FNB starts focus on franchising

FNB Namibia announced earlier this month it has created a new dedicated franchise business focus that will contribute to SME development and employment creation.

“FNB Business has been actively supporting the growing need of franchisors and franchisees in Namibia and Southern Africa for many years, with many success stories to be proud of. With the ever growing and more specialised need for franchise operations support, which required a bouquet of specialised banking solutions, it was decided to create a specialised franchise business unit to support our franchise clients in Namibia” the bank said in a statement.
Fanie Steenkamp, FNB Business Segment Head, said franchising shows great potential to contribute even more significantly to SME development and employment creation, hence the introduction of various products, systems, financing options, pricing models and other best practice solutions. While based on practical experience, this new support is still tailor-made for the specific needs of respective franchises. FNB Franchising will focus on providing funding for new franchise outlets; revamps of existing franchise outlet; the sale of existing franchises and working capital requirements.
Other areas that are funded by FNB are the acquisition, shareholder buy-ins, ownership transfers, re-capitalisation, expansion project and commercial property funding of franchise holders. “Equally exciting is that the new focus on franchising will support Namibian businesses with a proven track record to offer their experience to other potential entrepreneurs in the form of a franchised business, both within the country and further afield.”
“With FNB Franchising Namibian businesses will not only receive specialised and tailor-made banking solutions, but also benefit directly from tapping into our international franchise knowledge base, excellent expertise and long standing working relations with franchisors” said Steenkamp.
FNB noted that fFranchising is a method for the distribution of products and services. It has enabled entrepreneurs to grow their small businesses into massive networks much faster than would otherwise have been possible. It has also assisted aspiring entrepreneurs to enter the exciting world of business with a safety net. While some failures are on record, they are the exception rather than the rule.