Entrepreneurs wanting to jump on the 7-Eleven franchise bandwagon can now access financing from Siam City Bank, Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank.
"We will allow individual investors to select successful outlets from the list of our 7-Eleven stores and turn them into their franchised outlets," Korsak Chairasamisak, CEO of CP All, the rights holder for Thailand, said yesterday.
"We want to increase the proportion of franchised outlets to about 50 per cent by the end of this year," he said at the signing of the agreement with the three banks.
Franchised stores make up 49 per cent of the 5,300 7-Elevens in the country and the company wants to take that to 58 per cent of 7,000 stores in 2013.
"We will invest about Bt4 billion this year to open about 500 7-Elevens locally. So far 30-40 have been opened this year," he said.
The company expects to grow its sales by 10-15 per cent this year from about Bt90 billion last year.
A 7-Eleven serves about 1,200 customers a day on average, or about 6 million people across the country.
The company opened its first store in 1989 and took about one and a half years before franchising store No 28 on New Phetchaburi Road between Soi 5 and 7.
Kasikornbank president Prasarn Trairatvorakul said the franchise system could solve all the major concerns faced by entrepreneurs - lack of financial support, professional management and know-how - and reduce the risk of operating a business.
"We have launched a new loan service for 7-Eleven franchisees, who can borrow up to Bt2.5 million," he said.
Siam City Bank president Chaiwat Uthaiwan said his bank was the first to grant loans to 7-Eleven franchisees back in 2007.
About 20 per cent of 7-Eleven franchisees had used the loan service from Siam City Bank, with outstanding loans reaching Bt500 million.
Kannikar Chalitaporn, president of Siam Commercial Bank, said the weak point of running a small business was the lack of a good management system.
"7-Eleven can provide a strong system to franchisees, who can combine them with their good entrepreneurship into a complete retail solution," she said.
