Francorp CEO, Imad A. Charaf Eddine, tells us how Francorp earned the title of “The Franchising Leader” and their continued successful run in the UAE
Dressed in a smart, three-piece navy suit, Imad A. Charaf Eddine has an aura of enthusiastic energy about him, as he greets and invites us into his world of franchising. There is no second-guessing
as to why Francorp has earned the successful title of ‘The Pioneer’ in the world of franchising, and how Eddine has propelled Francorp to the heights of success in the Middle East through his passion. “Initially, we faced hardship and struggle as owners of local businesses did not have the knowledge about
franchising. It did take us time to educate, convert and convince them, so that they would focus on their existing local entity, which is already proven to be successful, rather than think about acquiring an internationalbusiness,” explains the CEO. However, for Francorp and Charaf Eddine these obstacles were worth overcoming. “If I tell you what we have achieved, you would be surprised. I can assure you that there is not a single consultancy that has achieved what Francorp has. We take projects that seem to be an impossible feat and convert them into successful franchises,” he says. Name it and Francorp has it covered, “If you speak about the sectors we have covered, it is everything from clinics to funerals!
From the time you are born until the time you die, you are probably being serviced by one of the franchises that Francorp has helped build. We have worked with hospitality, retail and any other business you can think of, from coffee shops to beauty and clinics to nail salons. The list is endless,” he explains. To name a few, Francorp has an impressive clientele of big brands such as Marina Home, Sedar, Emarat, Fine, SASCO, Kcal, Dip n Dip, Sisters Beauty Lounge, 1847, NBAR, Jones the Grocer,
Danube Home, Champion Cleaners, Pharmacy 1 and Grand Optics. Francorp has delved into every industry possible, which gives them the competitive edge above others. “We never get a question
from the client saying, ‘Oh have you done something like this before?’ because they know we have covered everything,” says Eddine.
FRANCHISING YOUR BUSINESS
Franchising is more than meets the eye, and there are many more portals within Francorp that cater to the various requirements of the client. “We have a variety of services under the Francorp umbrella. There are three main divisions: Francorp Consultancy, Francorp International and our newest initiative,
Francorp Capital. Francorp Consultancy turns existing local businesses into successful franchises, where our local clients become the franchisor, and they can sell their business anywhere in the world. Francorp International focuses on potential investors who wish to acquire an international franchise and matches them with the them with the franchise business models that fit their objectives and commercial requirements. We assess the candidate, study their needs, goals and objectives and conduct market and
benchmark analysis to match them with the right franchise opportunity to meet those objectives and commercial goals in their region. Our newest initiative in 2016 is bringing Francorp Capital back to life, which was previously operating in the 1970s. We are working with different financial investment firms and banks in getting loans for clients to help them launch and build their businesses. Francorp Capital is also a funding source for remodelling of existing businesses. Our goal is to operate as a vehicle for business owners looking for financing,” he explains.
Present in 55 countries, across Europe, India, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and many more, Francorp’s mission is to assist any client in any part of the world in expanding their business. Already successful within the GCC, Francorp has opened house in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and will be initiating in Egypt soon. As for the UAE, Eddine sees real growth potential for their major clients, which are in abundance. “For more than a decade, we have worked with nearly 1,000 clients in the GCC and Middle East. Today’s franchise market is composed of 70 per cent food and beverage, 10 per cent services sector and 20 per cent retail. There is still so much room for growth in these areas. The franchise market is expanding rapidly in this region, and we are seeing high demand. At the same time, there are so many concepts that have yet to become available for franchising. When people think of franchising in this market, they think about bringing outside brands into the region. Francorp’s aim is to reverse this mentality and take local concepts to the rest of the world. That is where the growth potential is, with local brands going international,” comments the CEO.
So why franchise and why Francorp? The answer is simple, according to Eddine. “No matter how smart, how successful or how powerful you are, there is always a need to expand your business. It will never be possible to cover time, competition and staff resources, unless you sell your franchise to someone who is going to have the same motivation and vested interest as you do to operate this business, because he, himself, has invested in it. If you want to expand, you can expand with your own money and time, but over a span of 10 years you would only reach 10, maybe 20 units. With a proper franchise system in place, that same expansion can go into hundreds or even thousands of branches, because you are no longer investing your own resources anymore. This is how Francorp helps businesses. We are a one-stop shop that delivers 360-degree solutions to all areas of franchising. Our team is fully in-house, and we do not outsource anything. Be it franchise strategic planning, business planning, franchise operations, marketing or legal, we have it covered. Our relationship with our clients doesn’t end when our services end. To date, we have an 11-year relationship with clientele, who we are in correspondence with regularly to offer constant support, and that is how we have made our mark in the market, as almost 70 per cent of our clients are through referrals,” he states.
For Eddine franchising is a labour of love. “If God gives you the will you’ll do it. I started as a consultant; I was in love with this business, and decided to take the risk to become my own boss. With time I managed to reach my goals and own Francorp licence rights across the GCC and Middle East region. I got my father’s blessing, raised the cash and paid the licence fee, which was a major risk for me. But I was certain to retrieve it in a year. My journey started in 2005, and by 2010 I became my own boss. From there the business kept growing,” arrates the CEO.
DIVERSE PORTFOLIO
Speaking about the future, he says:
Our goal for the next five years is to be prominent in the international market
and continue to expand the franchise culture. We see major growth potential in
Asia and are looking to expand into China, South Korea and Japan. From 1976
until now, Francorp has been known as ‘the franchising leader’, and it was a title we earned with our sweat. That is the position we want to maintain.” There is no doubt that Francorp is on the right track with Eddine mapping out the course. He had also developed a fourth stream called Franchisesouq.com,
which will be live in May. It will work on connecting investors with franchisors. If you want to expand your business, you need franchisees. People can come in
from different parts of the world and invest in local business by acquiring the
licence to operate in their own market, or business owners have the opportunity
to build their own franchise programmes through Francorp. The Franchise Souq is a platform that allows growing franchises exposure to international markets and offers prospective franchisees a centralised place to search
for and compare available franchise opportunities for their markets
