Franchising in the Philippines : A Guide For Filipino Retirees

Posted on April 10, 2014

Most Filipinos who work abroad as employees put all their time and effort to eight to five type of jobs for many years even for decades we might say, so that they could earn better to support their families and raise the capital they need for that dream business!  They remain patient until the time they could finally rejoin their families in their homeland where they could retire and begin the next phase of their lives as even more productive citizens, seniors as they would be called, but not as employees anymore and not only as dependent members of the family, but as business-minded individuals who could contribute to the overall development of the country’s economy with their businesses that could employ a good number of fellow Filipinos.In these days, Filipinos are becoming even more learned about the significance of being business-minded.  The opportunity for employment runs out at the age of 60-65, so the other option for retirees who envision active lives which is definitely more lucrative is to have their own businesses.  However, the problem is that even though they have the funds to start-up businesses according to their interests, they seem to be hesitant about pursuing it, because of the challenges they might face in shaping their products and services, creating a business name, developing training, operation and production systems,  and everything else under the word branding.  It all appears to be overwhelming, because of the required attention on the details of doing business. Nevertheless, in franchising, problems that could possibly arise when doing business could be easier solved for senior citizens wanting to do business.  Moreover, with the inevitable decrease in capability to deliver laborious and time consuming tasks in conducting one’s own business, the idea of franchising all seems to be very convenient, entirely beneficial and promising, because of its ready made plans, templates, and support system.  Moreover, a franchised business is already popular, so if you are able to find the best location for it, you can expect that customers will come to you. If you are an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) and dreaming of having your dream business in the Philippines after many years of work, I would suggest that you invest your hard earned money through franchising if you would want to be saved from most of the hassles of creating your own unique business.

There is the Association for Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI) which you may go to and ask for the latest activities and resources pertaining to franchising.  The said association encourages Filipino business enthusiasts to patronize local franchises.  According to Armando O. Bartolome who is the president of AFFI, ‘franchising is a booming business’.  To give you a better idea, Bartolome  mentioned about a previous record that stated the income from this industry which amounted to Php54 billion in 2012.  In addition, he also said that, ‘Philippines reportedly ranked third among countries that investors are looking at to source potential franchises’.  This year, prominent local franchisees are expanding their market reach in other countries.  It only means that franchising really is tested to be viable and more importantly, profitable. The success of the franchising industry in the Philippines could be attributed to the fact that our country’s very own franchisees and other international franchisees are incredibly packaged for the newbie entrepreneurs.Depending on your financial capability and interest, there are numerous options to choose from ranging from various industries namely food and beverage (which is very much sought after), travel, convenience stores, pharmaceutical, clothing etc.Food carts cost approximately thirty thousand pesos (Php30, 0000) to even double of this amount.  This is very cheap already considering what you would get which are basically what you would initially need when putting it up.  You would not have to worry about what to use as  equipment and materials, how to train your staff, produce products and where to get your supplies.

You only have to take care of all your operational costs which include rental fees, salaries to employees, electricity and water bill.  If you opt for something which is of bigger investment, you can expect to need some Php1.2 million for Mang Inasal, Php30 million pesos for Jollibee, Php35 million for McDonalds, Php5 million to Php8 million for Figaro and Php5 million for Mocha Blends (full store).Considering franchising as your gateway to business is undoubtedly a practical way to succeed in the industry and not put your hard earned money to waste.  To retirees, capitalization is at hand, because they could utilize their retirement funds.  Aside from wanting to spend it to finance the kind of lifestyles they want when they retire, retirees could use it as investment capital.  After all, return of investment and profitability from franchising is realizable.