On Friday September 9th, the main hall of Dublin’s RDS was transformed into a hub of activity and advice for franchisors, franchisees and anyone interested in going into franchising.
Despite grey drizzling weather and striking buses, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny officially opened The Franchise Show at 9am, rousing exhibitors and visitors with an upbeat speech about the Irish economy postBrexit and how it’s buzzing with new possibilities… much like the franchising industry itself.
The Irish franchise industry is now poised for strong growth over the coming years with over 28,000 people now working in the Irish franchise sector. The survey also notes that these employees are engaged in the operations of 2,975 different franchise units across a wide range of sectors ranging from retailing and food service to an interesting selection of business-to-business services.
Over the weekend, more than 60 franchisors, consultants and experts from around the world set up shop, promising to explain everything you always wanted to know about franchising, but were afraid to ask.
The weekend was a terrific opportunity for us to introduce our franchise portal to all of the visitors but it was also a chance to catch up with some of our clients, who were there to exhibit their franchises.
One of our newest client’s Stuart White, the UK License Holder, for Sanondaf, was thrilled to get to meet the Taoiseach and to showcase their franchise concept. So, what is it? “It’s a highly advanced, hospital grade hygiene product,” says White. Bascially, we turn up to your home, workplace or creche, fill the room with mist and all bacteria in that room is killed off.”
The stall attracts lots of interest throughout the day, especially since they have a fairly terrifying visual aid - collection of test-tubes growing nasty bacteria. “We’re predicting that we’ll have four new franchises within the next couple of weeks.”
“We’ve been keeping an eye out for something like this show,” Ian Hannon, Franchise Development Manager at Supplies Box tells me. “If we get two or three franchises out of it, it’ll have been worth it. We’ve franchises operating around Ireland but are really looking for more within Dublin itself. There’s such a high demand”
Marina Bleahen of ActionCOACH is similarly here looking for recruits and hoping to coach more businesses to get better results. “All businesses need coaches, and ActionCOACH is unrivalled in its ability to serve SMEs, creating opportunities for potential coaches in every community. There are over 180,000 Irish businesses in ActionCOACH’s target market,” she says.
“We want to grow ActionCOACH here in Ireland. There’s such a big demand from business owners for a service like ours. Every business that works with us will improve, we’re here looking for talented, new coaches.”
There was a very well-attended series of seminars on subjects including a basic introduction to working as a franchise and how to turn your business into a franchise opportunity. There are a whole host of speakers from the Franchise world with helpful advice, tips, case studies and buckets of experience.
Here are some closing thoughts from our Irish Account Manager – Marie Devereux:
"Franchise Direct were delighted to be part of the Franchise Show Ireland. There was a great variety of exhibitors at the show, confirmation that the franchise industry is thriving in Ireland. It was an excellent opportunity for us to promote our franchise directory to the show visitors, and also to promote our lead generation service to franchisors recruiting franchisees is Ireland. The organisers of the show did a fantastic job- well done to all involved!"