Empowering Entrepreneurs Through Franchising

More than 50 entrepreneurs gathered at the Service Seta headquarters for a workshop on franchise business models. Most of these entrepreneurs came from Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives. The workshop was aimed at educating entrepreneurs on alternative ways to build sustainable businesses through the franchise model. The workshop was organized in partnership with the Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA). This association aims to develop and protect an ethical franchise business environment in the country. Mamabele Motla, Executive Manager of Strategy and Planning at Services Seta said when opening the workshop “Today’s session is about how we enter into a franchise space as a business model. We will be taught about what it takes to be a franchisee or a franchisor. We know that most of our sectors are informal and for you to branch out your business to another province you will normally rely on your family member to open another branch elsewhere”. Franchised businesses are one of the largest employers in the country, according to a 2019 FASA study. In addition, these companies are typically more profitable than independent companies over 12 months period. “Every business that has about five franchisees employs between 10-18 people, now imagine how many families would you have fed if this was your business. To curb unemployment, we encourage you as entrepreneurs to formalize your businesses, to create jobs and sustainable businesses”, said Fred Makgatho, FASA CEO. Entrepreneurs were enthusiastic about the franchise information they received during the workshop.

“Most of the time when people go into businesses, they aren’t aware of what to do and what not to do and where to go to ask for help and support. I feel like sessions like these should be held more often, especially in today’s time when young people want to be entrepreneurs” said Timothy from Seed Solutions Academy.

“Before today’s session, I was against franchising because I felt like it takes away the entrepreneurial spirit. However, I realized that franchising is an easier business model, some of the challenges that we have as SMMEs around building systems from scratch are not there on with franchising” said Siphokazi from Herspace Wellness.

Representatives from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and Inani non-profit incubator accelerator also shared how they can support entrepreneurs and franchises. The workshop also provided networking opportunities for entrepreneurs.