TECHNOLOGY will play a bigger role in the franchising industry in the coming years and companies must be able to adapt and ride with this trend to be able to flourish.
The business landscape, Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) President Alan Escalona believes, will continue to shift at rates faster than companies have ever imagined.
“Landscapes change faster than before. In the past, it takes about a year or two before technology changes. Now, it’s just three to six months, and if you don’t respond to this, your business plans will be delayed,” Escalona emphasized.
Hence, as the new president of the premier franchising organization in the country, his mandate during his term would be to promote the use of new technologies in order to keep pace with the demand of the digital world.
“More and more innovative technology will come out and if you are not fast enough to react, if you don’t have enough information up your sleeves, you will be left behind. Eventually you’ll see yourself catching up with the competition,” Escalona explained. “And it is expensive to play catch up.”
That is why PFA always organizes capacity-building activities the largest of which is Franchise Asia Philippines 2016 conference and expo slated on July 20 to 24 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Now on its 24th edition, this year’s events comes with the theme “Building Inclusive Growth Amidst a Hypercompetitive World” to highlight the need of disruptive strategies and technologies to raise the global competitiveness of Philippine franchising.
Plenary and concurrent breakout sessions will be available, tackling timely topics on marketing, franchise management, legal, HR, supply chain management, training and many more.
The Business Solution Roundtable Discussions, meanwhile, will allow peer-to-peer exchange of ideas as the conference delegates take part in various discussions designed for emerging franchisors, established franchisors and franchisees.
Topics for international expansion, digital marketing, mobile marketing, customer service and others, will also be discussed.
The week-long event is the country’s centerpiece capacity-building event for the Philippine franchise sector as well as organization’s principal activity to promote franchising as a tool to create businesses and generate jobs. It averages about 1,000 conference delegates and 45,000 expo visitors every year.
“By promoting franchising as a tool to create thousands of businesses and millions of jobs, we have made franchising a key contributor to economic development and nation-building. And as we continue this mission, we are also bringing the benefits of franchising to the regions,” Escalona pointed out.
Recently, PFA organized a franchise show in Cebu and Davao and will organize another one in Cagayan de Oro in the 3rd quarter or 4th quarter this year.
Aligned with this thrust, PFA is offering special rates like group discounts, early bird discount rates and special discounts for conference delegates from Visayas and Mindanao.
Escalona shared that he has benefited a lot from previous meetings and expos organized by the PFA. He sits as the president of Fruit Magic, a chain of fruit shake stores, and Quicklean, a self-operated coin laundry business.
This year, among other brands, Quicklean will be launched during the Franchise Asia Expo 2016, which will showcase more than 500 brands from the Philippines and across the globe. It will be an ideal venue for business matching and B2B opportunities.
The expo has also become more international through the years. This year, Franchise Asia Philippines Expo 2016 will feature country pavilions from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
The international expo will also feature educational seminars on “How to Invest in the Right Franchise” and “How to Franchise Your Business.” The former is aimed at educating the public on wise franchise investment while the latter is intended for business-owners who want to look at franchising as a strategy to grow their business.
Seminars and business matching opportunities will also be available at the Master Franchising 101, which is targeted at entrepreneurs who want to open an international franchise brand locally.
Entrance to the expo is free for those who will pre-register online.