“While a few years back people interested did not know what buying a franchise entails, now this perception has changed, and they do their homework before sitting down for talks,” said Alina Covasa, retail manager of Salad Box, at the `Forumul de francize Transilvania’ (Transylvania franchise forum) event organized by Ziarul Financiar in partnership with francize.ro in Cluj-Napoca. More than 150 people, entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs, executives and corporate employees attended the event looking for business opportunities.
The franchise market stands at EUR55 billion in France, for instance, and the has the potential to double in Romania in the next five years, said Paul Voicu, managing partner of francize.ro.
The Romanian franchise market is divided into the following segments – retail, 48%, hotel, restaurant and catering – 24% and services – 28%.
The general conclusion of those who attended the event was that the location of the business is the most important thing when it comes to buying a franchise.
“We try from the very beginning not to let them open in places we know would be a headache and won’t generate revenue. Where you launch your product is very important,” Salad Box’s Alina Covasa said.
The franchise market in Romania is dynamic and just beginning and people are just discovering their appetite. The qualities of a franchise are that there is a brand behind it, people who know how to do things and the already existing brand develops and evolves.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)