KwanG Venture Blog

Just recently we were invited to present our profile and idea to a group of General Mangers and Marketing Managers of a development company who is developing an upscale shopping mall. Before we could really begin to present our thoughts, we were bombarded with this question: “How can we get the target tenants into their mall?” And the whole was only focused on that particular problem that they could seem to solve. To us the answer to the problem is simple Marketing Planning. Simple Economic and Marketing is more than enough to solve their worries or problem.

They should just step into the shoes of their potential tenants and they would realize what tenants want in return for paying the extra cost they would have to endure if they operate in shopping malls. If I am paying for the high rental fees and maintenance fees, all I want is as follows (demand part of the equation):

• A steady flow of quality consumers,
• A good steady flow of revenue income,
• Optimal efficiency of income over cost,
• No or low direct competition within the mall,
• A well structured and organized management to handle issues that may occur.

So, as the Management of the shopping mall they would need to make sure happens is the placement of the followings before they can really speak of attracting potential tenants (supply part of the equation):

• A forward looking vision of the mall as a whole,
• A proper detailed marketing plan for the mall as a whole and for the individual tenants,
• A niche or specialty that attracts constant flow of quality shoppers for the long run,
• A plan to optimize not only revenue income but the also the profitability of their tenants,
• A reduced supply of competition, • A strong professional team to run and manage the shopping mall and to serve the tenants,
• A well plan traffic flow or circulation of shoppers within and out of the mall.

If I am to pay for the high cost involved in operating in shopping malls, I would need to first be sure that I can make sufficient margins to pay for the costs and still make a hefty profit or better profits as compared to the current made at the current location. What businesses want is just a simple brighter future, as with everyone on this island!

BRANDING is more than just advertisements and adopting new communication solutions to grow ones business. It involves delivering the promised that was made in ones message or concept that it will provide. The failure to do so interprets into a loss of confidence and loss of loyalty to ones brand and ultimately the product or service.

One of the new communication solutions (media) and fast in growing acceptance are blogs. Blogs used to be the online diary of an individual, but recent years have shown us the commercial value that it can bring to businesses. The utilisation of blogs does not only confine in the commercial world, it has also grown in popularity amongst the politicians and politicians want to be. And it is one of the reasons that created a political tsunami during the last General Election on March 8^th 2008, where the opposition coalition got control of three states on the Malaysia Peninsular, namely Penang, Perak and Selangor. Thus, blogs (keyboard) are mightier than the sword!

With that in mind, I would like to examine the use of blogs in promoting food businesses in Malaysia in general. Apart from being a Marketing & Restaurant consultant, I am also a 4 year old food blogger which has seen my fair share of invited reviews organised by food business operators or owners. Being a consultant in these fields and a food blogger it gives us a different prospective when it comes to writing our experience on invited reviews and also on our casual dine-outs.

Many restaurants and even hotels are resorting to inviting food and lifestyle bloggers to experience their hospitality and their “products” for free and in return have the blog owners write about their feedback and create an awareness of their brand name and products on the net. Benefits that come with this new form of media channel for branding is:

· Low investment required,

· Targeted advertising or promotion effort,

· A more persuasive selling of the brand and its message,

· Longer message life cycle,

But is it really effective? It will be effective if all the invited guests provide a positive write-up of their experience to promote the brand and product. But then it would also rely on the reputation of the bloggers to convince the audience. Reputation in the sense that they show consistency of fair and impartial reporting or comments and an acquired skill and pallet that provides them some authority over their readers or audience. Only then their comments will carry weight and reinforced or compliment the other branding or advertising activities that have been carried out by the businesses. But popular celebrity food bloggers do also contribute to the promotional event as it brings with them the visitor traffic(figures) that follows their blogs to have a guide to places that they may consider trying out.

Whether it is serious food bloggers or celebrity food bloggers, the main thing is to get all the basics in running a restaurant in order before inviting bloggers or guests for reviews to promote the business. Any prematurely planned events will not be in favour of the brand name but in fact be detrimental to the branding or promotional effort and also to the reputation of the bloggers. Those we follow food blogs for guidance to places to dine would inevitably experience for themselves what the restaurants can offer and would have their own judgement and comments.

Previously I wrote about what to look for when shopping for a franchise business to invest in, now I will dwell on a topic that is quite a fad in Malaysia now, Creating Our Own Franchise. My recent trip to Kuala Lumpur and encounter with 2 F&B outlets in Kuchai Lama in Kuala Lumpur that wants to franchise their business made me came up with a series of article related to franchising.

Franchising is an avenue to successfully expand ones business at the shortest time possible with the least capital investment and risk burden for the franchisor. But it should not be considered an easy way to fortune and also a tool to boost or assist ones ailing business. A successful franchise will allow both the franchisor and franchisee to reap the benefits.

Many of the world’s largest corporations have used franchising to speed up their growth as a global brand. As with any business venture, the business needs to be well managed, must be profitable and have a reputable and creditable track record. Thus, before one begins to offer ones business to potential franchising market, they have to ask themselves these simple questions:

• Does the business have enough reputable history and track record to attract potential franchisee and investment at a premium price?
• Are the products or services easily replicable by the franchisee to offer to their potential market?
• Are there Standard Operating Procedures in place and practiced to manage the business to ensure uniformity and consistency?
• Can this concept, SOPs, terms and conditions be easily accepted and transferable to the franchisee to learn to operate the business in 3 months or less?
• Does the business have a structure that is able to oversee a franchise base business venture and support franchisees in many different locations?
• Does the franchise have a sound marketing plan to branding campaign that will also benefit the potential franchisees?
• Are the concept sufficiently unique and the target market properly differentiated to provide a substantial amount of security and competitive advantage that will transpire to an adequate return on investment, which is around 8% to 20% after royalties?

THE PROCESS OF FRANCHISING

Ø Maintain a lucrative and successful business model.

Ø Develop a sound plan for expansion, which must take into consideration the numerous issues like momentum of growth, territorial distribution, support, human resource, and fee structure, etc.

Ø Then the franchisor needs to draft a proper legal documentation or franchise contract.

Ø Followed by the development of an operations manual or SOPs.

Ø And finally, the franchisor will need to create marketing and promotion materials to sell the franchise to potential franchisees.

The key to success in franchising is not only limited to creating a lucrative business model which is easily replicable and mange, it also lies in the ability to sell the franchise and to ensure franchisees also succeed in their franchise venture. Passion, time and effort are pump into the franchise by both the franchisor and franchisees, the franchise may become the next Old Town or Manhattan Fish Market.