Celebrating its 30th year of showcasing small businesses around Australia, the Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo held its first show for the year at the brand new International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney, 25-26 March.

Exhibition Manager Fiona Stacey says the show was a triumph, returning to Darling Harbour with an Expo bursting with 120 exhibitors and in excess of 3000 visitors over the two days.

“I think the Sydney show demonstrated just how relevant the Franchising Expo is to everyday people wanting to get into their own business, but with the support of a strong franchise brand,” she says.

Diverse business opportuniites

There was a great diversity of business opportunities at the Sydney event, from recognised brands such as Godfreys, Clark Rubber, Solahart, Gloria Jean’s and Signwave to new concepts like Sabatini’s, Crave Ice Creamery and Mongrel Joe’s mobile coffee. International brands making their Australian debut at the show included NHance, Venture X, Photography for Little People, Streamsmart and a wide range of brands from Taiwan.

United Franchise Group’s National Director Evan Foster, says the company had three of its US-based franchise brands exhibiting – Venture X, Fully Promoted and Experimac, plus the group’s consultancy firm Accurate Franchising.

“We have built our company by exhibiting at Expos all over the world,” says Foster. “In Sydney this year we launched our new brand Venture X shared workspace franchise, and rebranded with Fully Promoted, so we had a lot to talk about. We met plenty of people who are keen to start their own business and have hundreds of leads to follow up in coming weeks.”

Richard Giannini from Mobile App City was also impressed. “This has been an amazing show,” he says. “Last year in Sydney I took 83 leads over the whole Expo and I was pretty happy with that. But this weekend I’ve had more than 70 very promising leads each day! We are exhibiting at all the shows this year, it’s clearly worthwhile.”

Keynote presentations

As always the seminar program was a highlight of the show, with keynote presentations from Poolwerx’s high profile CEO John O’Brien, the Franchise Council of Australia’s Damian Paull and business expert Brian Walker, also known as ‘The Retail Doctor’.

Other popular speakers included Richard Maloney founder of Engage & Grow, Love Pollo and Lenard’s Chicken CEO Chris Caldwell, Suzanne Jarzabkowska and her team from DC Strategy, and Todd McGregor from New York Slice.

 “It’s always important to research online, but nothing can replace the value of meeting someone face to face to discuss your dream business,” Fiona Stacey explains. “We also find that exhibitors benefit from networking at the show with like-minded people, and from getting a good feel for the market in each state.”

The Sydney Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo is the first in a series of four expos held annually around Australia. The next show is in Perth on 7 May, followed by Brisbane 22-23 July, and Melbourne 26-27 August.

Fiona Stacey says organisers are now gearing up for a one-day boutique show at Crown Perth on 7 May. It will feature a mix of local Western Australian franchisors and advisors, as well as new and well-known national brands. Free pre-registration is available online for this show but exhibitor space has sold out.

For information about exhibiting in either the Brisbane or Melbourne Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo, contact Fiona Stacey by email fiona@specialisedevents.com.au or by phone 03 9999 5464.

2017 Diary dates

• Perth: 7 May 2017 at Crown Perth
• Brisbane: 22-23 July 2017 at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
• Melbourne: 26-27 August 2017 at Melbourne Exhibition Centre

Information and visitor pre-registration is available at www.franchisingexpo.com.au.