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The movement started four years ago is becoming more accentuated among companies, which seek to expand capillarity; challenge is due to adaptation to the local culture and lack of skilled labor
The franchise networks are accelerating the expansion movement to cities in the interior with the goal of gaining greater capillarity in the national territory, increasing sales and operating in regions with lower operating costs. But they face the challenge of adapting to the local culture and seeking skilled labor.
“ABF [Brazilian Franchising Association] this movement started at least four years ago. What we can say with certainty is that this has gone from a simple tendency to something that is part of the strategy of the franchise system. We are recording not only the increase in the number of units in the country, but also the appearance of other brands in these regions, “said ABF market intelligence manager Vanessa Bretas.
According to the latest balance sheet made by the entity in the second quarter of 2018, the Central West Region went from 7.5% in 2017 to 8.5% last year in terms of participation in the franchise sector as a whole.
On the same basis of comparison, the same movement occurred in regions such as the South, which went from 9.4% to 9.7%; and also in the North of the country, jumping from 4.9% to 5.3%. On the other hand, the Southeast and Northeast, in turn, lost representativity dropping to 56.8% and 13.6%, respectively.
According to Vanessa, the move can also be seen as a way out of large franchisors to grow, “given that competition in these locations is often much lower and fixed costs are lower.”
“We believe that this process of expansion occurs both on the part of the companies and also by the consumers who live in these regions. The demands for brands have grown, “said the company’s director.
In the same perspective as Vanessa, one of the franchise networks that has identified an opportunity in these cities is the iGUI – specialized in the commercialization of swimming pools and water treatment services. “We realize that much of our presence in the interior occurs due to the purchase of farms and the country house of people living in large urban centers. In these less crowded places, for example, there is more urban space and consequently the trade in large swimming pools is much more common, “said the network’s executive expansion manager, Tiago Araújo, noting that there is an expectation of 10% growth in revenues, reaching R $ 500 million.
With the increase of this presence in the interior of Brazil, the network created another franchise specialized in the treatment of swimming pools, named as Tratabem. “We currently have 190 units. Of this total, about 70% is located in cities in the interior, and we see this percentage increase gradually in the medium to long term, “said the network’s franchise director, Lilian Marques.
According to her, the difficulty to find a qualified workforce is a reality, which has made the network bet on training programs and professionalization in cleaning pools and sales in the interior of the country. “As our focus is the cleaning of swimming pools and sale of products related to this segment, it is fundamental that the service is done correctly and standardized throughout Brazil. Therefore, training takes place three times a month with employees of each franchise, “argued the director.
Another example of franchise with evolution in the opening of units in small towns is the network of fast feed Açaí. “One of our concerns in this movement was precisely the quality control check within our operations. That is why we have our own factory. For this year, the expectation of billing is R $ 60 million, “said the director of the franchiser, Pedro Alina, noting that the unit with the best performance of the network is in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.
