The Truth About Franchising

Every year more and more Filipinos are quitting their 9 to 5 jobs to either work from home or venture into business in order to spend more quality time with their families, travel and have the liberty to work at their own time and pace. I quit working for BPO companies three years ago to work from home and completely disassociate myself from the ‘matrix’ where the rest of the workforce is currently stuck because of the strong resolve to fend for themselves and their families. I don’t know any other jobs after I quit the only industry I was stuck for over a decade yet I never felt any remorse but freedom and jubilance after I left the BPO industry. It’s like an ache in my chest I’ve been wanting to free myself from for many years. Work is a drag and I do not intend to come back to the same industry I’ve endured working for many years because of all the stress and strife I’ve been through with companies who only made themselves bigger and richer not to mention the hazards of working in graveyard shifts, not worth it, totally not worth it.

Going back, working from home did not really work out for me because I was accustomed to working in a fast paced environment and my heart wasn’t into it so my siblings and I decided to join forces and invest in a small time business to keep the money flowing and growing and so we thought about franchising. If you’re reading this and is looking to put up a business or invest your hard earned money into something profitable then better read on and learn from my experience. My family is inclined in the lodging business, therefore, venturing into the food business is completely new to us. We have zero experience and knowledge other than the information we found/researched online which all seemed encouraging and as easy as 1,2,3.  We thought since we have zero experience in the food business, why not tie up with a company or better yet franchise so we don’t have to worry about everything, all we have to do is invest and learn about the ins and outs of the business. 

Food carts sprout like mushrooms every year, some are small whilst some are associated with big-time networking companies which we regret went with hoping that big companies will take care of us all the way through. Mind you, we did NOT just pick a franchise company out of thin air.  We did our research for months and inquiries and my sister and I even put our travel plans this year to a halt to really focus on this new business venture of ours and after thorough research and online inquiries, we finally picked a franchise company we want to be in partnership with. I personally conversed with one of their marketing specialists/agents to inquire and even scheduled a meeting in haste because we were really eager. We stumbled upon I AM WORLDWIDE (IAMWW) on Facebook and found they have a satellite office where my siblings and I are based. IAMWW is the same company which owns a number of franchise/food carts such as Mang Siomai, Hong Kong Fried Noodles, Dumpling King just to name a few so imagine how squeamish we were to own one of their food carts because they already have a name established as far as franchising is concerned and we’re scared as hell to come across bogus franchise companies because of the capital at stake.  So, going back, we met up with one of their marketing agents, discussed the products, crew training, market, the return of investment and stuff and we were truly inoculated because of all the ‘good stuff.’ We were advised that some of their franchisees earn as much as 20-30k per month the least and that they will pretty much take care of everything because they already have a product supplier, crew training and that someone will help in terms of finding a location for your business although it’s not inclusive. We were convinced at first of course because everything sounded really convenient on our part, the investor. However, things did not turn out the way we expected after we already made our payment as we came across all unimaginable difficulties we did not anticipate not to mention much bigger incidental expenses. 

The franchise cost less than P100k as it’s bundled with Health and Wellness products (overpriced coffee, slimming juice, etc.) however the biggest expenses will go towards the exclusions such as business permits (which you have to process yourself), rental space, materials for the cart such as paper cups, trays, initial frozen stocks, food picks, etc. We regret we did not go with ‘better companies’ who will already provide you with pretty much everything from materials, stocks, location down to manpower because to sum up how much we spent, it pretty much cost the same as paying for bigger franchise companies and trust me, it will balloon. My siblings and I endured all the stress scouting for business space and we felt totally alone right after we paid for our franchise in full not that we’re not aware of the all the exclusions because we do. We just felt like we were ditched like hot potatoes after we paid for it in full (take note, we paid in full and not on a deferred basis) because we always had to follow up everything from the contract down to the exact release date of the actual food cart. It was really dealt with poorly because the marketing person we transacted with, after getting her commission (yeah, it’s networking after all) barely contacted us hadn’t we asked for updates first. We felt disregarded and neglected for a first-time franchisee. We’ve been misinformed in terms of the food cart release date which we only learned days before it’s actual release/delivery date. We endured all the ordeal and sent countless emails to their corporate headquarters which I doubt franchisees are expected to do as there should be a Liaison Officer or someone to mediate between the corporate office and not us, the investors ourselves. This is when we regret why we invested with IAMWW in the first place, we should’ve gone with bigger franchise companies and saved us all the hassles and stress dealing with incompetent people who only care about their commissions and were always late during business meetings.

My advise, if you’re serious about this whole franchising thing, go for bigger companies wherein all you have to do is invest or better yet NOT franchise at all like most entrepreneurs are saying nowadays, come up with an original business, pay for a patent and go for it if you have enough capital, to begin with anyways and save yourself from all the dramas of dealing with franchise companies.  And oh, do not expect you will earn as much, to begin with as promised and be ready to fail because that’s how you will learn. And most importantly, never give up and innovate on your own to keep your business afloat. Just a reminder, avoid dealing with networking companies because their main concern is to make their clout bigger and increase their downlines, they don’t have genuine concern about your welfare but their own, it’s all about money baby! If you have good management skills, do not franchise. I do not intend to change anyone’s mind, my point is to share my experience and this is reality, do not be conned by franchise companies and their flowering marketing agents’ pitch because, in the long run, it’s still YOU, the investor who will decide.