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Franchisors are becoming more flexible with the opportunities they are offering in the face of an economy struggling with large unemployment and reduced lending facilities.

As well as their ‘Original’ franchise opportunities, many franchisors are offering small and medium sized packages to cater for everyone.

It’s never been such a good time to start a franchise business with franchisors offering great value opportunities.

At the Salon Internacional Franquicia (International Franchise Exhibition) in Valencia, Spain last week Franchise Belen talked to a wide range of both small and large franchisors including Tailor &Co, Gelatiamo, Orocash, Piel de Toro.

“With unemployment in Spain at nearly 20%, starting a franchise is a real solution to getting people back into the work force. Franchising can be part of the solution to help people who have lost their jobs get their lives back on track, and become a business success” said Belen.

With the banks providing less funding for start-ups, franchisors are also considering wider markets, which is showing in the success of Franchise Direct’s Mexican website which has just launched.

Franchisors realize the site, which features a wide range of Spanish, Mexican and International franchise opportunities will be an invaluable tool to those seeking to be financially independent and successful in business.

The exhibition, which featured nearly 200 franchisors, consultants and industry experts, was busy, despite difficult economic times. The Spanish government has also increased the funding and support programs available to those who want to be their own boss, in reaction to the reduced finance available through the banks.

With less funding available to start-ups, potential franchisees are spending more time carefully researching which franchise opportunity is most suitable to their own needs and desires.

Visiting an exhibition often makes people more interested in starting their own websites, and Franchise Direct provides comprehensive details for franchises available throughout Spanish speaking countries, North America and Europe, with nine international websites.

Other franchisors who shared their views at the exhibition included:

• Administración de Fincas LDC
• Almeida Viajes
• Marco Aldany
• Vellatelia
• Piel de Toro
• Bioenergy
• Publipan
• Mundoguía
• Gelatiamo
• SinTabac
• Tailor & Co
• Men Ceremonia y Moda Hombre
• Orocash

Exciting construction news from London as McDonald’s has announced plans to open its largest restaurant in the world in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

If you’ve been to any of the big McDonald’s in Times Square or Piccadilly Circus, be ready to have your minds blown away. This restaurant will seat 1,500 people. That will make it one of the largest restaurants on the planet. It will be spread over two storeys and 3,000 square feet. As the Guardian reports, the flagship McDonald’s is one of four Golden Arches planned for the area around the Olympic Park.

McDonald’s is a longtime sponsor of the Olympics so it’s not a surprise to see the franchise investing so heavily in the 2012 summer games, though the thought of 1,500 seater restaurant is staggering to me.

Interestingly, there’s a Wikipedia entry for the ”World Largest McDonald’s”. According to the internet encyclopedia, you’ll find the world’s largest McDonald’s on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Oklahoma. It’s square footage is over 23,000 sq feet. Wikipedia also say that McDonald’s in Russia, Orlando and China all claim the prize. McDonald’s has made it clear that the London Olympics franchise will be wear the crown as the world’s alrgest.

The big news in franchising this week – Subway’s overtaking of McDonald’s as the world’s biggest franchise – bears out two growing paradigms in the industry: the lure of the Asian market and the attraction of low-cost franchises.

The Guardian wrote a good story about Subway’s rise within the context of the success of low-cost franchises this week. For this post I’m more interested in the lure of international expansion. On the back of the Subway news comes a report by the Wall-Street Journal that Dunkin’ Donuts are planning to expand in Asia “with thousands of new outlets in China in coming years and ambitions to open its first stores in Vietnam within 18 months”.

Now this in an interesting development. Dunkin’ Donuts plan to co-brand their new Asian units with ice cream franchise Baskin Robbins in many places, which ensures that the stores will be full of diversity. That said, the donut is not exactly a staple breakfast meal in Asia. In pursuing global expansion, Dunkin’ Donuts are taking a risk – they will have to convince this broad new market that they need to eat their products.

There are other risks as the WSJ outlines:

“Despite the opportunities for growth in Asia, retail-food operations face significant risks, in large part because of the rising commodity costs squeezing profit margins. The costs of wheat and other grains, for instance, are at their highest levels since 2008, while prices for coffee—another Dunkin’ staple—have also soared over the past year.”

That said, franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts are going to continue to look to Asia. It’s paying off for Subway and McDonald’s. Nobody thought subs or Big Mac’s would be popular in China or Japan but over time, these franchises boomed. The lure of these developing economies is such that franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts will expand there, no matter what. We hope it pays off for them.

The New York Times has published some compelling statistics on the American restaurant industry which prove that food franchises are a smart investment.

Quoting a January survey from the market research company NPD Group, the Times have reported that the number of restaurants in America dropped by 1% from autumn 2009 to fall 2011. This is a pretty serious decline and proof of the growing consolidation in the industry. What’s interesting though for franchisees is that, by and large, the majority of restaurants that have closed are independently run. Food franchises are proving resilient though.

For any entrepreneur ready to open a restaurant, this study is proof of two things. One – that the market is competitive, hugely so. But you probably knew that already. But the second point – that the support of a franchisor is invaluable – should be taken pretty seriously, I think. If you want your business to not only survive, but thrive, a food franchise may be the wisest investment.

This quote from NPD VP Harry Balzer was incredibly informative, we thought. It’s proof that the demographic shifts and market consolidation favor a boost for franchises.

“At some point, when the economy turns, we’ll have a larger population than 10 years ago, but fewer restaurants to go to, because they closed the doors. This means restaurants are going to get crowded, and we can expect longer waits.”

We’ve returned from the Franchise Show in London and now that we’re truly rested up after a busy few days we’d like to say how much fun we had and also, how great it was to meet so many of the franchisors who use our site as well as so many visitors to the show who use our site on a day to day basis.

Attending a franchise exhibition such as The Franchise Show is so important in the process of starting your own business through a franchise opportunity, and it was heartening to see so many people who had carried out a lot of research on each franchise before coming to the event. It can a wasted opportunity to attend an event without knowing what the franchises are about first and on the flip side, franchisors are rarely interested in taking on franchisees who are going into something blind-eyed – they want a franchisee who knows what they’re getting into and will be ready to work hard to achieve great results. Franchisors that we spoke to at the event were genuinely impressed with some of the enquiries they received and we were delighted to hear that a lot of attendees at the show has used Franchise Direct as a resource tool before traveling to the show.

A very valuable attraction at the show was the schedule of seminars which were taking place during the show. Varying from six different tracks each aimed at a different attendee – the seminars covered the topics of “buying a franchise”, “developing your existing business”, “international franchising”, “franchising your business”, “encouraging women into franchising” and “franchising after redundancy”. I would strongly encourage attendees at any similar show to attend these seminars as the speakers have a wealth of information to share with those looking to enter the franchise industry – they’re free too!

We had lots of fun at the show, in fact we even treated ourselves to fish manicures and laser treatments! Dr. SpaFish, one of the most colorful franchises at the show, allowed us to dip our hands into tanks full of tiny little fish who love to nibble on the dead skin cells on your hands. This was lots of fun and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who would like super soft hands afterward! Also, a franchise which has featured on our site for quite a while, Laser IT Technologies treated both myself and Lillie, our accounts manager to a laser face lift and a medilipo treatment respectively. After Zita from Laser It kindly carried out a free treatment on my face, I could see stress lines that were on my forehead had reduced after and felt fantastic, in particular because I got to lie down for an hour having spent lots of time on my feet in the convention hall.

Also, if you’re disappointed that you missed last week’s show, then never fear because there is a franchise show in London again next month in the Olympia, to find out more details and to register for free entry, simply visit this page.

Below are some pics of the event.

Lillie, our lovely accounts manager

Lillie and I with the DrSpafish Mascot

Me having lots of fun splashing my hands around

Lots of little fish nibbling at my hands.

I was having a great time! I had my stress lines lasered by the fabulous Zita.

Toni from Arc Media, Franchise Direct’s Brian Rogan and Cash and Cheque Express’ David Wheeler

Ashley Dyer from Morgan Blake Consultants, Lillie and Arc Media’s Sam