FRANCHISE MEETING POINT
8.-9.3. 2013

Aleš Tulpa, executive, AVEX systems s.r.o.
This year’s edition of Franchise Meeting Point was a success. It follows a very good start in last year’s edition. The fair was visited by a large number of people, in particular well informed people, who arrived at the fair to find the right franchise concept or get information about the franchise business. For this reason, the exhibitors were satisfied too, as they attracted potential customers to where they wanted them to be – to the fair, a single location. As part of the Franchise Meeting Point we also prepared a very good supporting programme, which was a point of high interest throughout the trade fair.

Mag. Waltraud Martius, SYNCON, international franchise consultant from Austria
„Our consulting company SYNCON took part in the largest and most important franchise business event in the Czech Republic in 2013 – the international franchise trade fair Franchise Meeting Point, which took place in Brno, in the middle of former Czechoslovakia. Just like in the past, we could conclude that this franchise fair is very interesting and recommendable for all target groups. Everyone who wishes to learn something more about franchising in the Czech and Slovak Republics, or is interested in establishing new contacts with potential master-franchise or franchise partners, looks for new business partners or intends to analyse and test the franchise market in these two countries should visit this fair in the future or take part in it as an exhibitor. The rich and high quality supporting programme prepared by our cooperating partner for the CR and Slovakia, the advisor to BVV Trade Fairs Brno - as the organiser, Mr. Aleš Tulpa, AVEX systems, offered those interested in the franchise business close to 100 lectures and presentations. The fair was very successful and was attended by many people, which confirmed that both these countries still show a great potential for the new franchise systems.“

Jiří Lošťák, member of the Board of Directors of the Czech Franchise Association
The second edition of the trade fair met the expectations, it was a success. The visit rate was good, too, higher than during the first trade fair. The project should continue, it definitely has a future. What was also important was the supporting programme which was well structured. It offered a unique opportunity to get information about franchising at a very cheap price. Such information is not readily available. This type of business is presently booming. It can clearly be said that if a businessman wants to survive in the current economic situation, he must either create a network or join it. A stand-alone businessman has no chance to do marketing, get cheap purchases, established brand, etc. All this is facilitated by franchising, i.e. network cooperation, which is supported. For example, it is hard for anyone to print out leaflets for the whole country or follow all changes in the law.

Lenka Křížová, franchising, YVES ROCHER
Following last year‘s successful presentation we decided to take part in this second fair edition, too. We have again managed to establish very good contacts and I believe that this will lead to some specific contracts being signed. Just like last year, we are partners of this year’s fair. Our exhibit is visited by those who are really interested, who want to do business in this sector, some of the people arrived just to visit our firm as we agreed to have appointments at this fair. We will take part in the event again next year. Presentations during the fair have become a good practice as they are attended by a large number of people. Yves Rocher was founded in 1959 and offers natural herbal cosmetics. It currently operates 46 shops in the CR and 14 shops in Slovakia.

Kamila Zárychtová, manager of the Czech franchise network Business for Breakfast
We liked the fair and registered almost three dozens of people interested in our club. Other people asked for information about this franchise-type business. We prepared a supporting programme for the fair which turned out to be a success as people were enormously interested. Our exhibition stand was basically visited every day from the morning until the end of the fair day. The fair was beneficial for the company and certainly better than the first edition last year. We are satisfied and definitely intend to take part in the fair next year, too. We may come up with a better exhibit and supporting programme. What I also view very positively is the meeting between the fair promoters and exhibitors over a glass of wine. This was a friendly, informal meeting, we could even play a networking game with the franchisors and establish new contacts with them. This is a successful gesture contributing to the great atmosphere amongst the exhibitors.

Elen Vacová, Daniel's Donuts
We were visited by a number of people of which about fifteen showed a serious interest in our franchising concept, which is a generally good result. We are satisfied with our participation at the fair. Next year we will certainly come again and expand our exhibit. We would like to pay more attention to our promotion via the fair. We offer an interesting business concept with American micro donuts made before the customers‘ eyes using special automatic donut machines but also a wide assortment of coffee. We delivery complete technology, the input costs are a minimum of CZK 250,000. This is a fast food franchise concept.

Martin Lopušný, executive, Ráj sýrů, s.r.o.
We were visited by potential customers. Of course, we will evaluate the results after the end of the fair. We hope to win new custom. The atmosphere in Hall E was free and easy in a pleasant environment. There is a great interest in doing business in cheese production, we will see how successful we can be with our concept.

Jakub Šigut, owner, Hany Bany
The number of visitors at the franchise fair system was excellent. The same is true about the atmosphere in Hall E. The supporting programme was great and everyone could find what s/he was looking for. We established a number of contacts with potential clients. We even established contacts with interested parties from the Slovak Republic. The visitors were mainly interested in the financial aspects of specific franchise projects. Our company deals in the concepts of wellness and fitness centres for ladies. These facilities also treat cellulitis and offer a comprehensive approach for women of any age. As regards this concept, the payback time ranges from two to four years.

Jaroslav Kačírek, development agent, Subway
The fair is an interesting project to win potential custom purchasing our franchise, licence. At a single location there is a concentration of all clients from almost the whole of the CR who wish to do business and consider the possibility of purchasing a franchise system. All these interested parties gather in Brno and therefore we present ourselves at the fair. We were happy to make use of the supporting programme on both the fair days in twenty-minute lectures. The fair was beneficial for our firm and we will certainly arrive again next year.

Pavel Rohla, business manager, Let's Pizza s.r.o.
We did like the fair a lot; we were visited by a number of people interested in our concept. The fair was useful for the company but we will only evaluate the results in the coming months. More then five dozens of people showed interest in doing business with us and I believe that about twenty percent of those will succeed. What is positive for our Prague firm is that the fair takes place in Brno and we can use this single location to negotiate with parties from the South Moravian and Vysočina regions. It is better than searching for clients from our Prague centre. To us, this was a truly successful event.