"2007 Franchisee of the Year" Shares His Secret to Success

Franchising is all about duplicating a successful business. This means when one gets a franchise, you don’t have to start from scratch. No more groping in the dark. No need for the trial-and-error phase associated with most start-ups. All that the franchisee has to do is to follow the manual provided by the franchisor. If he does this, the franchisee is assured of a very high success rate – about 80 to 90%.

It was this high success rate that attracted Mr. Vinzent Thel Querol to franchising. At that time, he had already been into pawnshop and rice retailing businesses for years, but seeing that franchising could be a promising addition to his enterprises, the seasoned businessman set his sight on getting a 7-Eleven franchise.

He chose 7-Eleven because it is a global brand and is, in fact, the global icon of convenience. Upon closer scrutiny, Vinzent was also pleasantly surprised that 7-Eleven offered an operations program that will keep him ahead of the competition. In May 2004, Vinzent opened his first 7-Eleven store in Fields Avenue, Angeles City, Pampanga.

Pretty soon, Vinzent was able to open 3 more stores – in Bulacan, Quezon City and another one in Angeles City. And the amazing thing is these stores were opened using earnings from shops already in operation.

And the secret to Vinzent’s success… a close working relationship with the franchisor. After all, the franchisor knows what’s best for the business. And the success of the business is a shared interest and goal for both franchisor and franchisee. It is no wonder then that franchising is often compared to a marriage. And to cement and institutionalize this franchisor-franchisee relationship, he co-pioneered the formation of 7-Eleven’s Franchise Council, the first council of its kind outside the U.S.

Because of this close working relationship, Vinzent’s stores are ace performers, which make him a frequent awardee of the company’s sales and service excellence awards. The opportunity to give back to society, however, is what he sees as his greatest reward. Tucked under his belt are various programs such as sidewalk-clearing cooperation with local government units, hiring working students as company scholars, and the Plastic on Demand Project aimed at lessening the use of plastic bags.

Lastly, having franchise also comes with a bonus. Vinzent admits that franchising has introduced him to other ways of operating a business through the company’s best practices, which he adapted to his other businesses. Now, his other entrepreneurial endeavors are also doing very well… thanks to franchising.