MANY YEARS ago, I came up with an idea about cooperative franchising.
My idea at that time was to create a coop that could buy a franchise from one of the leading fastfood franchises. Unfortunately, I did not get a favorable response when I wrote that company, because they said that they are not doing business with coops, at least at that time.
Well, the situation has apparently changed since then, because the franchisors appear to be more open to the idea now, and there are many coops now that have grown to a size that would already give them some clout.
Fast forward to today, my idea now is not to form a new coop for this purpose. Instead, I will just encourage the bigger coops to invest in a franchise, in much the same way that they are already investing in other types of businesses.
From the perspective of the franchisor, there is not much difference to them if they sell a franchise to a coop or to a corporation, as long as the location is good, and the money is good of course.
From the perspective of the coop, it really is a good idea for them, because they are buying into a business that is already proven to be viable and profitable.
One of the advantages of investing in a franchise is that it already has an existing customer base, and the awareness for the consumer brands are already very high.
On top of that, their own members could also add to the customer base of their franchised outlet.
Depending on the rules of the franchising company, there could actually be some opportunities for the coop to create employment for their own members, who could be hired as cooks, waiters, janitors, bus boys and security guards, as the case may be. And if the relationships are good, the franchising company might even hire their members for the other franchised outlets.
Again depending on the rules of the franchising company, there could also be opportunities for the coop to sell their own products, such as poultry, livestock, grains, coffees, fruits and vegetables.
This is not a farfetched idea, because many corporations are actually looking for ways and means to help farmers in general, and coops in particular./PN
