Local restaurant franchises make big success<\/p>\n
T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Everybody enjoys good food, which explains why the restaurant
\nbusiness continues to thrive, even during the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
This was also what Erliza Hambali, a researcher at the Bogor
\nInstitute of Agriculture, had in mind when she decided to get
\ninto the restaurant business.<\/p>\n
Along with two other women, Fatmawati and Ratna Permanik, she
\nset up PT Ayam Goreng Fatmawati Indonesia in 2000 to manage Ayam
\nGoreng Fatmawati (Fatmawati Fried Chicken) restaurants and sell
\nfranchise rights. The business has been successful and there are
\nnow 43 outlets with some 500 employees in Jakarta and several
\nother cities, including Bandung and Batam.<\/p>\n
"We will open another restaurant in Johor, Malaysia, in the
\nmiddle of this year," Erliza said, adding that there were also
\nplans to open an outlet in Brunei.<\/p>\n
The first restaurant was opened in Bogor in 1990, but it was
\nnot until the past few years, when it began to be managed
\nprofessionally, that the business really began to develop.<\/p>\n
The franchising business is indeed enjoying good times.
\nReports say that from 1997 to 2003, local franchises saw an
\naverage annual growth of 17.13 percent. This is higher than the
\ngrowth of foreign franchises, which was 9.7 percent a year from
\n2000 to 2003.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Franchise Association recorded that as of
\nAugust 2003 there were 250 foreign franchisors and 47 local
\nfranchisors in the country, mostly in restaurants, cafes,
\nbakeries, education, retailing, laundry and dry cleaning
\nservices, hair and beauty salons, health and fitness centers,
\nentertainment, consultancy, photography, real estate and car
\nrentals.<\/p>\n
However, the real number of local franchisors could be double
\nas many are not registered with the association.<\/p>\n
Among the franchisors are Es Teler -- a pioneer in the local
\nrestaurant franchising business, Ayam Goreng Fatmawati,
\nRestaurant Sederhana, Bebek Bali, Wong Solo and Bakmi Japos.<\/p>\n
H. Bustaman, the owner of Restaurant Sederhana, which serves
\ntraditional food from Padang, West Sumatra, started his business
\nin 1972.<\/p>\n
"At that time, I ran a food stall on the side of the road in
\nBenhil (Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta)," H. Bustaman, 62, the
\nowner, said.<\/p>\n
After five years, he opened a small restaurant in the area.
\nHis customers enjoyed the hot, tasty, spicy food, and Restaurant
\nSederhana (which literally means modest) became quite well-known.
\nSome people then showed their interest in the business and asked
\nBustaman to jointly open more branches.<\/p>\n
Bustaman, who prefers to use the term "cooperation" instead of
\n"franchise", started to open restaurant branches in 1995 and
\ntoday there are more than 20 outlets in Jakarta, Manado, Batam
\nand other cities.<\/p>\n
However, he complained that there were between 15 and 20 other
\nrestaurants illegally using the name Sederhana. "I am thinking of
\ntaking a legal action against them."<\/p>\n
The illegal use of the brand name could tarnish the image of
\nRestaurant Sederhana because the food and service at these
\nimpostors might not be up to the restaurant's standards.<\/p>\n
Bakmi Japos, which serves noodles and Chinese food, has 23
\noutlets, mostly in Greater Jakarta. And requests to buy the
\nfranchise kept coming in.<\/p>\n
"I don't know why there are so many people who want to sell
\nnoodles," said Hengky Tjoa, 46, the owner of Bakmi Japos.<\/p>\n
Hengky worked hard before finally tasting success. He earlier
\nsold clothes, but failed. He also could not make money selling
\nornamental fish. Later, he ran a video compact disc rental shop
\nthat went out of business. He did not give up and sold grilled
\nfish on the side of the road. Again, it was a total failure.<\/p>\n
In 1992, with capital of Rp 750,000, he started to sell
\nnoodles from a cart in front of the marketing office of the Vila
\nJapos housing estate. And that was the beginning of his success
\nstory.<\/p>\n
Starting a business is never easy. But once it begins to run
\nwell and is managed professionally, it could become a gold mine.
\nThat's why many people are interested in becoming a franchisee.
\nThey do not have to start from the very beginning, with the
\nfranchisor teaching them the keys of success.<\/p>\n
Franchise operators are expected to transfer knowledge, train
\nhuman resources, ensure the quality of the food and assist in
\ndeveloping the business.<\/p>\n
However, there is no guarantee that the franchisee will
\nexperience the same success as the franchisor.<\/p>\n
Erliza said that at least two outlets of Ayam Goreng
\nFatmawati, one in Bekasi and the other in Bandung, went out of
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
The one in Bekasi used to attract many guests, but the owner
\nmoved to Yogyakarta and asked an employee to handle everything.
\nThe restaurant was not properly managed and soon went bankrupt.<\/p>\n
One of its outlets in Bandung suffered because the owner had a
\nproblem with the neighbors regarding parking, according to
\nErliza.<\/p>\n
Unlike Sederhana and Bakmi Japos, which require capital of
\nhundreds of millions of rupiah or even more than Rp 1 billion,
\nAyam Goreng Fatmawati does not require that much money. With Rp
\n15 million, you can have a simple kitchen and all the necessary
\nequipment. The annual franchise fee is Rp 12 million for first
\nthree years and the franchisee should pay 5 percent of the
\nturnover to the franchise operator.<\/p>\n
Erliza said the turnover for a restaurant measuring about 70
\nsquare meters, like the one in Cilandak Town Square, could reach
\nmore than Rp 100 million a day. Due to the bird flu scare, sales
\ndropped by some 30 percent last week. It is still suffering a
\ndrop-off of about 10 percent. Besides serving fried chicken, Ayam
\nGoreng Fatmawati also offers traditional food from West Java like
\npepes (fish roasted in banana leaf) and sayur asam (vegetable
\nsoup).<\/p>",
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