The Pinoy shines again

In an almost forgotten era, we lorded it over other Asian nations when it came to a lot of things—rice production, export, etc. The Peso was higher than the Hong Kong Dollar and the Thai Baht, and Filipinos often travelled to those countries with great expectations of how much their almighty Peso can buy. In every corner money exchange, the peso was traded proudly alongside other major currencies. These days, many currency traders don’t even bother with the Philippine Peso, so travelers to these Asian countries don’t bother bringing their local bills anymore.

Our national pride has eroded in so many ways when our economies are juxtaposed with other ASEAN countries, many of whom trailed far behind us in the not-so-distant past. Many of our business leaders who have not lost faith in the Filipino talent have not given up and have constantly searched for our own niche in the highly competitive global market. I think we have finally found our own place in the sun in franchising. Today, the Philippines is the acknowledged leader in franchising in the region.

We had a long chat with Mr. Samie Lim who is widely acknowledged as the “Father of Philippine Franchising” and came out of the interview with a new surge of Philippine pride. Yes, we can do it, and we have done it.

I met Samie when I was a very young man (he was also very young, don’t think otherwise) and he was totally focused on the appliance business. Even then, as new acquaintances, we had good chats and I was totally impressed with his solid business insights, his foresight and his unrelenting drive. I don’t know if he will remember this but on one occasion we met when he just came from a long illness that he survived and he felt the grace of the Lord was within him, he said, “Butch, you’ll be a millionaire on your own before you hit 30!” (Sometime you miss, sometimes you don’t)

Now in our more mellow years, Samie has not mellowed with age. He still has a burning passion, still relentless and driven. One of his passions now is franchising, a cause which he has championed for close to two decades.

At the helm of the Philippine Franchising Association (PFA), they will be holding their 18th Franchise Conference on July 14-17 at the SMX. If you are seriously looking for an opportunity that could give you a rudder in life and give you a stable business that you could pass on to your own children, don’t fail to come to the 18th Franchising Conference. Here’s what to expect.

The first two days, July 14-15, will be devoted to an international conference where they will have the best and the brightest minds in the international franchising field. The idea of franchising, of course, came from the West and the Philippines has adapted the concept very well. This conference will give us fresh insights and will make us at par with the best in international franchising.

On July 16-17, they will be holding the expo as well as the franchise seminars simultaneously. The exhibit alone will be huge, taking as much as 70 percent of the space of SMX, so you can have an idea of how grand this expo will be. The main stream franchisers will all be there representing food, retail and services. There will likewise be an interesting international pavilion, a whole row of foreign franchisers who want to come to the Philippines in search of a master franchise.

Another feature of this conference is the Incubation Center where they will feature concepts that have won awards from different universities and even foreign chambers of commerce that have launched searches for the best business plans from young people. Now that would really be interesting. These concepts are already available for franchising. Here is where a franchiser or a concept owner can meet up with all the players in the franchise world, from financiers to consultants.

And there is the Emerging Concepts Center where those that have previously joined the Incubation Centers are now emerging into almost full-grown franchisers – small, mainstream or foreign.

Simultaneously, they will be holding seminars on,1) how to franchise your business and 2) what to look for in a franchise (how to find one that fits your lifestyle).

Their Certified Franchise Executive Program is something seasoned franchisers look forward to. (At the interview, Samie was proudly wearing the pin identifying him as a Certified Franchise Executive). He says that in the whole of Asia, there are only about 50-60 Certified Franchise Executives, and of this number, more than half are Pinoys. We have really advanced as the best franchise consultants and marketing experts in the region.

This year, they hope to bring in some 350 concepts (booths) at the expo, expecting an attendance of about 30,000. What is great about this conference is many of the participants are coming from provinces outside of Metro Manila.

As we enter into what Samie calls “the golden age of franchising”, we certainly look forward to this latest conference which progressively gets bigger every year. Samie shares that their group has always travelled to the United States to participate in their franchise shows which were traditionally always the biggest trade shows. They recently came back from Washington where they attended yet another franchise show and were surprised to see that it was only about half of what this 18 conference is going to be. How about that!! We have indeed grown in giant leaps and bounds, and Samie says “Even China, I dare say, has learned franchising from the Filipinos.”

The big restaurant chains of Europe and America are coming to our shores. Because of the economic situation in their lands, some of these chains are encountering serious problems in their business and are looking at the Philippines for strategic expansion. In fact, big business concerns from China, India, Canada and Thailand are also coming for this expo.

On the other hand, Filipino franchisers who have matured as viable business concepts are expanding abroad, mostly to the Asean region and the Middle East. We have heard of the success of Max Fried Chicken, Jollibee, Chowking and Potato Corner (an American concept but a Filipino franchise that has now successfully invaded the US), Bench, Bayo, Kamiseta and Plains & Prints. The PFA pays particular attention to Filipino concepts that can be exported to foreign countries.

This 18 conference is a precursor of the big international franchise event which Manila will be hosting next year. Yes, the Philippines has taken a leadership position in both the Asia Pacific Franchise Commission and the World Franchise Council. Watch out for this big event.

This year, they are incubating yet another innovative concept—the Asean Budget Hotel. There is tremendous free flow of trade and export among the ASEAN nations, and travel has been made easy and affordable, yet there is a clear lack of affordable hotels in these countries. The group’s vision is to have $30 – $50/day budget hotels in all the member countries, and to have 500 such hotels in ten years’ time, all of them co-owned by ASEAN members, all of them on a level comparable with American and European hotel chains.                  Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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