Franchising sector advances 7%, but should review growth in the year

The franchising sector had revenues of R $41.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, a 7% advance on the same period last year. Although it considers the positive numbers, the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF) signals that it can revise the annual growth of 10% on account of the political scenario. In addition to the increase in revenues, the number of units also advanced, in 6.1% in the annual comparison. According to ABF's Market intelligence manager, Vanessa Bretas, the good performance at the beginning of the year has been due to high confidence since the end of last year. All 11 sectors analyzed showed an increase in revenues before the first quarter of 2018, with emphasis on house and construction (12.9%) and automotive services (12.7%). The food sector, which accounts for about 25% of total revenues, had the lowest growth of 2.5%. Vanessa stresses the displacement of the food segment's turnover to the second quarter because Easter happened in April. The automotive services sector has highlighted car rental. In relation to the employees, the franchises were also positively distinguished. Even with the number of unemployment having worsened at national level – from 11.6% in the last quarter from 2018 to 12.7% in the first three months of the year – the ABF observed a 2.05% growth in the generation of jobs in the same period. Internet e-commerce is increasingly present in franchising networks, with 61.1% of them using the virtual sales channel, against 42.3% in the previous period. Among the franchados also grows the participation in the modality, being 48.1% before 30.1% in the survey last year, highlights the ABF. Companies largely use the Commission model (79.2%) As a form of participation of Franchados in sales by e-commerce. There is also a smaller slice, of 9.1%, which counts with its own virtual store. Caution Despite the evolution, the president of ABF, André Friedheim, said that the figures projected for the year should be revised due to the fall of confidence of both the consumer and the entrepreneur. "We noted that the revisions of the economy numbers began to take place from the second quarter," Friedheim said. Therefore, the franchising must review the numbers after the ABF Franchising Expo, the largest fair in the sector, which takes place between June 26th and 29th. While recognizing the slow resumption, the founder of Netplan consultancy, specializing in franchises, Daniel Bernard, believes that the crisis can generate an opportunity for the segment. "In a scenario of dismissal, especially in the public sector, more people should be interested in franchises." However, most people want cheaper options and franchadoras need to serve this audience, while entrepreneurs should be trained. In this scenario, it also grows the search for micro and nanofranchises with inexpensive investment option, among them the well insurance and credits already estimates revenues of R $100 mi this year.