At a cocktail function held at The Courier Guy Depot in Kya Sands on Wednesday August 1st, the winner was announced of the “Win a Courier Guy Franchise” Competition. During May this year, The Courier Guy, partnered with FASA and ABSA to give away Franchise during the IFE. The competition, which was part of a partnership promotion with FASA and Independent Newspapers, offered readers the opportunity to own their own Franchise. The competition attracted close to 700 entries. Entrants had to provide their CV and a motivation as to why they want to be a Franchisee. 25 Finalists were selected and invited to an information afternoon with ABSA Franchising and The Courier Guy. The finalists then had to complete the ABSA application for finance and compiled a business plan. The Courier Guy and ABSA then worked through the documentation received and placed them as follows: Tumelo F Modiba  Winner Aubrey Koekemoer 2nd Place Abi Peloeahae 3rd Place For the winner, The Courier Guy waived t...

It is with great pleasure that the Rhapsody’s Franchising Group would like to announce our success in the South African Wine List of the Year 2012 awards. Pairing an excellent Chef’s Book along with premium wines has been a core focus for this group and the recognition received from South Africa’s First Independent Wine List Awards is due to our single-minded focus on a wine and dine offering paired with excellent service.  We value the partnership which we have nurtured with our wine partners and see this recognition as not only a celebration of our restaurants but a celebration for our partners as well.  We are proving to be a platform which no longer just lists products but launches products into the market. We understand that our patrons deserve the best of the best and with this in mind, we gladly accept these awards. Congratulations to the group and specifically to Rhapsody’s Lounge Lynnwood Bridge for receiving the following awards: •     ...

Chapter four: Investigating the suspects – El cliente “If it wasn’t for the customers, the suppliers and the staff… this would be a great job” lamented our victim as he trawled through the complaints at hellopeter.CON, “for heaven’s sake, why couldn’t they just complain to me, instead of writing to the world about that one tiny little unreasonable incident?” “That’s ‘cause the customer is always right!” said a voice from his distant past. “No!” He shouted to no one in particular “He is not always right, but he is the customer and it is the customer’s right to be wrong.” By Michael Said You may feel that all this is just semantics and merely a slightly different way of explaining the same thing, but in essence there is a huge difference. Adopting the “the customer is always right” philosophy is tantamount to saying “I am always wrong” or “my staff is always wrong” or “the restaurant is always wrong”, and that can’t possibly be true. I recently bought a shirt at a men’s clo...

In this article we look at why the valuation and selling price may differ and the reasons behind the adjustments. By Kobus Oosthuizen The valuation of any business, franchised or not, is primarily driven by assumptions regarding future profitability and a certain probability that the numbers are achievable. Even so, the actual amount paid will in all likelihood differ from the valuation. For the purposes of this discussion we will make reference to a typical franchised business. The matter of urgency, and the reason for the sale: “Why are you selling?” is the first question any purchaser should be asking. The motive for selling will have an impact on the valuation method applied and is the primary indicator of the risks attached to the transaction. Always keep in mind that “good businesses” are seldom up for sale and if they do end up in the market there is usually a substantial amount of goodwill attached to the valuation. Profitable businesses are very seldom sold for reasons at...

Chapter 3: Investigating the suspects – Señor Supplier In order to establish a clear motive and opportunity for our next suspect, Señor Supplier, it is necessary that we understand the circumstances in which both the victim and the suspect, operate. By Michael Said It was after all only a few short years ago that the local restaurant industry was operating on a retention rate of 18 to 24 percent, way in excess of returns in the US, making businesses in this industry highly sought after. In fact, every man and his dog who could get their hands on a few rands were gobbling up sites and franchises. Most restaurants were able to show year on year growth in excess of annual rental and product cost increases and all appeared to be well in the South African restaurant industry. So, exactly how do restaurants make their money? Selling food and drink of course, but what are the percentages and how have they changed? For the purposes of this exercise I am going to show current retention of ...