9TH GLOBAL SUMMIT ON FRANCHISE & RETAIL

Over 225 franchise business investors, franchisors, chain store operators, suppliers, new entrepreneurs, retailers and professionals from franchise, retail and real-estate sector gathered at the 2-day Conference that proved to be an educational and networking forum designed to provide a unique learning opportunity. Now, in its 9th edition, the conference has educated thousands of franchise owners and executives about the ways of successful and profitable franchise growth. The conference featured prominent industry experts in franchisng, retail and branding who educated the delegates with unique franchise and retail knowledge.

Day 1 started with Visionary Franchisors panel which featured India’s leading franchisors like Major Rajan, ED, VETA; Raajiv Sharma, CEO, Motilal Oswal; Rakshit Hargave, Business Head, Hindustan UniLever; Vikas Kapoor, JGM, Eureka Forbes Group; Viraj Gandhi, MD, Medicine Shoppe; and Ramneek Bakshi ,CEO, L.J. Hooker. The session was lead by Arun Khetan, President, Educomp, and the panel educated the attendees on the opportunities that lie ahead for a prospective business investor. In the second session, retail synopsis were done by Hemchandra Javeri, CEO, Home Solutions, Future Retail, where he made an intelligent insight into integrating franchising format in the retail environment. Brand Building in Franchising was minutely explained by Brand Guru Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman, Samsika Marketing Consultants, which was highly well taken by the attending audience.

After a lunch-break, Sumeet Mehta, CEO, Zee Education, gave a presentation on businesses where distribution formats support franchising and explained how it fit there in his interesting presentation themed “Moments of Truth”. International Franchise Session hosted franchisors from all over the globe including Stephen Herzog, CEO, Fernwood Fitness, Australia; Erik Mallon, Executive VP, My Gym, USA; Peter Breach, Chairman, Coffee Republic, U.K.; and Rolf G. Kirst ,MD, Franchise Pool International, Germany.

Franchise Capsule elaborated on negotiating and selecting the right franchise, establishing the foundation of the franchise relationships, regular & open communications between channels, support system by the franchisor and much more, conducted by Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director & CEO, Reliance Money; Dhruva Chandrie, CEO, Next; and Sunil Dewan, CEO, Body Control International. A thought-provoking session on Microfranchising for offering opportunities to rural areas was delivered by Jason Fairbourne, Director, Microfranchise Initiative, BYU, Utah; Arunesh Singh, Founder, SCOJO Foundation; and Ninad Vengurlekar, VP, IL&FS Education &Technology Services Limited. The day concluded with a discourse on ways to source financing for franchisors and their franchisees delivered by Sujai Raina of the HDFC Bank, the top franchise lender in India.

Day 2 was a retail summit which started on a powerful note on Store Operations by Shashank Pathak, VP, Gitanjali Lifestyle and In-store Branding by Rajiv Gupta, MD, LeagueOne India. A crucial note on Initiating Business through Franchising was delivered by international expert Ross Bridgman, IBO, Australia. Retail solutions for enhancing the retail business were given by Dhruv Prashar, COO, Decube Retail Solutions. Real estate solutions in retail were addressed in an open panel debate by Shubranshu Pani, JLL Meghraj and Dheeraj Dogra of Ansal API. Post Lunch saw a powerful retailer panel comprising of Nandkumar Awatramani, MD, Food Factory Express; Dharmesh Sodah, Director, World Gold Council; Atul Ahuja, CEO, Apollo Pharmacy; Rolf G. Kirst, MD, Franchise Pool International, Germany; Saraswati A, ED, GordonMax, Malaysia; Allan Yeng, Interasia & Associates; and Manjunath Jyothinagar, CEO, Gitanjali Lifestyle. They discussed on various aspects of running a retail business, right from managing a retail enterprise to empowering your manpower, international best practices in branding and advertising, opportunities in retail, franchising in retail and allied areas. The Conference concluded with a powerful panel conducting a retail debate comprising of Rajiv Agarwal, CEO, The Mobile Store; Akhil Chaturvedi, Chairman, Provogue Industries; and Farah Malik, ED, Metro Shoes. The debate was led by Hemant Kalbag, Principal, AT Kearney.

The delegates who came from various parts of the country left rejuvenated and armed with both big new ideas and practical suggestions on how to grow their businesses. The speakers, exhibitors and visitors reached a consensus that Franchise India attracted serious-minded attendees who are eager to buy a franchise or want to start their own independent business. The conference as well as expo ended on a high and very impressive note.