Is the franchise industry ready for 4.0?
Change is inevitable… Change is constant… and resistance is futile
Those famous words from Benjamin Disraeli, British Statesman from the 1800’s ring true and go back to the early days of man’s quest to conquer the world. According to interesting info from franchise site www.franchisocreator.com whose history of franchising tracks the origins of this successful business format, the first franchises can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when exploration and the discovery of distant lands meant the discovery of new goods and a whole new way of life.
As Europe began sailing the world discovering new trade routes in the New World, they, in a sense, set up different forms of ‘franchises’ that would set out to discover new lands that produced new and different foods, establish trading posts, facilitate travel and introduce new ways of doing business.
Change made a quantum leap with the industrial revolution of the 1800’s that saw the development of mechanization to process all those imports, mass produced for an ever changing economic scenario and a changing consumer.
The winds of change are once again blowing as we embark on what is being billed the 4th Revolution. Changes in our working and social lives over the past one hundred years have been significant – from the early development of technology to today’s mobile devices, apps and social media taking over every aspect of our lives – moving us from a rigid, system driven society to the age where speed, accessibility and convenience, driven by technology that incorporates Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms, Virtual Reality and Cognitive Technology – changing our world forever – hopefully for the better!
To protect, lobby, promote and develop ethical franchising across all sectors in South Africa with specific focus on transformation.
