So you have some money you have set aside for the business you have always wanted to own. You are thinking it should be a modest one. You are thinking it should be one that won’t be hard to put up and manage as you have almost zero experience outside your employment. You are thinking you cannot afford to invest and ultimately fail because there won’t be more capital with which to try again.
If you relate with the typical wanna-be entrepreneur described above, you might feel more or less secured going into a franchise business.
Franchising allows you to invest in a market-tested product and a established business name and image. And with operational and marketing systems already in place and all yours to adopt or adapt, the risks you take are minimized.
Franchising has become a favorite investment area among Pinoy entrepreneurs. It is estimated that in 1995, there were 50 foreign franchises in the Philippines and 60 local businesses in various stages of franchising their operations. Today, this number has ballooned to nearly 1000 franchising businesses, according to the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc. In fact, the country has lately been known as the “Franchise Hub of Asia.”
In the Philippines, you can set up a franchise business for as low as P20,000, up to P50,000. For some of the franchises, this fee already includes basic equipment, a food cart, crew training, and franchise training.
The most ubiquitous franchising business is the food cart business. Can anyone fail to notice them? They have mushroomed everywhere – from the malls to school campuses and almost every street corner or kanto.
The reason for their popularity is not difficult to guess. It’s all about food – not only a basic necessity but the center of Pinoy life. We Filipinos love to eat, munch, sip, drink. At the same time we have become so hygiene-conscious that we take care where we source our meals and snacks.
There must be hundreds of food cart franchises available hereabouts.
Of these, Franchise, Inc. (Filtrepreneur) is easily among the most active. It owns the following franchises: Red bowl (noodles); Pizza Pinoy; Happy Waffle; Emperor’s Siomai; Burgeroo; Patatas Fries; Pinoy Pao. For a fee from P27,000 to P40,000, it offers a package that includes a mini cart, electric equipment, a display case, a product sampler, franchise seminar, and crew training. If you’re thinking of going into the well-loved “tusok-tusok” business, you may consider a franchise from KiSS (Kikiam, siomai, squidballs) King of Balls or Migo’s Fritters.
Another popular franchise idea is water refill. With water being another basic need, these franchises are all over the place — and they make money. A community can have several water filling stations but it pays to make sure you locate in an area that is not yet over-saturated with them. Investment required is upwards of P20,000 for the franchise. You need to invest more on equipment, of course. Examples of water filling franchises are Aquaserve, Water Avenue, Aqua Primera and Avant Water.
And not to forget bread and bakery franchises, although here, you must be ready to shell out so much more in capital investment. Needless to say bread sell better than … uhm … hotcakes. Can you think of breakfast without pieces of pandesal (or some bread roll) with cups of steaming coffee? Or a party without cakes and pastries? This is the reason why a bakery franchise has proven to be quite profitable. So if your passion is baking, think Julie’s (P250,000 franchise fee, exclusive of other investment costs) and Pan de Pugon (P300,000). The more upscale Goldilocks (P800,000) and Red Ribbon bakeshops are also now being franchised, but you must be ready with a bigger pocketbook.
Juice bar franchises is another option you might consider. Fruit juices are a healthier and more satisfying alternative to soda pop drinks. The throng of customers we often see queuing up for a glass of watermelon, orange, banana, papaya, and other fruit smoothies are a clear indication of — what else? — demand, demand, demand. If this is your cup of tea, get in touch with Teazers Fruit Drinks and Frutas Fresh, among others.
Those with more capital to spare may consider education and training franchises (AMA, Informatics), coffee shop franchises (Figaro, Bo’s Coffee), milk tea franchises (Zen tea, Serenitea, Tea Delite), personal care franchises (think spas, saunas, beauty parlors), service type franchises (car wash, Mr. Quikie shops, small mall-based printing shops) pet grooming franchises, gift and novelty shops (e.g. 3dme shops) and fast foods and restaurants.