Homegrown franchises breach revenue mark
Revenue generation from homegrown franchises have breached the 94 billion mark in light of the increased number of Filipinos, who are now venturing into entrepreneurship to wean their dependents from forever looking up to them for financial support.
Butch Bartolome, founder of AFFI (Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc.), said at the launch of the 14th Franchise & Business Expo, that they aimed for 15 to 20 percent growth this year from 2014 revenues of 54 billion, but they have already surpassed the target as revenues of the 165 AFFI members already exceeded 94 billion. AFFI expects a conservative 15 to 20 percent growth this year.
Bartolome said the growth drivers this year would come from the OFWs and Balikbayans, who are now venturing into entrepreneurships to help their loved ones in the Philippines.
“Instead of giving money to their loved ones, the OFWs and Balikbayans are now looking at teaching them how to fish by getting franchises or putting up new businesses,” Bartolome said.
The domestic economic boom has spawned growth in key cities in the provinces like Iloilo. It has also encouraged new business ventures because the country’s growth fueled by a huge consumer market.
In fact, Bartolome noted that more AFFI franchises are now expanding on their own along with their franchising deals. Of the 165 AFFI members, 30 are entrepreneurs and 135 are franchisers.
He reported that the growing number of entrepreneurs expanding on their own is a good indication that businesses are becoming more profitable and viable.
Bartolome even noted that of the total 31,239 stores of its 165 members, 38 percent are pure entrepreneurs an improvement from the previous year’s 36 percent. This means that more businesses are more confident to finance their own expansion because their ventures are becoming more viable. In 2014, there were only 16,093 stores of AFFI’s 165 members employing 197,000 individuals.
This notable increase in entrepreneurship followed after AFFI has pursued its strategy of developing entrepreneurs and franchising as a viable option.
The 18-year-old AFFI, whose members are homegrown small entrepreneurs, has even rebranded itself to “Empowering Entrepreneurship” rather than purely focusing on franchising.
Richie Cuna, chairman of the 2015 AFFI Franchise & Business Expo, said this is the main reason that this year’s expo focuses on entrepreneurship featuring a detailed “Business Journey” wherein would be entrepreneurs are given a tour on how to start a business during the two day show on October 2-4 at the World Trade Center.
“We have a guided tour that at the end of the business tour, would be entrepreneurs are expected to make a decision on what kind of business they are going to enter into,” he said. This year’s show will feature over 300 exhibitors and over 15,000 visitors.