1. International Franchising

International franchising has grown significantly during the last decade because of both push and pull factors. Domestic saturation, increased competition and diminishing profits at home have pushed franchisors to examine their opportunities abroad, while favourable macroeconomic, demographic and political conditions abroad pulled them into foreign markets.

More specifically, the main reasons leading companies to move into markets overseas are the willingness to perceive the great opportunities abroad, better awareness of the global market, increasing prosperity and demand for consumer goods, ease of doing business internationally because of improved communications and transportation systems and last but not least franchisors are benefiting from the growing awareness of franchising as a concept in countries where it was virtually unknown only a few years ago.

Franchisors in virtually every country are now devoting an increasing portion of their resources and energies to expanding beyond their base to growing markets abroad.

Initially, international expansion, initiated from the US, was noted in rich countries (e.g. Canada & Western Europe) with a well-established franchise industry, which were culturally similar, politically stable, and economically rich. However since opportunities in these countries have diminished during the last few years, international franchisors have begun to seek development opportunities in emerging markets. What's most interesting about this expansion of international franchising is not just the boom seen in recent years but its capacity for further growth. As the large franchises are already taken, relatively small franchisors are able to get into these markets early.

The interest in global expansion is essential and franchisors in the years to come will mostly rely on foreign business. Recognizing the importance of international franchising more and more franchisors will begin modifying their domestic strategies for international operations.


2. Greece & International Franchising

Greece is a sophisticated market with a dynamic, growing franchise community, offering significant opportunities for international franchising.

Greece is considered a late franchise bloomer when compared to the United States or other European countries such as France or the UK. The concept of franchising first arrived in Greece in the 1970's but only experienced a booming growth between 1997 and 2000. Even though franchising was adopted with considerable delay, this late start is not evident in today's figures. Indeed, Greece is estimated to have over 550 franchise systems with 16,500 franchised units respectively, placing Greece in the top 10 nations in Europe in terms of brands and franchise systems.

More specifically, measuring the rapid development in numbers, it is observed that from 226 franchise chains in 1999 the number rose to 340 in 2000, 480 in 2001 bringing us to today’s figures of 550 franchise chains. It is worth mentioning that the annual growth rate is one of the highest within the European Union.

Even though one could argue that the Greek market is fairly small, a country of 11 million inhabitants, international franchisors should recognize the favourable geographical location of Greece, also viewed as the cross road of Europe with the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, once established in Greece, an international franchiser can export its activities and use Greece as a base for further expansion into the neighbouring, new emerging markets of Eastern Europe with relative ease. Yet, for international franchisors with commercial aspirations for Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Greece could be considered as an excellent test market for launching new products into these countries. Another factor that makes Greece very tempting to foreign investors is the relative close proximity of Cyprus to Greece. The geographical location of the two countries helps many international franchisors bundle both countries in a single regional agreement.

Another very important factor is that Greeks have a natural affinity to owning and running their own business rather than being engaged in salaried employment. That is why Greece has one of the highest percentages of self-employed people across Europe thus welcoming the idea of managing your own business.


3. 8th International Franchise Exhibition KEM 2006

The 8th International Franchise Exhibition KEM 2006 will be taking place from the 17th to the 20th of February 2006 in Athens.
Together with the proven success of KEM to generate master franchise agreements for international firms, KEM 2006 promises to attract a record number of investors from all over the world to view all aspects of a company’s franchise concept. The event is expected to attract over 18.000 visitors and showcase 205 exhibitors with 90 international companies, prompting once again an enlarged international section.
In order to assist our international exhibitors in achieving fruitful business results and make their participation in KEM simple, profitable and beneficial we have created a special package for all international exhibitors. This package offers a number of services that will give international exhibitors exposure in the Greek market prior, during and after the exhibition.

from
Clarine Kalogeraki, ΚΕΜ International Affairs

Greek version of this story >>>