Welcome to our December edition of the Franchize Bulletin, and our very best wishes to you, your teams, and your families for the forthcoming festive and holiday season.
Greetings Franchising and Business Leaders
As the year draws to a close, it’s a natural time to pause, reflect, and take stock. Many will be relieved to see 2025 heading into the rear-view mirror. For a significant number of franchise networks, including franchisors and franchisees alike, it has been another demanding year, testing resilience, leadership, and focus.
And yet, even in a year like this, there are lessons to be learned, foundations to be strengthened, and opportunities to be quietly prepared for. While the economic outlook remains mixed, and recovery uneven, the decisions made now will shape how well systems are positioned for what lies ahead.
With that context in mind, this final Bulletin of the year shares a mix of insights, learning opportunities, and practical updates to support your thinking as you head into 2026.
The green shoots of improvement are starting to be visible
Well known New Zealand’s leading economists are highlighting a few tentative indicators finally moving in the right, i.e., upward, direction.
At the coalface, the picture is still mixed. Several companies and a number of very long-tenured franchisees tell me demand in 2025 was softer than anything they experienced through the GFC. Of course, other businesses are bucking the trend, and some are still achieving solid growth. But the prevailing sentiment is that meaningful improvements are more likely to be felt in 2026.
All of that said, every single company must take extreme care not to explain performance by the state of the economy alone. There are other powerful and compelling forces in action, like technology and competition providing real threats and opportunities – that franchising companies, like other businesses, need to adapt to. Or, without wanting to be over the top, risk extinction.
By way of example, think of any company competing with domains of powerhouse retailers like Chemist Warehouse, Specsavers and JB Hi-Fi. These are brands that dominate through scale, aggressive pricing and strong consumer reach. That doesn’t mean they’re invulnerable; indeed, each of them faces structural headwinds. But the scale of the competitive bar they set is inescapable.
And competition isn’t limited to the categories you might expect.
The imminent arrival of IKEA will influence far more sectors than just furniture and homewares. Storage, kitchens, décor, assembly services, home improvement… Many franchise systems will feel the ripple effect – some positive, some less so.
Now is the time to ensure those Franchisor Business Plans are watertight – addressing all such factors and setting a clear franchisor and franchisee path forward, including a well-considered change management strategy.
Finally, as we head into the Christmas and summer holiday period, I’d like to sincerely thank you for your continued engagement with Franchize Consultants, whether as a long-standing client, a course participant, a newsletter reader, or someone simply keeping a close eye on the franchise sector.
Festive Wishes, Callum Floyd.
Managing Director of Franchize Consultants
Inside this December Franchize Bulletin:
Table of Contents
Franchise Management Learning and Development Opportunities
Time to get your team’s learning and development plans populated with great Field Manager specific and/or general Franchise System Management training?
Diary dates for our Franchise Training in 2026
We have three specific one day (spread over two days) ‘building block’ courses for Field Managers:
This is held in-person in Newmarket, Auckland. The dates for the Managing a Franchise System course are 6 & 7 May. Both days are full days, from 9am to 5pm.
Now is a great time to be considering work on your franchise system. We can help within anything from ad hoc advice through to a comprehensive full franchise system review. In the first instance, just make contact. We’ll be happy to take time to understand your objectives.
We recommend established franchisors conduct a survey of franchisee satisfaction every one to two years. This is valuable for the franchise relationship, network improvement, forward planning, conference preparations and any award entries. Let us know if you would like more information.
We invite you to read The Franchise Readiness Series, a collection of recent articles designed to provide insights for companies contemplating franchising in New Zealand.
We recently hosted an online session for the Franchise Association of New Zealand. This webinar focused on different forms of multi-unit and master franchising.
The session explored different forms of franchising and shared insights into key strategies, advantages/disadvantages and common pitfalls.
Take a listen to Callum’s interview with Glenn Walford from Franchise Buyer in Australia, they we discuss franchising in New Zealand.
The episode covers current challenges, growth opportunities, and practical advice for brands considering expansion into New Zealand. This was a great opportunity to connect and share our thoughts on key issues and considerations.
Article in the latest issue of Franchise New Zealand
We are proud to have an article entitled Franchising in Australia Today in the latest issue of the Franchise New Zealand magazine, sharing insights as to why Australia is often the first step for Kiwi franchisors looking to expand internationally.
With its large, culturally aligned market and strong economic performance, Australia offers exciting opportunities. But success requires careful planning, compliance, and robust systems.
“Callum and Michelle are both excellent facilitators, their knowledge, passion, and detailed course content hit the mark on how to improve franchisee performance. A highly beneficial course offering up great insights with recommended and proven practices. The course exceeded my expectations, and was exceptional value for the minimal investment.”
“We couldn’t be more impressed with the comprehensive upgrade and re-structuring of our franchise management and operations manual. The team’s dedication to understanding our unique needs and challenges was evident at every step of the process. This manual will be an invaluable asset as we continue to grow, and we highly recommend their expertise to any business looking to elevate its operational standards.”
“Thanks to Callum and the Franchize Consultants team, we have made enormous strides and are operating at a much stronger level than before. We are incredibly grateful for their partnership and are pleased to recommend them without reservation.”
“I would have no hesitation in recommending Callum to any business looking to expand the effectiveness of their franchise, whether they are just starting out or are a more mature business looking to develop further.”
“Once again, we had the pleasure to work with Franchize Consultants, this time on a “state of the nation” franchisee satisfaction survey across our 49, nation-wide, holiday park properties.
I would highly recommend this process and Franchize Consultants to any franchisor wanting to dig into the health of the franchise through the eyes of the franchisee and expect to go home with a much better understanding of the health of your business and with actionable insights to improve and grow.”
I ride to work every day, rain or shine. I really don’t care about the weather. Motorcycling, and the concept of helmet time, when your focus is completely in the moment, is one of my happy places.
Earlier this year, I tacked more than 2,000 miles riding solo onto the International Franchise Association convention and traversed California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. You might recall the little YouTube video from an earlier Bulletin where I included footage from some franchise stops on the way.
More recently, just a month ago, I did a quick trip to Gore Bay (south of Kaikōura), looping back via the Molesworth and Molesworth Station. The Molesworth is around 170 km of gravel inland from Kaikōura, and the scenery is absolutely epic. A few years ago, I rode through without stopping but vowed to return and camp there one day. This year, I finally made that happen with five great buddies, including my mate Marty, with whom I once worked with in Formula 1.
The Molesworth is a public road but only open a few months a year. I’d recommend taking a four-wheel drive, though in reality plenty of ordinary cars still make it through.
Our very best wishes to you and all as we enter the holiday and festive season.
Contact Franchize Consultants if you’re contemplating franchising a business or would like help with an established franchise network. We’d be very happy to sit down with you to understand your situation and objectives and explain the supporting services we provide. You can also follow us via LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Google.
Strengthening the Franchise Ecosystem: Build Capability That Lasts