Business owners choose restaurant franchising for three distinct reasons – time, people and money. It allows you to expand your business faster because it takes care of many time-consuming aspects. 

Firstly, as a franchise owner, you can quickly identify bargains in empty real-estate shells. Secondly, in terms of the people element, many restaurant executives will make great owners and there are plenty of restaurant employees ready to staff a new franchise location. And lastly, franchising using other people’s money as funding is available at attractive interest rates. 

But you might be wondering why there’s a sudden focus on franchising? As it turns out, recessions are often a boom time for franchise sales for a reason we’ve already touched on: high rates of unemployment are a fertile ground for franchising. 

It may sound atrocious, but it gives you resource leverage. The wave of closures leaves highly experienced employees contemplating thoughts about becoming franchise owners. Even when closures level off, there won’t be enough jobs to fill for the people who need them. The solution: to create them. And they’re in the perfect position to do so with their level of operational experience and local connections. 

More space at better prices

There is likely to be more restaurant space available at favourable terms. This will also fuel restaurant franchising sales. While other industries can “work from home”, the restaurant sector can’t. Even if the establishment offers drive-through or uses a ghost kitchen with delivery, restaurants still need space. And thanks to the pandemic, it’s provided a wealth of it. 

To succeed in this landscape, things still have to be in place such as a franchisable concept that works well in the new world order and with forward-thinking management. The businesses that were in a good shape going into lockdown and remained stable despite it will emerge stronger, and they will be in the best position to leverage the benefits of the future. 

You need to be ever-mindful of how your bottom line was affected in the past few months. Assess where you are today and how you will survive and thrive in a world where the rules may continue to shift.

A quick recap

A plethora of individuals in the industry will see franchising as their only way of maintaining the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to, and existing franchisees will see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They can often secure prime locations with equipment already in place and possibly below-market interest rates.

Give your restaurant the ultimate boost in 2021 by reading our informative guide: The Definitive 21st-century Restaurant Playbook.  

Author : Rudi Badenhorst

SHARE
restaurant industry