What’s hot in franchising in South Africa

The International Franchising Expo (IFE) was held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from the 17^th to 19^th  of May this year and approximately 5,000 visitors attended. Of the questionnaires returned from attendees at the IFE over 4,000 were found suitable for data capturing and analysis. Three aspects stood out from the data in the questionnaires

1. The Concept of Franchising Will Continue to Boom
18% (631 people) of respondents indicated that it would be possible to franchise their business. Considering that the IFE is targeted at potential franchise buyers, not potential franchisees, this indicates that there is definitely depth in franchising opportunities in the market, across sectors.

2. It’s a Male Dominated Industry
With approximately 66% of the respondents being male it indicates that people in the franchising and aligned industries at this stage have a tendency to be male with women in franchising only accounting for approximately a third.

3. Franchise Sector Interest
Probably the most interesting result was the expressed sector of interest by respondents, with multiple answers being allowed. The statistics are worth considering if you are potentially looking to franchise your business and provide valuable insight.

1) Food concepts 54%
2) Retailing 33%
3) Entertainment and Leisureb 26%
4) Building and Home services 20%
5) Automotive   19%
6) Health and Body 18%
7) Other 15%
8) Children and Education 14%

Please note that 87% of respondents came from Gauteng.