Franchising in Canada

Succeeding in Canada

As in the United States, it takes a combination of skills, experience, and interest level, as well as a prime location and demand for your product or service in order for your franchise to succeed in Canada. "For us it's about being able to market your business," said Barry Driedger, President of BEVINCO, Bar Systems Ltd. "A successful operator will have direct marketing and telecommunication experience and needs to be able to count."

For many franchise concepts having strong business acumen seems to outweigh specific experience in a given trade. "We look for people with a strong business background," said Andrew Arminen, vice president of franchising for Metal Supermarkets International. "You can learn metal, you can't teach someone how to run a business." Gary Salomon of FastSigns expressed a similar sentiment. "We need someone who is good in sales and has a background in management and who is not reluctant to embrace technological advances," he said.

With a vast, relatively untapped market compared to the US, Canada is the next Land of Opportunity. Regardless of the franchise concept you pursue, keep in mind the tenants of a successful franchise operation: business know-how, interest in the particular industry and the desire to work hard, due diligence, market demand and location, location, location.

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