Customisation is the key to happier franchisees

As most of the leading brands across sectors prefer franchise mode for easy expansion and to wider their business network, they are offering adjustable deals to franchisees. Having already exhausted metros and major cities, the brands are slowly moving to tier-II and III cities where aspirations of the people have gone high and lifestyle patterns have changed. These factors have aroused the greater need of the major franchise brands in these locations.

To reach these destinations, the brands are customising operational models to smoothly run the business. As per few leading retail & services franchisors, for what can be feasible for a metro city can necessarily not be ideal for a smaller town as well. A few brands are even starting area and product specific schemes for its franchisees.
Commenting on the same, Jawed Habib, Chairman, Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty Ltd, says, “We are focusing on the aim to provide new growth opportunities for small scale entrepreneurs who are looking to be associated with a brand but because of high franchisee fee and RoI, can’t afford to be a partner. Our approach to those entrepreneurs is to take up the customised model specially designed for them.”

The hair maestro runs Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty, JH Hair Expresso, JH Hair Academy, The Jawed Habib Salon and JH Hair Yoga and offers franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs with customised business models. The Habib group currently operates more than 550 outlets in 110 cities of the country. It also has a presence in Dubai and Singapore. The company is looking at taking its salon count to 10,000 in the next few years.

Different country, different model: need of the hour

Likewise, when the brands go global, they make alteration to fit the franchise bill and that particular location. “We are planning to aggressively penetrate into the international market through franchising. We are flexible in business model depending on the business laws of the respective country and mutual understanding between us and franchisee. Presently, we operate on Franchise Owned Franchise Operated (FOFO) model in Bangladesh,” says Sandeep Saxena, Chief Executive Officer, Dr Batra's Group of Companies.

These measures have helped brand owners not only increase sales but also adding more number of franchisees to their kitty. On the other hand, the franchisees also have been able to easily run the business and take it to the next level.