The Founder of a Palawan-Based Milk Tea Company Shares 3 Tips to Build a Winning Franchise
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Engr. Ana Lustre-Malijan is the founder of Frotea, a Palawan-born beverage franchise brand that now has 23 branches nationwide and growing. She is also a franchisee of a large pizza chain brand and an executive officer of different companies.
Frotea started as a FroYo (frozen yogurt) and milk tea store concept opened in 2012 that offers affordable drinks. Established in Puerto Princesa during the explosion of froyos and milk tea concepts, it has withstood the fad and outlasted many other similar brands. It helps that Frotea offers cozy stores and warm service to its patrons.
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“I am also a franchisee of a large pizza chain brand and that background helped boost my confidence in developing a franchise business,” Malijan explains. The first Frotea store was in its seventh year of operation before she decided to develop it for franchising.
Malijan says her decision to franchise the business came about when she opened the second branch, which had a fantastic four-month payback period. “I saw a big potential for Frotea and that’s when I realized it was the right time to franchise it,” she adds.
During the regularly held “How to Franchise Your Business” seminar of Francorp, Malijan shared three tips for would-be franchisors.
1| Determine your ultimate goal in growing
“It’s not only about the franchise fee and revenues you would get from the franchise,” she says. “Before you grow too fast, you have to think carefully about what your ultimate goal in growing is.”
Financial goals are vital, but a huge part of a franchisor’s ultimate goal should also be about the entire franchise brand and network.
Some franchisors go at it for the financial gains, and they tend to forget that for a franchise to be successful, the goal should be bigger and deeper. Franchising is all about nurturing and upholding a win-win situation, where both franchisor and franchisees are profiting, growing, and succeeding. This is why franchising generally has a 90 percent success rate.
Several franchise brands like Frotea envision a revenue-generating, quality-oriented, customer service-based, livelihood-empowering business that creates a huge impact not only within the franchise network but also to the community.
2| Support yourself by working with experts
Before franchisors can support their future franchisees, they must be able to develop and support their own franchise brand and make sure that the prototype and its systems are working.
“Francorp helped me a lot in doing this,” Malijan shared. “I had all these plans when we were starting but I didn’t know how or where to start. So Francorp helped me by guiding me through the entire process, like how I should protect my brand; how I will support my franchisees; how I will systematize the franchise through the operations manual, which is very comprehensive; and even on the marketing strategies on how I would be able to differentiate from the already saturated market.”
Franchise experts strive to guide and help would-be franchisors achieve their dream of growing their business from one to many through franchise development programs that center on strategy, legal, sales, operations, marketing, development, and training. All these aspects will make sure that a would-be franchisor is ready and well-prepared to have a beneficial and empowering partnership with future franchisees.
3| Support your franchisees and make sure they are winning
Finally, Malijan emphasized the importance of taking care of the franchisees. “Your franchisees should always be a top priority. You have to make sure that they are happy, and in order to do that, you have to make sure that they are winning and earning.”
The entrepreneur said that some franchise companies have no ongoing support for their franchisees. Once these franchisors receive the franchise fee, they leave their franchisees to fend for themselves. This could lead to severe complications and, ultimately, to business dissolution.
It is the role of franchisors to make sure their franchisees are well-supported so they can also win in the franchise relationship. Malijan shared that during the pandemic, they made sure to employ strategies that could help their franchisees survive the crisis. Today, Frotea continues to grow nationwide as a successful in-demand franchise brand.
Hear more exclusive franchise tips and get a FREE Franchisability Consultation with Francorp’s How to Franchise Your Business Seminar.
Sam Christopher Lim is the current President of the Philippine Franchise Association; CEO of Francorp Philippines; Co-author of 12 Strategies of Franchising; President of U-Franchise Sales & Management; and Chairman for ActionCOACH Philippines.
