattoo Studio – the first tattoo studio franchise, Funhan Mart – the first Korean convenience store franchise, Powerhouse Tools – the first hardware tools franchise, and Nspire – the first IT solutions franchise.
Enterprises now thriving in the new normal were also introduced. These brands include Mrs. Fried Rice, Milky Cakes and Sweets, Firehouse Pizza, Grainsmart, Lemon Co, La Parillada, Illo’s Home, and The Good Meat.
Franchise brands that offer new and innovative concepts
According to Lim, Francorp has always been on the lookout for new and innovative concepts. As may be gleaned from this year’s new batch of franchisors, which offered a diverse set of business concepts from an all-in-one retail meat shop (The Good Meat) and unique IT solutions (Nspire) to a handyman’s tool shop (Powerhouse Tools) and the World’s First Pizza-on-a-Cup Franchise (Pizza Stack), there is just no reason why aspiring entrepreneurs should get left behind and not be able to join the franchise bandwagon.
Here’s a deeper look at some brands that are using franchising to scale up their businesses:
Milky Cakes and Sweets is a specialty cakes shop that’s now baking the world a butter place. Endorsed no less by teen actress Francine Diaz, Davao’s ultimate place for delicious, visually appealing and professionally baked cakes is now producing over 1,000 freshly baked sweet treats daily ranging from French macarons, matcha cheese, rainbow cake, and mocha dream cakes.
According to Mr. Efren Tanyen, the company’s CEO, they first approached Francorp in 2017 when they were still selling milk tea under the Sugar Panda brand. “They saw our commissary kitchen and convinced us to put up a specialty cake shop as well. It took us quite a while to consider the idea and since our initial engagement with them went well, we thought of establishing Milky Cakes and Sweets. We have successfully been operating the business for about 3 years now, and I’d say that the public’s acceptance for our cakes has been very good. We’re now ready for expansion and we also have enough cash flow to be able to build our own commissary.”
To know more about how to scale up your business through franchising, just visit https://www.francorp.
ADVT.
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