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Tokyo Franchise show

Last week was Tokyo franchise show held at Big Sight in Tokyo. This is the main Japanese franchise show

where franchisors gather not only to sell their franchise but also to make new connections and understand

changes in the industry.

Dai Corporation took a booth for the first time at the event. The main purpose was to introduce

franchisemeets.com (our new innovative Asian franchise matching service) to the exhibitors and visitors. Also,

being Tokyo franchise show, it was a great opportunity to gather new clients for our domestic matchmaking

service franchisewebreport.

The vast majority of exhibitors were Japanese brands with a few overseas brands present. Compared to other

years the exhibition was very luxurious. The booth displays by some companies were fantastic and very high

class but there were many smaller operators looking to franchise for the first time, so a good mix of

businesses.

For franchisemeets.com it was a successful soft launch of the service. We gathered a lot of interest from

fellow exhibitors who were keen to exploit the Asian market. Business involves keeping up to date with trends

and keeping an eye on macro changes to ensure not missing opportunities. Given the state of Asian

economies, in particular the spread of the middle class demographic, the time is prime for Asian expansion.

In addition, considering the Olympic build up and the natural influx of overseas visitors, this time is also an

opportunity for Japanese companies to take master/area franchises of overseas brands; it was good to see a

level of interest for this amongst the bigger Japanese exhibitors.

What surprised ourselves the most, were the visitors. I personally was expecting almost all to be Japanese

entrepreneurs seeking Japanese franchises. The number of Asian potential master franchisees who

approached us seeking Japanese brands to take to their home countries was refreshing and confirms there

remains a good demand for Japanese companies in Asia.

On that note I encourage more brands to see expansion overseas as a natural step in growing the brand. The

fundamentals are in place across Asia: a quickly growing unsaturated market with greater margins, combined

with Japanese franchisors unique sales points and better know how, I say gambatte!