The green shoots of economic recovery have resulted in a rush of businesses entering the franchise sector in the last few weeks in order to accelerate their growth plans. But a leading franchise expert has warned that companies considering a move into franchising need to ensure their structure and planning is sound.
Indian restaurant chain India At Home, Mexican restraint chain Mad Mex and organic café Wray Organic have all announced their debuts into franchising over the past week.
Rajesh Bhatia, director of India At Home, is launching a franchise model for his business that will see prospective franchisees pay between $350,000 and $500,000 for a new location.
Bhatia says franchising will allow his company to grow at a faster pace than he could manage on his own, but he also expects challenges for the new model.
“We’ve come to the point where individually managing a store is more important than growing, in the sense that I can’t be doing both. If we’re going to grow, franchising is ideal, because we can’t just invest all our money in this, other people need to do it too.”