Jibu: Why the Franchising Model Worked for My Business

There are many entrepreneurial spirits in the world who have the drive and tenacity to be a profitable business owner but lack one essential piece of the puzzle, the idea. For the few diamonds in the rust that actually thought of that million-dollar idea, getting the business up and running and maintaining profitability can be difficult and cause instant failure. One business strategy to better streamline growth of profit is to allow other people to run your business idea under your guidance, also known as franchising. There are many reasons behind why businesses decide to start franchising. Arguably for many, it is to be as profitable as possible, but for others, it is the only option for business success.

“Franchising is all about local ownership that gives the tools and tracks to run individually,” said Galen Welsch, CEO and Founder of Jibu. “This model was ideal for our business. When we initially launched our company-owned stores we had the vision of using them to build a franchise system.”

Jibu is an international for-profit business that helps emerging market entrepreneurs create affordable access to drinking water and other necessities. The social enterprise needed a franchising model in order to achieve the main mission and goal of the business.

“Without franchising, it would have been impossible to successfully contextualize the Jibu model to all of the unique markets we are in without owners behind every shop,” noted Welsch. “In addition, without local owners, we would never be able to build the level of engagement and commitment from franchisees.”

Aside from the goal of providing clean and affordable water, the mission of Jibu is also to develop market resources within emerging markets. So that it will create a network of interdependent social franchisees with business intelligence and experience to utilize their high visibility retail stores to sell other healthy products and services. Through the franchise model of training and educating these soon-to-be business owners, Jibu is creating a better business platform to grow in the future.

“Franchising has meant that we grow faster and smarter,” said Welsch. “We facilitate deeper, more equitable economic development along the way via the empowerment of local entrepreneurs.”

While the business structure does seem to be impactful and encouraging, like many new franchise brands, Jibu did have to learn from a few mistakes they made in the conception of the company to ensure profitability and achievement.

“We have had to change a few things over the years to adapt to our needs and my only wish is that we would have known them when we started,” mentioned Welsch. “The biggest things would be to build a less complicated franchise fee structure, a more gradual ownership structure and a different franchisee selection process.”

However, these learning moments have helped the business understand the necessities of the franchise business to continue growing and achieve the initial goals.

“We had an all-employee Jibu Rwanda convention, which was the first time all Jibu franchisees and staff were in the same room, this was the moment that I realized the size and scope of Jibu’s impact,” said Welsch. “Seeing hundreds gather for the same purpose, under the banner of Jibu was a bit of a reality shock, I finally realized we are really getting somewhere!”     

The past few years for Welsch and his team have been so successful but they are not really to quit and stop expanding. There are currently 200 units, but the company plans to reach 3,000 units in the next four years.

“We started with the purpose of developing and using a business model that could change how people look at doing development work in emerging markets,” stated Welsch. “Without franchising, this mission would have been impossible.”

Photo courtesy of Jibu's Facebook page.