The International Franchise Show

The International Franchise Show at the ExCeL London at the beginning of October was full of energy! I was there as Non-Executive Director with our client, KoKoDoo, exhibiting for the first time, and the first time promoting the KoKoDoo Franchise to that extent.

The show is host to the UK’s biggest selection of the most exciting franchise opportunities and it definitely delivered for us with so much interest! It was the first time the show had gone ahead since 2019, so the event was well attended with excited and energetic entrepreneurs and exhibitors, happy to get back together in person after so long. It was a particularly great show to be a part of and have the opportunity to make so many new connections after two years.

For the KoKoDoo team, the weekend was extremely busy as the KoKoDoo food truck helped us stand out and attracted lots of attention with the famously delicious KoKoDoo chicken! It was beneficial to be able to speak to potential franchisees in person in addition to offering tastings of the food, which naturally accelerated the enquiry process, resulting in many hot leads! 

One of the best and most notable aspects of the show was the amount of potential International franchisees we had the chance to have face to face conversations with. Potential franchisees from countries such as Ireland, the Middle East and India all expressed interest in taking KoKoDoo to their region. It’s exciting to see international markets opening up and people travelling again to take U.K concepts internationally.

It was also great to see so many new services in the industry. Traditionally it’s recognised that you get one franchise sale for every 100 leads, however it’s great to see some new marketing businesses developing which are based on algorithms and adoptive tech, resulting in improvements in the chances of success by filtering down prospects, key questions, budget, career history and so on. These disruptors are certainly working towards providing an enhanced return on investment. 

It was also very encouraging to see new food concepts forming. I have found that the general consensus is that over the last 18 months, many people have been sitting around thinking about their current circumstances and future ambitions, and a lot of them have turned to franchising as it is a relatively easy entry and there are lots of benefits. The key benefits of franchising include; the amount of support and guidance received, relatively low cost, and experience in the product with a tested, validated, and refined concept. It’s a great starting point in business and definitely attracting a lot of people at the moment.

I am very much looking forward to the show next year, when many more people and businesses will hopefully be in a position to completely shake off the effects of the global pandemic and start new ventures. It was a valuable weekend, and I would definitely recommend attending the next Franchise Show in April to anyone interested in Franchising prospects. 

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