Real expansion for franchises in 2010 seems to involve launching some sort of international presence. Of course there are plenty of tricky country-to-country legalistic elements involved in opening a new franchise in a foreign country, but Franchise Direct have some guidance to offer to franchisors ready to expand.
Many franchises will start their international expansion by opening units in Europe. It makes sense. Despite the linguistic differences, there are many cultural and political similarities between the US and Europe. And a population of over 500 million makes it an exciting proposition.
A smart place for a franchisor to begin their quest to learn more about European franchising is the Franchise Direct international franchising page.
If you’d like all of that information in one document, you many interested to read the following report on EU franchising which was prepared by the US government. We especially liked this proclamation:
US businesses looking to Franchise within the European Union will likely find that the market is quite robust and friendly to Franchise systems in general.
There is a surplus of valuable information here pertaining to European franchising as well as information on franchising in smaller EU countries. The document was released in 2005, so we’d advise readers that some of the information may be dated, specifically regarding the Treaty of Rome, which has since become the Lisbon Treaty.
Its general consensus that European countries are an exciting place for US franchises to open has not changed.