THE BRITISH FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION
THE UK' S VOLUNTARY S ELF - REGUL ATING GOVERNING BODY FOR FRANCHI SING
PIP WILKINS Chief executive, The BFA
W
hile it's summer holiday season for many, increasing numbers of UK franchisors are also turning their thoughts abroad, as they contemplate international growth.
Whilst expansion overseas can bring great success, if not done correctly, failure can come at a high price. Building a presence overseas raises myriad questions for franchisors: how soon can they start selling master franchises abroad? In which country? Which brands have succeeded? Which have failed? And how do they avoid failure themselves? T ese questions – and more – are just some of the
things covered in a series of interactive webinars throughout 2024. In May we focussed on the hugely popular UAE, this is followed by Canada in July, the US in August ending with France, in October. Each webinar (available for download afterwards) includes introductions to potential markets, industry experts, representatives from franchise associations, international franchise consultants and legal professionals. Participants will hear from franchisors who have expanded overseas, offering valuable insights into their journey, dos and the don’ts, and top tips for success!
Expansion challenges, honestly reported We started in March with a seminar focussing on New Zealand, with Water Babies founder Paul Thompson discussing the challenges he encountered launching in the region. Paul said: “We made sure we did things right
from the beginning and working in a sophisticated country like New Zealand, that was fairly easy to do. We did huge amounts of research into the country and the market with the help of a franchise consultant, the British Embassy in New Zealand and the DTI. We identifi ed the town we wanted to launch in and, in serendipitous fashion, an existing franchisee of ours in the UK, who happened to come
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from that town, wanted to return home, so she became our fi rst franchisee in New Zealand. “What we didn’t, and couldn’t, have anticipated
was the franchisee going rogue on us. After a few years of successful trading, we started noticing problems, where previously there had been none. We eventually discovered she was poaching all our Water Babies clients into a rival business she had set up on her own. We took legal action and won the case, but it meant the end of Water Babies in New Zealand at that time.”
Pitfalls to avoid Paul’s advice is: “Whilst we are trading very successfully in Canada, USA, Netherlands, Germany, China and Ireland, make no mistake: the distance to New Zealand is an issue. When we go back in next time, we are more likely to go for a master franchise set-up rather than a direct franchisee. The logistics of sending staff halfway around the world to support a franchisee aren’t sustainable and it’s something I’d recommend anyone considering expanding into New Zealand thinks about carefully.”
Educating the franchise community As ever, part of our role at the BFA is to educate and we hope this series of webinars will help to answer some initial questions for franchisors considering overseas expansion. To attend contact:
donnahall@thebfa.org
Women in Business EWIB (the annual Empowering Women in Business event) takes place on 19 September 2024 in Leicester and is open to everyone – members and non members. See
thebfa.org/empowering-women-in-business/ for more details and tickets.
Have a great summer!
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