A. M. El Salvador is promoting a new business growth model through franchises, an alternative that allows businesses to expand without direct investment. The Corporación de Exportadores de El Salvador (COEXPORT), in alliance with the Cámara Salvadoreña de Turismo (CASATUR) and the Corporación Salvadoreña de Turismo (CORSATUR), organized the seminar “Intelligent Expansion, Partnerships and Franchises” to provide tools to entrepreneurs interested in this model.
Silvia Cuellar, President of COEXPORT, noted that franchises offer an effective way for the growth of small and medium enterprises. She explained that this scheme facilitates the expansion of brands without the franchisor assuming direct costs, ensuring that the identity and operations remain intact in each new unit.
The export industry has developed a program in conjunction with Franchising Group to train more than 40 salvadoran brands in this business model. Of these, seven have already established themselves abroad, demonstrating that franchising can be a viable strategy for business internationalization.
The sectors that have shown the greatest interest in this model include restaurants, hotels, gyms, beauty services, car rentals, and motorcycle maintenance. Representatives of companies already operating under this model shared their experiences, highlighting the challenges and advantages of expanding through franchising.
During the discussion, the importance of properly implementing the model to avoid operational problems was emphasized. The organizers also highlighted the need to adapt successful strategies from other countries to the Salvadoran context, with a special focus on the tourism, trade, and technology sectors.
The initiative seeks to strengthen business competitiveness and generate growth opportunities both nationally and internationally.
