Franchising

Cebu is not just the center of business in the Visayas, it’s also the heart of franchising in the region. And for the last 12 years, thousands of people from all around the central Philippines—and even Mindanao—flock to the Queen City of the South to attend the Cebu Franchise Expo, which exhibits the top franchise concepts and businesses from outside Luzon and Manila.

Through his RK Franchise Consultancy and the Filipino International Franchise Association (FIFA), a nonprofit group composed mostly of his clients that he set up in 2005, Kotik has run the Cebu Franchise Expo since year 2000 and even the Mindanao Franchise Expo for six years, with its latest edition opening in Cagayan de Oro City this October 21 to 23.

By setting up shop in Cebu City starting in 1996 and concentrating in the VisMin region, the 52-year-old Kotik has helped over 400 Filipino companies start and grow their concepts, proving that business does thrive outside of Manila.

“I’ve been in franchising for my entire (professional) life,” says the genial Austrian, who earned a hotel and restaurant management degree in Vienna and a marketing degree in Munich, Germany, before he worked the franchising operations of “a worldwide leading fast-food chain” from 1978. He also became franchise director of a hotel chain from 1984, and a franchise development consultant from 1986.

The Cebu Franchise Expo, which ran for three days in March this year, attracted over 5,000 visitors and featured over 60 exhibitors from varied businesses, most of them members of FIFA. The expo underscored the growth of the franchising industry across the country, not just in Cebu. “This is the only business segment which has grown continuously for a period of over 15 years,” Kotik told the Cebu local daily The Freeman.

As a result, RK’s consultancy has also grown “by at least 20 percent yearly” in the last five years, and FIFA has seen its membership rise as well. Still, Kotik says more work can be done since “huge growth potentials (are present) nationwide as a lot of areas are still underdeveloped or not developed (for franchising) at all.”