Trends That Will Define Franchising in 2018

‘Change is the only constant’, this proverb sits perfectly for all the situations, a thing, person, or business go through.

The business field is full of risks; one has to keep his/her sense organs open to sense the changes taking place in and around the industry.

The sensing of the changes is not enough, one has to be well equipped to adapt the changes, while moving on, because there is no time to sit and relax. There are people waiting behind you to topple you to the corner and overtake your business or take over your business.

A study by the market research firm Zinnov said, India, which is home to about 4.88 crore small and medium business ( SMB )s provides employment to 81.16 million individuals and is all set to become the largest SME nation globally.

Micro enterprises account for 95% of total SMBs, small & medium put together hold the remaining 5% share and 55% of SMBs are located out of urban cities whereas 45% are situated in rural areas.

Technavio has released a new market research report on the global SMB and SME NAS market, which is expected to generate revenues of $18 billion between 2016 and 2020. The report also read that global SMB and SME NAS market is set to grow at a CAGR of 33% by 2020.

Here are a few upcoming franchising trends, which are going to shape the franchise industry in coming years, as per predictions:

Multi-brand Franchisees:

There is enough space for new companies to come up and establish their brand, whereas there are well established brands, who are also trying to try multi-branding techniques.

These well established brands want to try and invest in other ideas, those hit their heads. For example there is a franchise company, which has carved its niche from the scratch with a fitness shoe manufacturing company, now it wants to try its hands on restaurant business.

Multi-branding is going to become a trend in near future, when many successful companies are going to try the opportunities available in other fields.

Green Business:

The growing awareness among the people especially about global warming and limited resources, has led the entrepreneurs and businessmen to look out for other options.

The other options include, identifying the energy saving equipments, encouraging the use of solar panels, usage of recycled materials and more of the items, which are LEED certified.

This will encourage other companies as well to use alternative methods to reduce the usage of limited resources and participate less in causing global warming, because the ultimate sufferer will be everybody.

Customized Products and Services:

Whatever century may it be, customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of any business. Thus customers are in no mood to accept anything, being offered to them.

Customers prefer services or products as per their choice, which is a fair part as they are going to pay and use the product or service. Thus trying to push anything down the customer’s throat would not only cause harm to the sale of products or services but also will cause damage to the reputation of the brand.

The change of taste and need as per time and choice is going to shape the brand in future.

Influence of Social Media:

Social media has come a long way and has replaced the advertisements and marketing business, which earlier were limited to offline media.

At one hand social media can really help in triggering the brands’ name, on the other hand can totally rupture the entire base of the brands.

Thus a very active feedback and customer service is a must for any brand to grow, who will in respond to the customer’s query or problems in the right time. If this be neglected, people are not shying away from putting it out there to the world, by posting on social media and this can cost a huge for the brand to build the reputation all over again.

These tiny flairs can cause a company’s downfall in no time. A healthy and active social media team is the prime need of any company to run smoothly.