According to Roz Sandham of franchise consultancy Franchising Plus, “with the unpredictability of the future and the undeniable change in the way we work, counter intuitively planning becomes even more important for the survival of businesses.”

“Previously we had historical trends on which to base our future plans, for most businesses these trends have been turned on their heads. Leadership needs to be brave and reasonable when setting goals and objectives for the next period of trade. Make sure that you are reading as much as possible about what the future may hold. Also, engage with all the stakeholders in your business as they can often add value to the process.”

Read More

One has to ask how businesses, entrepreneurs and investors in South Africa have any confidence in a future when confronted with constant rolling blackouts, another looming fourth wave of coronavirus infections with little to no support from the government.

Well, If you are a franchise in any of the fourteen business sectors, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and dig deep to survive.

That was the overwhelming sentiment following the Franchise Association of South Africa’s key franchise conference in August that took a hard look at how Covid-19 affected the franchise sector and outlined steps to not only regain lost ground but proposed forward-thinking plans to revive and re-energize the sector through entrepreneurial initiatives.

Read More

Everyone dreams of owning their own business, writing their own salary cheque and being successful. But in reality, only a small proportion of people realise that dream as the barriers to setting up a business are often quite daunting, the costs often prohibitive and the expertise needed to make the business work often lacking. Where franchising comes into its own is in the fact that it gives all the advantages of operating your own business, but without many of the headaches that go with setting up a new business, researching it, finding the suppliers, marketing it and managing it. In a franchise business, you have the opportunity to think big without taking as big a risk as you would if you were venturing out on your own.

Read More