SA Franchise Warehouse recently reported on the OBC Group’s sterling performance in the face of strong economic headwinds. Over the past few years, OBC Group had won several coveted awards. Recently they did it again and announced two more awards. This further cements their position as a professional franchise concept that is virtually recession-proof. Tony da Fonseca at the SAPCC's 5th Anniversary Gala Dinner The South African Portuguese Chamber of Commerce recognises individuals and companies with Portuguese links that perform well within the South African business arena. At a glittering gala dinner, held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on 28th July 2018, the OBC Group was declared winner in two categories, namely SAPCC / Standard Bank Franchisor of the Year 2018 and SAPCC Mandela Tribute Award 2018. Said Rui Marto, Executive Director of the SAPCC, “The Franchisor of the Year Award celebrates the success of a franchisor who has made a significant impact in the market

Lizl Budhram Women encouraged to make smart money moves Cardi B’s was the breakout story of 2017. She stretched her 15 minutes of fame as a social media influencer to become a rapper and reality TV phenomenon. Her hit Bodak Yellow struck a chord with millions because of her bold take on money, her in-your-face confidence and, well, the beat. Her story has also inspired many women working to build success for themselves and their families. Lizl Budhram, Head of Advice at Old Mutual Personal Finance, says that although we can’t all catapult to stardom and wealth like Cardi B, she is indeed inspiring women with her determination to explore and manage multiple income streams to support herself and her family. “Earning money from various sources is definitely a growing trend. The latest findings from Old Mutual’s Savings & Investment monitor show that already 43% of working metro South Africans have a side job over and above their formal employment, up from 37% in 2017. This

Real Fish & Chips Witbank Real Fish & Chips welcomes their second store in eMalahleni. Boasting an amazing look, the new store is centrally located close to major stores. Real Fish & Chips eMalahleni invites you to come and have a taste of their delicious meals at the corner of  Walter Sisulu & Colliery and Diederichs streets. If you are interested in opening your own Real Fish & Chips franchise, two options are available: 1. Real Fish & Chips Concept: Franchise cost : From R 600 000.00 + VAT A deposit of R 200 000 is required. 2. Real Fish, Chicken and Chips Concept: Franchise Cost: From R650 000.00 + VAT A deposit of R200 000 is required. Amounts quoted include store set up, equipment, signage and training. For more information get in touch by sending an email to info@realfishandchips.co.za . Real Fish & Chips will also be featured in the September issue of the Sunday Times Franchising magazine. Make sure to grab your copy!

Wessel Radyn (FICS Tshwane East), Gerhardt Becker (CEO) and Andries Radyn (FICS Tshwane East) The FICS footprint is growing with each new FICS Franchise that is opening its doors. With 145 FICS Franchises needing coverage, the opening of the FICS Tshwane East Franchise (number 22) allows FICS to gather information about accidents quickly and comprehensively as well as offering a service to clients in the Pretoria area. Wessel and Andries Radyn are two brothers who decided to start their own business. As Pretoria residents, it made sense to opt for a Franchise area close to home. These two complements one another well. Wessel, an ex-SAPS Colonel and Andre with extensive experience in administrating US Business School programmes for years have the abilities and skills for investigations and hands-on coordination of FICS work. Wessel and Andries Radyn are an ideal addition to the FICS team to address the services FICS offer to clients on a local and national level. FICS develope

3@1 Business Centre franchising joins several other leading South African franchise brands who previously expanded to the UK successfully like Nando’s. We will be bringing a refreshing mix of products and services to the Print, Courier and Photographic retail sector there. If you want to get in early you can join our team and form part of a team of 4 carefully selected, strategically located adventurous and energetic entrepreneurs to open one of our first 3@1 pilot franchises in the UK. With a proven business model and 80 trading stores, developed and refined over 20 years and established in 1999 this South African born concept now sports a franchise network which is fast expanding throughout Southern Africa. You can see from looking at our logo, signage and striking stores just how modern our 3@1 Business Centres are. The 3@1 Business Centre Franchisor team continuously evaluates new and interesting retail trends to access technological advancements that can be incorporated int

Nico Viljoen By implementing the systems in The Pioneering Practice Programme, one will build a marketing engine and, in the process, de-commoditise one’s firm in the eyes of his/her audience, resulting in the attraction and referral of more A-Grade clients and have more time, money and freedom. The Tax Shop Franchise Group associated with Amanda C. Watts because we believe The Pioneering Practice Programme will benefit all Accountants and Tax practitioners and make life easier as the programme covers inter alia the following exciting areas which are relevant and useful to all Accountants and Tax practitioners: Creating a brand and a message that will get attention! How to speak to your prospects so they stop, listen and sign up. How to position your firm as experts and attract more of the right clients. How to stop wasting time in 1:1 sales meetings and sign up groups of clients at a time! Where to find your best leads and how to convert them. For more information about

Vehicles are becoming ever more complex and challenging to repair. By pairing Bosch’s technology and innovation with highly skilled technicians, Bosch Car Service is uniquely equipped for these challenges, and offers one of the best solutions in the industry. About Bosch Car Service Bosch Car Service is one of the world's largest independent automotive repair shop chains. Our international service network encompasses more than 16,500 authorized automotive repair shops in 150 countries. With our wide range of expert services we can offer everything you could possibly need for your vehicle - from inspection, service and repairs right through to customized retrofitting work. Bosch Car Service stands for exceptional quality.  Our quality management system guarantees excellent standards at every Bosch Car Service shop. This exceptional quality can be defined as the sum of first class products, professional service and customer satisfaction. Regular quality checks guarantee com

Kobus Engelbrecht Can too much innovation cost your business?  Ever heard the saying that too much of a good thing is bad? Kobus Engelbrecht, spokesperson for the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS says that this is particularly true when it comes to innovation. “A cell phone that records meeting minutes and is also a high definition television screen is great, but imagine if that cell phone was enabled with artificial intelligence (AI) and could send messages without your manual input, making use of insight from your messaging and social media data history – one could assume that a few of your contacts might receive inappropriate messages,” says Engelbrecht. While the technological age is full of brilliant innovations; Uber, Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb, Spotify and Facebook to mention a few – Engelbrecht says that the temptation to create the “next big thing” sometimes causes entrepreneurs to fall into the trap of disruption over

Most business owners see short-term insurance as a grudge purchase, a necessary evil. This is even more true for smaller businesses in current economic times. The fact however is that businesses own assets, employ staff, deal with clients, handle money, etc. These are things that carry risk, a risk that every prudent business owner can and should mitigate by taking out comprehensive short term insurance, tailored to their unique business and circumstances. There are certain unforeseeable and often unavoidable risks that go hand in hand with the ownership of property, assets and valuables and with the day-to-day operations of running a business. The best way to ensure that you have peace of mind and security is to hand these risks over to a third party, an insurer. In exchange for an agreed sum of money paid monthly, an insurer will provide you with agreed cover should you suffer any loss, damage or liability to your property and assets or those of a third party. Insurance cover is

Riaan Fouche The relationship between the franchisor and franchisee is often overlooked by people who are starting out in franchising. This is one of the biggest mistakes that one can do; it creates a lack of mutual understating, it also has a direct correlation to the 10% failure rate in franchising. Riaan Fouche, the Chief Operations Officer of Franchising at FNB Business says, “One of the things that franchisors should manage is a healthy relationship with franchisees and that requires a multitude of human relations skills paired with technical support structures that enable a win-win approach between the two parties.” Fouche shares four phases of the franchising relationship dynamic as per the renowned Franchise Relationship Expert, Greg Nathan: The courting phase: This is the creation phase of a relationship; both parties are communicating and making an effort to enter into a business relationship. Franchisees and franchisors must have clarity on the relationship and bu

Do you have hidden gems concealed in your longstanding product offerings? Taking a new perspective on buying and selling patterns established over nearly quarter of a century at Cash Converters Southern Africa made CEO Richard Mukheibir realise a business lesson he needed to put into practice – and one he felt worth sharing with any other SA businesses looking for a wakeup call that can help them grow in today’s slow economy. Reinventing your brand to keep it fresh and successful means everything from refreshing your logo to sharpening your strategic vision, he believes. That led him to relook the company’s product offerings and spot the gap where they could supply better. “Dealing in second-hand jewellery has always been a side-line for us, another minor part of the product mix we offer,” he says. “But as the vintage trend took root in South Africa, we realised that instead of just ticking over and maybe not even earning its floor space, this could potentially be a good earner

Richard Mukheibir South Africans are often accused of slavishly imitating international trends but, in fact, we adopt and adapt them with great ingenuity and individuality, says Richard Mukheibir, CEO of Cash Converters . Having just returned from a fact-finding tour of related businesses in Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, he is more admiring than ever of the way South Africans have had to be ingenious problem-solvers for all kinds of historic and economic reasons – especially in this period of increasing costs for petrol, transport, electricity and other basics. “We have developed a heritage that is creative in approaching all kinds of problems and challenges and this approach is played out right across the economy,” he says. Mukheibir classifies all the countries he visited as first-world economies, differing from South Africa in both the reasons for buying and selling and the mix of goods sold.  “The millennials are growing up and now in a life phase anywhere be

David Morobe, Regional General Manager at Business Partners Limited It is important for aspiring entrepreneurs to not let their fears stand in the way of starting a business. This is according to David Morobe, Regional General Manager at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS), who says that, in light of World Entrepreneurs Day taking place on 21 August, there is a need for more South Africans to take the leap into entrepreneurship. “This is highlighted by the results of the 2017/2018 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, which reveals that while 69 percent of South Africans perceive entrepreneurship to be a good career choice, only 11 percent have entrepreneurial intentions,” says Morobe. He points to a report released by Old Mutual in 2017, which reveals the top reasons that South Africans do not put their entrepreneurial ideas into action. “The reasons cited in this report include a lack of funding (46 percent) and a lack of confidence (16 percent), as well as the

H2O Water Kiosk In the past, the majority of adults in the workforce tended to look for a career that would see them through to retirement in their 60s. They were happy to work for one company for the duration of their working life. Times have changed. Today, we have an ageing Baby Boomer generation living longer and needing to work well past “retirement age”, and Millennials wanting more independence, work satisfaction and variety. High levels of debt see many, across the age groups, working more than one “job” to service debt and achieve the living standards they aspire to. At the same time, challenging economic times are seeing companies streamlining, getting leaner and looking at ways to reduce overheads. All this has led to a new-look workforce, an unprecedented rise in the number of freelances, “slashers” earning additional income over and above their main job, solopreneurs and the otherwise self-employed as independent contracting becomes a mainstream way of life. Adapti

Anton Roelofse In recent years, the number of financiers that make funding available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa has increased significantly. Yet in spite of this, each year sees countless SMEs struggling to access business finance, according to Anton Roelofse, Regional General Manager at Business Partners Limited . “The current economic state is definitely a major contributor to the challenges that SMEs experience in securing funding when they need it. South Africa’s low economic growth over recent years has negatively impacted the future forecasts of most companies and SMEs especially, find it more difficult to show proof that they can remain solvent for the foreseeable future. This is of course one of the qualifying criteria set forth by funding institutions.” Roelofse explains that applying for business funding involves a number of steps including due diligence, and for certain types of businesses, it may even require trade licenses. “All these st

Written by Jameel Ahmad, Global Head of Currency Strategy & Market Research at FXTM The relief rally that allowed emerging market currencies to regain their composure after a very nervous reaction from investors to the Turkish Lira crisis appears to have been temporary. The majority of emerging market currencies across Asia are trending lower at time of writing, as the political dispute between Turkey and the United States heats up and the US Dollar charges to another milestone high for 2018. The softness in the emerging market currencies will likely spread into the EMEA region when European markets open today and possibly Latin America FX when Wall Street opens this afternoon. The only real exception to the weakness in the emerging market FX space in Asia has been the Indian Rupee, which is marginally higher against the US Dollar after hitting a new all-time low earlier in the week. When you consider that the Dollar is charging ahead against the majority of its counterparts

Richard Mukheibir As the reach and versatility of social and digital media have expanded, they have achieved more than simply adding another useful channel to the marketing toolkit, says Richard Mukheibir, CEO of Cash Converters . “These new channels allow us to drill down into market sectors and localities, interpreting our brand message to appeal at local level encouraging existing and potential customers to step into the store and explore our offerings,” he says. “For franchises particularly, these channels have transformed the way we conduct our marketing activities and liberated franchisees to talk more directly to their customer base.” For some time, retail chains have tailored stock levels and ranges to each store’s local market and demographic, he notes. Franchises, on the other hand, tend to operate over a spectrum of centralisation. Some insist on tight control of menus or skincare treatments offered and the products used to deliver these, while others give franchisee

Gugu Mjadu Successful female entrepreneurs hone in on the importance of education this Women’s Month South Africa has low female entrepreneurial activity with female entrepreneurs accounting for only 31% of all entrepreneurs in the country. Furthermore, data from the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for South Africa shows that the ratio of women involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity in 2017 compared to that of their male counterparts, was at 0.69 - a concerning but negligible 0.05 decline since 2016. Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS says that the low female entrepreneurial activity is a worrisome statistic, as the country’s economy begs for growing levels of entrepreneurship across the board. Speaking in light of Women’s Month this August, Mjadu says that there needs to be a widespread culture shift when it comes to entrepreneurship in South Africa. “In addition to boo

Justin Trent Unlike other start-up businesses that can survive on a shoestring budget, franchises require huge upfront investment. In exchange, the franchisor normally offers comprehensive support, business processes and systems to increase the chances of success. However, like any other start-up, the biggest challenge for any franchisor is providing the right IT systems in order for the franchise operation to be efficient. Being a successful franchisor requires a wide range of skillsets to ensure franchisees can carry out the same successful formula. Making the shift from business owner to franchisor is often a critical step for the success of the franchise business. The franchisor needs to shift from being actively involved in the business to a more advisory role, more of a leader who strategises and monitors. According to Alto Africa CEO Justin Trent, from a franchisor perspective having the right systems and processes in place will help add value to

The combination of continuing trading uncertainty in South Africa and the new financial year for many businesses can add up to carefully reviewing costs – including leases on premises. Choosing a site to set up or relocate your business can be just as stressful as deciding where to buy a house – and just as fundamental to its health, finances and sustainability, says Richard Mukheibir, CEO of Cash Converters . This is not the time to snap up the property with the cheapest rental as that might turn out to be something you regret in the long run. Nor is it the time to be dazzled by the swankiest premises you can find. The potential for bragging rights could turn out to be poor value for money. “This is a time for your head to rule your heart regardless of the industry you trade in.” he says. The real-estate mantra of “location, location, location” works just as effectively in commercial as it does in private property but you will often be looking for rather different factors.

Gugu Mjadu Celebrating three full decades of discovering and cultivating the best entrepreneurial talent that South Africa has to offer, the highly esteemed Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and Business/Partners has announced the shortlist of 15 standout entrants who have made it through to the final round of this year’s competition. According to Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2018 edition of the competition, the 189 entries that were received this year really upped the game in terms of entrepreneurial talent. “Every year, we think that we’ve seen it all, but each year we find ourselves being further blown away by the level of talent being exhibited by the South African entrepreneurs who enter the competition.” In alphabetical order, the finalists for the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and Business/Partners are: Andrew and Glenn Eriksen – Cango Wildlife Ranch  Beverley Gumbi – Isivuno Containers Business Chike and

In light of Women’s Month this August, we share a few of the entrepreneurial stories of the recently announced finalists of the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS . Four of the 15 finalists are exceptional women entrepreneurs doing amazing things across various industry sectors: Phillipa Geard – Recruit My Mom : When Phillipa Geard became a mother, she never imagined that the business of motherhood, would be the brainchild behind her very own business. Recognising that South African moms comprise a valuable portion of the country’s skilled labour force, Geard’s online recruitment agency, RecruitMyMom.co.za fills a unique gap in the market and provides moms all over the country with the opportunity to juggle both parenthood and a successful career. Phillipa Geard Beverley Gumbi – Isivuno Containers : Established in 2005 when Beverley Gumbi identified a niche in the local market for refurbishing containers, Isivuno Container