Printed from the Franchise New Zealand Website - www.franchise.co.nz
According to Bruce Speers, CEO of Fastway Couriers (NZ) Ltd , ‘We've not only had an increase in franchise enquiries throughout our global network; we've also seen a higher number of prospective franchisees proceed.'
Bruce puts this down to two main reasons. First, people in times of uncertainty are looking for a strong business proposition that will give them the security they need. Franchising is the perfect umbrella for this as you are supported by a system in all areas including operations, sales, marketing, business planning, administration and information technology.
Second, the rapid growth in unemployment in New Zealand is dealing an attractive hand to franchise companies looking to recruit franchisees. "Interest in our franchise opportunities has hit record highs,' he says. ‘This time last year we had a requirement of 18 franchisees for our Auckland operation. In just 12 months virtually all have been sold, and we now have a waiting list in a number of areas within Auckland.'
In addition, Fastway reports that existing franchisees have experienced significant increases in parcel volume in the past six months. ‘Although Fastway had seen positive growth during the recession this had mainly been from customer acquisition from competitors,' Bruce says. ‘However since May we have also seen a significant increase in freight volumes from existing customers and expect to achieve parcel volume growth of 7% for the July to September quarter. This is a 400% improvement on the previous quarter and is directly related to improvements in the economy and business confidence.'