When people think of a franchise, American fast food companies such as McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, among others, come to mind. A concept that at first glance looks successful, lucrative, global, but distant for our local companies.
However, the reality is quite the opposite, this business model is achievable for any company or enterprise that has the will and the focus to achieve it. And the best thing is that in Panama companies can count on the support of experts who will help create a successful business, in a model that can be replicated by more partners locally and internationally.
Creating Successful Franchises
FRONT 507 is a consulting company that is part of the Front Consulting International – FCI network with offices in 25 countries in America and Europe, and now arriving in Panama to change the misconception that franchising a business is something that only companies from the United States or Europe can do, and that it can be expanded internationally.
Led by Alfonso Riera Seijas and Juan Carlos Fallas, this company has been working for 25 years in Latin America and Spain detecting market opportunities, and now they want to convert Panamanian businesses into local and international franchises that will multiply their income.
Franchise in Times of Inclusion
Today companies have a fundamental challenge, to eliminate the stigma that they are guilty of all the ills of humanity and support the will of the people around the world: to achieve inclusion.
Alfonso Riera Seijas defines the franchise concept as the scheme where a successful company, instead of keeping the secret, decides to teach it to another person so that it can learn the business and successfully grow within the system. A model where helping others becomes a successful business, combining the elements of a company and entrepreneurship on a global level.
90% of New Entrepreneurship Disappears Vs. 80% of Franchises Continue
Panama currently has approximately 250 companies within the franchise model, however the ones owned by Panamanians only reach almost 40, a very low number compared to the rest of the region, especially countries such as the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador. FRONT 507’s goal is to bring that number up to 100 in the next five to ten years.
Another important statistic is that less than 10% of new entrepreneurship reach the fifth year. This is because both the economic structure and the lack of motivation to develop self-taught thinking from an early age, which limits a sustained growth over time.
For Alfonso Riera, this is where franchises come in, since 80% of franchised units exceed the fifth year of life, a positive number to take into consideration when seeing the opportunities offered by this model. This consulting company’s mission is to detect that 5% of companies that have achieved success in order to turn them into a successful franchise.
A Shared Responsibility
FRONT 507 knows that the difference with other business models is that a franchisor never abandons its franchisees. Facing a situation alone is not the same as working together with other partners that are part of the business chain and reaching faster solutions. A great example that Alfonso Riera gives is the case of the most transcendental invention in McDonald’s history…the Happy Meal for children. The expert consultant commented that most would think that it was created by the Headquarters, however it was a woman named Doña Yolanda Fernandez Cofiño who had a franchise of this company in Guatemala.
Another great advantage is that the franchise model is a resilient system, because if a restaurant with a single owner has four places and you run out of tomatoes, the problem must be solved by the owner, but if it has three franchisees, the solution to this challenge is split between four. A system that creates community and expands the number of possible solutions to any situation.
Become a Franchise
The most important element for FRONT 507 to consider a company ready or in the process of becoming a franchise is that it has achieved a successful business management model. According to the prestigious consulting company, the time comes when the business must decide to grow or not. If the decision is affirmative, that is where FRONT 507 comes in to guide, teach and train in the process towards expansion.
Another great example they expose is Subway, which reached 40,000 restaurants around the world before its creator passed away. This achievement was possible thanks to the fact that the owner leaned on other entrepreneurs to whom he taught his formula, and invested the money of other partners to grow quickly.
The “Franchising Panama” Agreement
Within the framework of the Expo Franquicia 2022 event, FRONT 507 and the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama signed an agreement to start the “Franchising Panama” program, with the aim of promoting this model and advising companies that have a brand and “Know how” of their business to turn it into a franchise.
Panamanian Franchises
Many people still have no idea that a restaurant like Nacion Sushi is a 100% Panamanian franchise with restaurants in eight countries in the region. Although they don’t offer food from Panama, this business is an ambassador of the cultural diversity that our country has. Another panamenian franchise is Pretelt Gourmet Meat.
If you have a business that has managed to sustain itself in recent years with positive numbers and you want to grow, FRONT 507 has the tools and the appropriate guidance to turn it into a successful franchise.
General Information:
FRONT 507
Director of Commercial Relations
Jose Manuel Soto
E-Mail: jmsoto@frontconsulting.com
Cell. 507.6971-8892
E-Mail: jcfallas@franquicia506.com
WhatsApp: +506 88240629
E-Mail: ariera@frontconsulting.com
WhatsApp: +58 414-2724129
E-Mail: acalvo@frontconsulting.com
WhatsApp +58 416-6055595
Photos courtesy: Front 507
