As recent reporting in the Wall Street Journal shows, international development is now a
profitable course for many franchises seeking new markets, as economies around the world
have been somewhat slower to introduce the franchising model than the US. With its
inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Global Franchises, Franchise Direct listed the
best-performing global franchises and provided a blueprint to other franchises eyeing
similar growth.

Interviews with franchisors with businesses on the Top 100 list showed that there is no one
path to successful international expansion. Selling a master license is a common strategy,
but by no means the only route, as Coffee News USA discovered.

“In those countries that are doing well, we will leave them alone. If we take back
countries we will run them from here for awhile and then sell them once we have someone who
can do Coffee News well there,” said Bill Buckley of Coffee News USA.

Other companies like PakMail have tailored a business model that can be easily reshaped
into different foreign economies.

“We are open to further international expansion and prefer to establish master licensees
outside of the U.S. The Pak Mail operating concept is pretty easy to adapt to foreign markets as evidenced by the success of our franchises in Mexico,” says PakMail’s Sandy
Lasky.

There will be many cultural roadblocks for the franchisor to overcome when opening in a
foreign market. “Knowing the culture, language and business processes, as well as ensuring
successful product distribution,” are some of the problems that PuroClean encountered when
it launched its Canadian operation. However, it found a solution that changed the way it
did business in the country.

“By having a native Canadian manager running operations in Canada, PuroClean has been able
to overcome typical obstacles faced when entering a foreign market,” said PuroClean’s
Natalie Zupo.

Launching a franchise on a global level takes time and patience. But the rewards can be
limitless, as the success of the Top 100 Global Franchises has shown.

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