Franchising seen to boost economic activity
From left, City Councilor Ely Estante, representing Mayor Jerry Treñas;
Samie Lim, founding President and Chairman of the Philippine Franchise
Association (PFA); Angel De Leon Jr., Executive Director of Taytay sa
Kauswagan Inc. (TSKI); and Demy Sonza, Chairman of the Board, TSKI,
offically open the Iloilo Franchise Conference and Exposition at the third
floor of SM City Iloilo on September 28, 2006. The Exposition runs until
Sunday, October 1. The activities are part of the 20th Anniversary
Celebration of TSKI
There is a bright future in franchising. This, in gist, is what the resource persons in the Iloilo Franchise Conference organized by Taytay sa Kauswagan Inc (TSKI) wanted to impart among the participants.
Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) Chairman Ma. Alegria Limjoco said buying a franchise is a sure success in the field of business. She said there is a 90 percent success in the franchise business as compared to putting up a new one.
A team from the PFA is now in the city for the two-day Iloilo Franchise Conference being held at the Cinema 3 of SM City Iloilo. There is also a Franchise Exposition at the third level of the mall. The activity highlights the 20th Anniversary celebration of TSKI.
Limjoco noted that most of the big businesses in the country engage in franchising. She said it is not that costly to engage in franchise business as anyone thinks. Franchise fees normally range from P25,000 to P3 million, depending on the type of business being offered.
She said, among the big names in franchising, Magnolia, Ricky Reyes, Bench, Penshoppe, Bayo and Netopia started small. Netopia, she cited, started as a garage internet shop. Now, she said, it has already a franchise in Thailand.
Limjoco said the franchisor is usually like a big brother to the franchisee where it gives help when business is not doing good.
The franchisor offers management and operational help to the franchisee, she said.
Samie Lim, chairman Emeritus of PFA, said a bright prospect awaits franchising in the country as it gears towards developing a flourishing tourism industry.
Lim discussed on the topic “Tourism: The Next Boom in Franchising” during yesterday's session of the conference. Based on the graphs shown during the presentation, the country only posted a 2.6 million tourist arrivals. Vietnam which only opened their window for tourism recently posted 2.9 million tourists arrivals.
Lim cited that importance of tourism industry as it contributes five percent of the country's gross development product (GDP)
Once there is a tourism boom in one place, there will be creation of jobs, increase in annual tourism revenues and investments, said Lim.
Also included in the list of the conference's resource persons are the country’s leading franchise experts Manuel Siggaoat, PFA vice-president for Finance and chairman, Manels Group of Companies, Elizabeth Pardo-Orbeta, president of Wendy’s Philippines, and Manuel Alcuaz, Jr., president of Systems Sciences Consult, Inc.