The latest Franchising in New Zealand Survey shows that franchising has been growing strongly domestically, but we are still somewhat shy about making that leap across the ditch – or anywhere else for that matter. Helpful franchise consultants and lawyers have tried to be encouraging by producing checklists as long as your arm. But is offshore franchise expansion really that scary?

Not for BurgerFuel. The ditch hop wasn’t enough for them – although they do have a token store in Sydney. They were looking at more distant shores. BurgerFuel is all over the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They even have a store in Cairo, but we note that after initial forays they seem to have hightailed it out of Libya and Iraq on the nearest camel. Now that they’re mates with Subway, they’ve got their sights firmly fixed on the United States.

Fastway Couriers, New Zealand Natural and Laser Electrical are some of the other franchises which are arguably more successful overseas than they are in the tiny New Zealand market. But the highly regulated franchise environment in our nearest major offshore market, Australia, and the failure of several New Zealand companies – most notably big-box retailer The Warehouse – to gain a foothold there is clearly spooking other franchisors, no matter how successful they are in New Zealand.

What can be done to convince franchisors that offshore expansion could be a viable expansion strategy for them? Produce another checklist? Wave a possible Export Award in front of them? In an upcoming email newsletter, we talk to people at several franchises who have successfully made the leap of faith about what it took to convince them and what they learned from the experience.  

Considering taking your franchise offshore? Contact me to arrange a free initial consultation.