Attendees Experience the Latest Franchise Trends and Opportunities
It was gorgeous weather in New York City last week for my visit to the 2024 International Franchise Expo.
This annual event, held at the iconic Javits Center, hosted over 300 franchise exhibitors and thousands of attendees. Several industries were represented, including automotive, beauty, cleaning, fitness, moving services, technology, and, of course, food. It was a great opportunity to discover new brands, network with other franchise professionals, and take advantage of educational opportunities.
Upon entering the show floor, I was immediately drawn to On the Hook, a food truck concept that began franchising two months ago. The President, Ocean Andrew, (below) was named by his father, a commercial fisherman in Alaskan waters. They have positioned this business to have family-friendly work hours, operating Tuesday through Saturday, only during the day, and focusing on company locations without participating in festival and weekend events.
I had a great visit with Colette Bell, the founder of Ace Handyman. A week earlier, I had read an article about Ace Hardware and how they are outperforming big-box store competition. She noted that they are celebrating their 100th anniversary and believes they are doing well because people crave customer service. ACE Handyman has close to 400 locations and is the number one handyman franchise in the country.
Franchise Vendors and Suppliers
Franchising is supported by a tremendous number of vendors and suppliers. A year ago, I met Sebastian Aguirre (below) from NiceJob at IFE2023 when he was new to franchising. Fast-forward to today, and I was visiting him at his booth. NiceJob has helped hundreds of franchises with their online reputation management. NiceJob’s key to success? A competitive cost structure and a great team culture.
It’s always good to see the team at Spadea Lignana (above). This franchise law firm based in Philadelphia focuses on franchisors. Clients continue to be happy with the firm’s proprietary cloud-based system that enables annual updates to the Franchise Disclosure Document effortlessly and for a flat fee.
A must-visit at this franchise conference was the SMB Pavilion, which showcased several brands that SMB Franchise Advisors helped develop into franchises. Wise Wonder was one of them that caught my eye. The founder, Rina Collins, a former elementary education teacher turned preschool director, saw a gap in the educational system regarding literacy and rolled out a comprehensive, copyright-protected program geared for babies as young as six months old to 12-year-old teens. This is a brick-and-mortar concept with a low labor force. Rina emphasized that “this is not a program for struggling kids. It is geared toward parents who want to build upon their children’s confidence and start when their kids are younger.”
Franchise Workshops
One of the best parts of franchise shows and conferences is education. I took advantage of IFE’s more than 70 workshops and sessions by participating in two presentations. The first, Women in Franchising: Being Successful in Today’s Marketplace (above), featured four fabulous women in franchising who covered several topics, defined what franchising is, the roles of the franchise system and prospective franchisees, the importance of teamwork, and the many opportunities for mentorship. Many franchises have a franchise advisory council, and the International Franchise Association has a dedicated Women’s Franchise Committee. “Having women in every aspect of business makes for a better perspective; it is not better or worse, it’s just different,” they noted. Each of the panelists gave final words of advice to the audience:
- Be brave.
- Absorb as much information as possible.
- Do research and keep emotion out of it.
- If you think you can do it, go for it.
The second session, Should You Franchise Your Business?, was presented by Steve Beagelman, the founder of SMB Franchise Advisors. SMB has helped over 500 brands become franchises. He explained that a reason to franchise is to “expand your brand faster than you can on your own using other people’s capital.” The SMB team helps to build your brand, grow it, and assist with the exit through private equity if that is your business strategy. Beagleman advises prospective franchisors to ask themselves:
- Will I be a good franchisor?
- Can I give up control?
- Am I a good communicator?
- Do I have adequate capital to start and maintain the franchise?
- Am I ready to start a whole new business?
I also had the opportunity to speak with a few attendees. Monique Brown traveled from Delaware. She owns a candle company and was interested in learning more about developing it into a franchise. She and her husband consider themselves serial entrepreneurs and were also exploring new concepts.
Randolph and Trenia Vincent, New York City residents, were interested in seeing what was available. Their biggest concern was figuring out how to know which brands are financially strong and have a good management structure.
Sadly, I did not get a chance to stand in the long line for Poke Bowl (above), but seemingly everyone was enjoying their delicious bowls. Speaking of food concepts, chicken appeared to be the dominant player at the event. The hall always smells so good, and several exhibitors had tasty samples for the attendees. Already looking forward to IFE2025!
