Franchise Expo Paris kicks off with a new look and feel

They come to meet 400 French and international franchise brands and franchise partners such as banks, lawyers, accountants and consultants who support franchise brand networks.

The event is scheduled over four days from Sunday 19 March until Wednesday 22 March with the leading theme being business creation.The emphasis on business creation is to attract all project holders to raise awareness of everything franchising has to offer. The Expo essentially should cater for all tastes and needs. All you ever wanted to know about franchising but were afraid to ask. 

There will be over 570 exhibitors on display who come from 90 business sectors. Those attending will be able to choose from over 250 talks, workshops and pitches which will be held over the four days of the Expo. Franchise Expo Paris is a great  opportunity to connect and network w investors from 97 countries with the most renowned franchisors looking to expand their concepts worldwide. 

The two previous Expos gathered 45,000 franchise candidates and were held only 6 months apart. The 41st edition this March is to have a fresh new look and feel. The Expo’s new organizers Infopro Digital  will be harnessing not only its sector-specific experience but also digital tech and innovation, and will be showcasing the challenges and issues faced by business sectors to provide optimal support during the transformations underway. The aim is to make the Franchise Expo Paris the must attend event for entrepreneurship in Europe. 

The ambition is evidenced by the fact that the event is moving into the iconic Pavilion of the Paris Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center for this Expo. The hall is considerably larger than the one used in the former location and is expected to improve the trade show’s visibility while allowing the organizers to offer more uniform exhibition space. 

The organizers are also introducing a sectorized layout to clarify the range of opportunities offered by exhibitors to visitors interested in launching their franchise business. The exhibition is therefore to be divided into 10 main zones separated by central aisles in order to better distribute the footfall at the event and offer enhanced visibility to all sectors. This is expected to help visitors to find their way around the exhibition more easily and to get a better and clearer view of the franchise opportunities on offer. The ten sectors are:

1. Construction, Home fittings, Real Estate
2. Automotive, Cycles, Motorcycles & Specialist outlets
3. Beauty, health, fitness, Fashion & Personal accessories
4. B2B & B2C Services
5. Hotels & Restaurants, Food shops, Specialist food shops
6. International pavilions
7. Experts from the FFF College Village
8. Finance Village
9. Business Start up Village
10. Cities & Authorities

The meetings program has also been overhauled in order to cover more subjects in entrepreneurship, ranging from business creation and finance to choice of brand, location and market research. An important feature is the presence of pitch zones in each sector that will give franchise brands 20 minute slots to present their concepts to potential franchisees. There will be seven such pitch zones at the exhibition, including restaurant and food retail, B2B services, transport, housing as well as wellness and fashion. There are also two workshop zones on themes connected with doing business as a franchise and aimed at future and existing franchisees and franchisors. 

An Expo is always an event with a bewildering number of choices available. But then choice and opportunity  is what franchising is all about. Moreover it is about expansion, innovation and fresh ideas. Let the festival of entrepreneurship commence….