The road to recovery franchise conference

Book now to attend FASA’s 2023 Franchise Conference – Thursday 26th October 2023 – Protea Hotel, Balalaika, Sandton

FASA has a long tradition of holding industry conferences for its members and the broader franchise community that dates back to the early 1980’s, with speakers brought from across the world to present on the success of franchising in their countries. Locally, FASA was already identifying and promoting what was then called affirmative action principles into every facet of franchising. Key black business people such as Maria Maponya and Herman Mashaba were invited to speak at their conferences of their success as ground-breaking entrepreneurs. More recently the FASA conferences have focused on cementing responsible and ethical business practices within the franchise sector, collaborating with key stakeholders to drive economic growth, economic transformation through skills training and job creation.

Thanks to sponsorship from the W&RSeta and Absa, the 2023 conference will be held primarily in person on Thursday 26th October at the Protea Hotel, Balalaika in Sandton. The conference will be a one-day event with at its core the sharing of the two key franchise surveys that FASA has embarked on, together with keynote sessions, motivational speakers and panel discussions. The FASA Conference will be promoted to all FASA members, its stakeholders, businesses at large and to the general public that may be interested in finding out more about this phenomenal business strategy that has stood the test of time.

The power of the collective in franchising

With the disruptive events of the past four years that included the devastation of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2021 riots and natural flooding disasters, this conference’s theme is the ‘Road to Recovery’ as it picks up the pieces and forges ahead with expansion plans. The overriding sentiment within the franchising community during these challenging times has been manifested in a ‘we are all in this together’ attitude that harnesses the ‘power of the collective’ – be that within the association, the franchise community at large made up of various brands in over twelve sectors and together with their franchisees, the clarion call is that franchising must and will survive and prosper. The conference will delve into what our sector needs to mitigate the challenges, use its collective power to lobby government, commit to investing in education and skills development by creating a conducive and entrepreneurial business environment that can grow their businesses and the economy.

Conference Objectives & Highlights

To achieve a nationwide attendance of FASA members, industry stakeholders, suppliers to the industry, corporate, media & the public – both in person and virtually.
To resume the tradition of holding an annual or bi-annual conference (the last one was virtual in 2021).
To share with the audience the results of the FASA Franchise Surveys, in association of Absa, that would have been completed in September. This will form the core of the conference as it will give an overview of how franchising has fared over the past four years and set the sector on the road to recovery.
To elaborate on the lobbying that FASA has been directing at government to assist in supporting entrepreneurship and small business through key recovery initiatives.
To hold panel discussions with key members across the sectors on how they handled the challenges of the past four years and how they plan to grow their franchise systems in the light of current challenges.
Progress and the way forward for FASA’s Code of Ethics and Ombudsman.
Skills Development Initiatives for the franchise sector through the SETAs.
The recovery of franchising and its future – a presentation by renowned Australian franchise guru Greg Nathan.

Who should attend?

The Franchise Conference will offer FASA members, speakers, government representatives, the media and the public the opportunity to participate in and share their views and insights on the sector and its challenges. Such networking can generate valuable contacts and insights during and after the event. As one of the most successful business formats in South Africa, FASA’s Franchise Conference will be of value to a large cross-section of the population, including:

Existing Franchisors that need to network with their peers and colleagues, find out what it takes to survive the onslaught of challenges and be encouraged that franchising has the resilience and business tenacity to survive – and to thrive.
Existing Franchisees that have been at the coalface and taken the heat of load-shedding, riots and economic woes, can network with other franchisors and fellow franchisees and know that the industry is doing all it can to assist them to recover, regroup and prosper.
Entrepreneurs that are itching to franchise that new concept, that know that the wheels will turn in their favour and they want to be at the head of the pack, will find inspiration at the outcomes of the survey and at the encouragement of successful franchisors.
Prospective Franchisees that have borne the brunt of being in dead-end jobs, of being retrenched or who want to be in business for themselves but not by themselves, will get invaluable information from the conference to take that step to self-employment.
Corporate Companies that need to find ways to increase efficiencies and profits should consider franchising as a distribution mechanism as it can be a means of vertical integration that combines a high degree of control with a low degree of risk.
Service Providers & Suppliers to the franchise sector will benefit from the networking platform the conference offers to both service providers such as financial institutions, the legal, auditing and business professions as well as product suppliers.

Cost to attend the conference

In person delegates attending the one-day conference which includes lunch and teas as well as receiving the FASA 2023 Franchise Manual and the Sunday Times Franchising Feature, normal price R1,700 ex VAT. The Early Bird Discount is R1,200 till 31st August. Companies that book 5 or more delegates get a 10% discount ex VAT per person.