Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo

Targeted  at anyone  who wants to buy a business, the NZ Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo 2005, at the Auckland Showgrounds from August 12-14, is expected to attract exhibitors ranging from business investors, self-employed entrepreneurs and franchise enthusiasts to banks, lawyers, business consultants and accountants.

They provide free advice and the expo is a neutral ground to discuss ideas and financial and lifestyle obligations, all part of the business buying process.

The seminars running at the Expo deal with various aspects like the advantages of franchising, tax hints, marketing hints, how to go about getting finance, how to increase profits, success and more.

The Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo has been running in New Zealand for 13 years and has attracted thousands of potential investors.

The exhibitors are business and franchise owners, who have opportunities for sale, or business service providers, who can assist people in buying a business.

"Our expos are a niche event'', says Jo Rodger, manager at EXPRO NZ, who is organising the expo.

"Of the business opportunities available, they can be an existing business or a well-known brand name, such as Bakers Delight, or they can be a new business that no one knows launching for the first time in New Zealand, such as Vendmax,'' says Rodger.

The Auckland expo is an intimate one, with close to 75 exhibitors. But the number of business opportunities being represented could be threefold. The expo has been attracting about 6000 visitors in Auckland each year.

"The show is very specific, therefore allows the visitor to really spend time talking with the experts/exhibitors,'' explains Rodger. "The amount of knowledge working on these stands is incredible and many business owners are very happy to share there success ...and failures, what not to do. I see it as a treasure chest of information in the one room. Be prepared to ask questions and visitors can open the door to a wealth of `inside' information.''

Daniel Cloete, national franchise manager for Westpac, which has been sponsoring the expo for the past nine years says: "As sponsors of the (expo), Westpac has found it an excellent way for new franchise systems to introduce their systems to the NZ market, as well as for more mature systems to support their brand and presence in the market."

"But, importantly, it is also an outstanding way for our small business customers to identify business opportunities to invest in, and get a broad spectrum of very relevant business advice from the series of seminars and workshops being run during the expo.''

Experienced, regular exhibitors at the expo feel they cannot afford to miss out on  securing a stand and talking face to face to their target audience. Satisfied exhibitors come back for more and plan it in their annual agenda.

Vernon Woolf, the director of Mr Bean Coffee & Vending, wrote a letter to express his delight at renting a stand at a previous expo: "The NZ (Auckland) Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo was without doubt the most efficient, cost effective and successful marketing and profile-raising event Mr Bean Coffee & Vending Ltd has been involved in. Within two hours of the show opening we had secured another distributor for our business. The frantic pace continued as a stream of qualified, knowledgeable prospects continued to visit our stand, resulting in both new business and new distributors. The only thing we would change next time is to triple our staff on the stand to cope with the numbers.
Many thanks,
Vernon Woolf,
Director, Mr Bean Coffee & Vending.''