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Did you miss the National Franchise Convention?

Sarah Stowe

Here’s a quick rundown…Ita was a no-show at the NFC14 but Oscar winner Adam Elliot brought plenty of passion and performance to his keynote presentation when he replaced the indisposed Ms Buttrose, struck down by laryngitis.

People, passion and performance, it was all there at the franchise community’s annual networking and knowledge-fest, the National Franchise Convention, held this year at Sydney’s Olympic Park and organised by the Franchise Council of Australia.

Elliot shared his tale of five years of hard graft in his studio, a storage unit in Melbourne where he created the award-winning clay animation Harvie Krumpet, the film that took him from collecting the dole to collecting a gold statue at the Oscars.

Elliot’s rollercoaster ride to follow his passion was a fitting way to close the conference and followed the emotionally charged and inspirational presentation by Michael Crossland, who was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer as a baby but has overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles and become not just an Australia Day Ambassador, National Ambassador for Camp Quality and Australian of the Year finalist but an accomplished businessman and elite sportsman.

The line-up of high profile speakers included Janine Allis, who talked to delegates about the runaway success of the Boost Juice stores. “Say yes more than no”, and “Find out what the customer wants and give it to them” were her key messages.

High profile demographer Bernard Salt brought humour to his statistical perspective on Australia in the next five to 10 years and the vital question for franchisees, where should they invest to make their life in business easier?

The subject of change was central to the talk given by David Smorgon, a former director of Smorgon Consolidated Industries and for 16 years the chairman of Western Bulldogs AFL Club. “The consequences of inaction can be fatal for you and your business,” he warned.

Breakout sessions over the two days included discussions on exit strategy, local area marketing, franchisee benchmarking, brand strategy, digital disruption, recruitment marketing and dispute resolution.

Lawyers attending Sunday’s Legal Symposium wrestled with the expected changes in the new Franchising Code of Conduct.

And congratulations to the five newest Certified Franchise Executive graduates who completed their program at the NFC: John O’Brien, PoolWerx; Peter Baily, Luxottica; Michael Paul, Pack & Send; Sara Pantaleo, La Porchetta; and Jane Lombard, The Franchise Shop.

  • We’ll be delivering top tips and advice from the NFC in future editions.