FLA Award 2008 award was launched to recognise and reward the most outstanding franchisee, based in Singapore, for its drive and entrepreneurial skills. Franchisees need to demonstrate success in complying in the standards and achievements set out by the franchisor, and also delivering high quality service.

The finalists for the inaugural Franchisee of the Year Award are Mr Nallakaruppan who runs five 7-Eleven outlets (Marina Square, Far East Shopping Centre, Far East Plaza kiosk and Redhill MRT) and Mr Larry Flynn who runs the O’Brien’s Irish Sandwich Bars at China Square.

When asked how he decided that the 7-Eleven franchise was the right one for him, Mr Nallakaruppan said, “One of the reasons I decided to sign up was because the 7-Eleven managers never tried to sell me the concept. Instead, they told me the potential worse case scenarios if we as franchisees did not comply and follow the franchise system. In the end, it was up to us as franchisees to look at the potential development of the location and area, how profitable the unit was and also how much support the franchisors were going to provide.”

Mr Larry Flynn from the UK, owns an O’Briens Franchised café. For Mr Flynn, he chose to become an O’Brien’s franchisee because he found the concept bold, simple and focused. Getting into the O’Brien’s Franchise has been relatively easy since the O’Briens Team really show their Franchisees how to do everything from how to manage the accounting systems, to sourcing the raw materials and supplies, making the sandwiches and also give you a template for the franchisee to agree on the set up of the café. “It almost one morning, I woke up, and I had an O’Briens café waiting for me.” Said Mr Flynn.

How does one decide if a franchise is suitable?

Finding the right Franchise Business Opportunities requires you to weigh a significant amount of information. “Franchises span many diverse industries and have different requirements, targeting different clients and addressing different needs,” says the founder and director of the business consulting firm, Astreem Corporation, Miss Hsien Naidu. “From an objective viewpoint, some franchises are better than others, but the only true measure of a franchise is how well it meets the requirements, ambitions, talents, skills and the amount you are intending to invest.” When selecting a franchise, it is always important to select a franchise that suits individual’s personal interest. Miss Naidu listed 3 key areas to consider before buying into a business franchise:

1. Is the nature of the franchise suitable for the individual personalities and objectives of the franchisees?
2. Is the franchise profitable?
3. Does the franchisor offer the right amount of support?

Franchising also gives new sources of revenue like franchise fees, royalties, advertising fees, training fee, mark up on supplies and others.  It also gives better synergy that will drastically brings down costs and supports organisation with more branches through sharing of the expenses on food and supply costs due to better purchasing power.