Franchising: A Growing Market as an Opportunity for SMEs

Project Manager Vera Keller presents the franchise study conducted by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. Standing next to her are Reto Zumbühl, President of the Swiss Franchise Association (SFV) (left), and Dr. Christoph Wildhaber, SFV Executive Director (center). Image: Trade Association/Swiss Trade JournalFranchising is a promising path to entrepreneurship. Existing companies often find franchising to be a strategically successful avenue for growth. A study presented today in Bern shows that franchising is growing rapidly in Switzerland. 86.7% of franchisors are expanding their systems. 74.1% expect this growth to continue in the future.Market conditions for franchising in Switzerland are favorable. Franchise providers could integrate even more franchisees and are actively seeking partners. A franchisee can fare better in saturated markets than an entrepreneur operating independently, says Reto Zumbühl, President of the Swiss Franchise Association: «Franchising can thus improve the situation for small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling due to competitive and cost pressures by connecting them to an existing system.» Sales, marketing, and product placement are tried-and-true and well-established within a franchise system. This market power, combined with the franchisees« proximity to the market and their local and regional roots, is the strength of franchising, according to Zumbühl. »«A franchise model is a collaboration between companies that find a synergy in it that benefits both sides,» says Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss Trade Association (sgv). It is very important that policymakers do not undermine these synergies with ever more and ever new unnecessary regulations. “This is a matter between the companies themselves, who must reach an agreement. If policymakers over-regulate here, the healthy balance in a franchise model can quickly be upset.”