There’s such a thing as “too much information”, especially for
With the disruptive events of the past four years that included the devastation of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2021 riots and natural flooding disasters, the Conference’s theme is the ‘Road to Recovery’ as it picks up the pieces and forges ahead with expansion plans. The overriding sentiment within the franchising community during these challenging times has been manifested in a ‘we are all in this together’ attitude that harnesses the ‘power of the collective’ – be that within the association, the franchise community at large made up of various brands in over twelve sectors and together with their franchisees, the clarion call is that franchising must and will survive and prosper. The Conference will delve into what our sector needs to mitigate the challenges, use its collective power to lobby government, commit to investing in education and skills development by creating a conducive and entrepreneurial business environment that can grow their businesses and the economy.
The event attracted a diverse group of attendees from various sectors within the franchising industry. This diversity allowed me to gain insights from different perspectives, which is invaluable for broadening my network.
Overall, the franchise association event offered an exceptional networking experience that enriched my professional network and provided valuable industry insights and opened up numerous possibilities for future collaboration and growth.
Jack Masonono – SpecTank
that need to network with their peers and colleagues, find out what it takes to survive the onslaught of challenges and be encouraged that franchising has the resilience and business tenacity to survive – and to thrive.
that have been at the coalface and taken the heat of load-shedding, riots and economic woes, can network with other franchisors and fellow franchisees and know that the industry is doing all it can to assist them to recover, regroup and prosper.
that are itching to franchise that new concept, that know that the wheels will turn in their favour and they want to be at the head of the pack, will find inspiration at the outcomes of the survey and at the encouragement of successful franchisors.
that have borne the brunt of being in dead-end jobs, of being retrenched or who want to be in business for themselves but not by themselves, will get invaluable information from the Conference to take that step to self-employment.
that need to find ways to increase efficiencies and profits should consider franchising as a distribution mechanism as it can be a means of vertical integration that combines a high degree of control with a low degree of risk.
& Suppliers to the franchise sector will benefit from the networking platform the Conference offers to both service providers such as financial institutions, the legal, auditing and business professions as well as product suppliers.
Please Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the agenda may change without notice.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea before the event starts and connect and network with delegates.
Maria D’Amico
Tackling the very crucial topic of solutions to the energy crisis, Justin Schmidt of Absa will give valuable insight into the current energy crisis landscape and offers sustainable solutions. “Over the past decade, solar PV has become a very cost competitive solution, a no-brainer with South Africa’s abundance of sunlight and solar resources. With power challenges facing the economy, the renewable energy sector plays a vital role in providing additional energy security to the grid. Absa, a sponsor of the FASA Conference has offered sustainable solutions and funding across the board.
Justin Schmidt
No-one understands what it takes to succeed in franchising like Australian Greg Nathan. Greg has been a business psychologist for 40 years and is Founder of the highly respected Franchise Relationships Institute. His unique insights into how franchisees and franchisors can maximize their successes comes from his extensive research and practical work, with over 550 franchise brands worldwide. Greg is author of several best-selling franchising books including Profitable Partnerships, and developer of many influential franchising models such as The Franchise E-Factor. Greg’s enthusiasm for franchising, and his balanced, down-to-earth approach, come from his deep respect for small business owners, and his experience as a successful multi-unit franchisee and senior franchisor executive.
Greg Nathan
Time for a quick coffee and tea break.
As a sponsor of the FASA Conference, access to quality education and training for South Africans, particularly young people, remains at the top of the W&RSETA’s agenda. For 23 years, learnerships have been the backbone of skills development providing millions of employees in various sectors with on-the-job education and training. They have also been a key enabler for equipping unemployed young people with required skills to enter the world of work. As many franchisors fall under the W&RSETA, wholesale and retail companies have taken advantage of the initiatives that result in a win-win for both employers and employees.
Tom Mkhwanazi
In these trying times, now is the time that government needs to recognise that the franchise business model is one of the best vehicles to stimulate entrepreneurship, skills transfer and job creation – not only in mainstream businesses but also in proven models such as micro franchising and social/tandem franchising. FASA has been actively engaging with the Department of Small Business Development to mobilise effectively, mobilise and put in place a conducive operating environment and better funding. The honourable minister will be addressing the Conference and a panel discussion will ask the question of ‘what government should be doing...?
Ms Stella Tembisile Ndabeni-Abrahams
After a decade of lobbying and fine-tuning, FASA, together with Inani NPC, a non-profit incubator accelerator, have formed a long-standing partnership in accelerating the multiplication of proved industry transformation models. Ornica Mukhavhuli will elaborate on the initiatives that will benefit franchisors that include providing funding, training, development, support and guiding services for businesses and individuals, representing Employer Associations, to be its Socio Economic Transformation (SET) partner focusing on transformation for equal opportunities and acceleration inclusion of differently abled communities.
Ornica Mukhavhuli
Eustace Mashimbye
Pat Mahlangu
George Sebulela
Ornica Mukhavhuli
Grab something to eat and time to network.
Research and surveys are, on the face of it, all about the cold hard facts of statistics and the numbers – what’s the turnover, contribution to GDP and how many outlets make up this important business sector – but in reality the success that is being celebrated with the release of the franchise survey lies in the strength of the franchise system and the community behind the brands, the franchisees behind the businesses, offering their products and services. Margaret Constantaras unpacks this 8th independent survey of the how the sector weathered the past four years and how they see the future of their franchise businesses. A panel discussion which will include some of the franchisors that participated in the survey will discuss the crucial question of “where do we do from here....?”
Margaret Constantaras
Richard Mukheibir
James Noble
Tony Da Fonseca
Eric Parker
Toby Shapshak
FASA Chair
Maria D'Amico holds an LLB in Law (obtained at WITS) and has been practicing as an attorney for 33 years and working at Thomson Wilks Attorneys.
Maria is an expert in commercial law, commercial litigation and franchising and her understanding of franchising law is invaluable to anyone involved in the franchising industry.
Maria is also qualified as a Solicitor in England, the United Kingdom, completed her Canadian legal conversion exams and is a Civil and Commercial Mediator (having obtained her certificate from the ADR – Alternative Dispute Resolution group in London).
Franchise Relationships Institute-Australia
Minister of Small Business Development
Stuff Magazine
Toby Shapshak writes and speaks about how innovation is better in Africa.
His TED talk on how Africa is solving real problems has had over 1,5-million views, and he has been featured in the New York Times.
He is the editor-in-chief of Stuff, is a senior contributor to Forbes, and is a columnist for the Financial Mail and Daily Maverick. He is part of the team building new mobile news service Scrolla.Africa.
Toby was named in GQ's top 30 men in media and the Mail & Guardian newspaper's influential young South Africans list; and was the ICT Journalist of the Year. GQ said he "has become the most high-profile technology journalist in the country" while the M&G wrote: "Toby Shapshak is all things tech... he reigns supreme as the major talking head for everything and anything tech."
He believes Africa is a mobile-driven continent, about which he has written for CNN, The Guardian in London, Quartz, and for Forbes. He is writing a book on innovation in Africa, looking at how the problems Africa is solving for itself will benefit the rest of the world.
CEO, OBC Better Butchery
Tony da Fonseca is the managing director of the OBC Group, an award-winning network of franchised retail butcheries. Under his astute leadership, and despite the depressed economy, the Group has recorded exponential growth over the past few years. It expects to operate 70 plus state-of-the-art butcheries in South Africa by the end of 2020 and expansion into neighboring states is developing nicely as well. Despite his heavy workload, Tony serves on FASA’s Executive Committee since 2012. He chaired it during the period 2017/19 and is currently its immediate past chairman.
CEO, Cash Converters Southern Africa
CEO, Proudly SA
Eustace Mashimbye is a qualified Financial Accountant, who studied at the Technikon Northern Gauteng (now known as Tshwane University of Technology) and the Technikon South Africa (now UNISA). He majored in Financial Accounting and Corporate Law and is currently in the process of completing his MBA studies.
He has over 15 years’ experience in Accounting and Financial Management in both the private and the public sectors, having worked for Telkom, Edcon, the Department of Trade and Industry and Proudly SA. He has also undertaken the role of Executive Manager: Corporate Services where he looked after all the support functions of the organisation. He also fulfilled the role of Acting COO for Proudly SA for a two year period.
He has served on the board of The Business Place and is currently a director on the board of the South African Savings Institute.
Head, Manufacturing, Renewable Energy & Transport Logistics, Absa
Director
Ornica Mukhavhuli grew up in the Limpopo Province were she attended her general education and training. Ornica is a highly skilled and experienced executive manager, with excellent analytical and strategic skills.
She is experienced in all areas of education and training within the SA context. She is extremely creative and able to execute creative concepts effectively.She is also experienced in policy and operational processes and procedures, as well as executive management processes and procedures. In doing her work she is strategic, tactical and operational. Coupled with organisational structuring, operations and administration skills she has a good track record of excellence in programme and project management. She has well developed networks in government and the private sector and has the ability to inspire confidence and commitment in working relationships and build effective working teams.
Excl VAT. Includes tea, lunch and a copy of the 2023 Franchise Manual.
Excl VAT. Includes tea, lunch and a copy of the 2023 Franchise Manual.
There’s such a thing as “too much information”, especially for
There’s such a thing as “too much information”, especially for
There’s such a thing as “too much information”, especially for
