Floating Market in Mekong River

The floating market in Chai Be, Mekong is one of the smaller ones and is the nearest to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The owners of the boats attach a sample product in the bamboo post in their boats. This allows buyers to know what goods they are selling. The goods are only for wholesale and the minimum is 20 kilos. The owners of the boats are either farmers selling their own produce from their farms or traders selling produce that they bought from farmers. (Source: shared by tour guide) by @sierrayoana

A Cruise Along Mekong River

The Mekong River is one of the longest rivers in the world passing by six countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The one in Vietnam is the widest and deepest. There is flooding in Vietnam at least 1.5 months in a year but the locals don't mind for two reasons: a) because of the silt (soil) flowing into their farmlands making it more fertile for the next planting season; and b) there are more fishes to catch. (Source: shared by tour guide) by @sierrayoana

MTM Program: Franchising

Part of the requirement in our Technology Entrepreneurship class is to submit a reaction paper based on an article. Here's mine on Franchising, the one that got the highest grade so far.

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Franchising is one way of doing business especially for people who would like to start a business but would need guidance most especially in the beginning because a potential franchisee can leverage on the well-formed and established brand and operating system of the franchisor. 

It is good to know that in the Philippines, there are official and legal organizations related to franchising focusing on guidelines in doing franchising in the country. In the recent years, there are also many events related to franchising. When used the correct way, this gives Filipinos more options on income opportunities. From a 2012 article, the PH franchising industry was the world’s 3rd in terms of jobs created, next to the US and Japan, and the 10th in the world in terms of revenue. With the ASEAN integration in 2015, it opens a wider footprint of needs creation and market opportunities regionally and then eventually, globally.

However, like anything else in life, the success of the franchisee depends on the effort he puts into the business. First, having a mentor in the form of the franchisor doesn’t give the franchisee the license to just rely on the franchisor. The franchisee should put as much effort in learning the ins and outs of the business until he has acquired the required skills in operating the business and keeping and improving it to meet its targets and goals. 

I also think that it takes time to establish a franchise, contrary to what most advertisements on franchising imply. Before even jumping into the bandwagon, the franchisee should be equipped with the appropriate training and game plan before going on full-blown operations. In this way, unnecessary risk can be avoided. Of course, the time it takes for the preparation should be reasonable so that we don’t lose opportunities as well.

Lastly, I strongly agree that more than the profits, one should go into franchising because he believes in the mission and vision of the franchisor. Being aligned at this level would help both in focusing on the things that to be done to achieve the common goals. And although the franchisor is the one establishing the brand and the operating system, it would also be helpful if the franchisee is able to provide constructive feedback to the franchisor, given that one of the franchisee’s roles is to market the brand and operating system, hence, he has closer ears and eyes to the perception of the customers.