28 Canadian Franchise Association http://www.cfa.ca | http://www.LookforaFranchise.ca
Bill. “We took a chance, and it worked out. It opened our
eyes and told us you don’t need to be front and centre,
and that we should try these smaller towns.”
And so they did, avoiding the congested downtowns
of major centres, which turned out to be a smart tactic
for a few reasons. One, there’s less competition. Two,
rents are lower. But most importantly, the concept of a
one-stop-restaurant tends to work very well in smaller
centres. It’s not unusual to see customers regularly for
breakfast and then a few times a week for dinner, says
Mike Fox.
One fortunate offshoot of seeing and knowing those
regulars is that it tends to foster a strong sense of com-
munity between franchisees and their town or city. Many
Symposium franchisees volunteer with different com-
munity organizations, and the company as a whole sup-
ports Welcome Wagon, local sports teams, the Canadian
Breast Cancer Foundation, and other charities. Plus, a
portion of every daily special goes to the Breakfast Club
of Canada, which helps feed 163,000 students every
day in 1,455 schools. Each month, Symposium donates
between $7,000 and $10,000 to the club.
Future Symposiums
Community involvement is the key to Symposium’s suc-
cess if it’s to hit its goal of having a total of 60 stores
within five years. All of them will likely be in Ontario,
none in Toronto, though the company is exploring out-
side the province if the right opportunity arises. This
year and next alone, it plans to open 12 franchises, one
of which may be Zaki Agha’s second location.
What’s also going to be a big help in getting to 60
stores is the Advisory Board the company recently put
in place, says Bill. In fact, it already has been. “Made up
of outside professionals with experience in HR, Market-
ing, Sales, Finance, and Operations, they’ve been instru-
mental in helping navigate and plan out the next five
years. We also probably have the best lease advisor in
Ontario on that board. So they all give us a foundation
on which to grow.”
Maybe they’ll give Symposium a foundation to keep
on winning CFA Grand Prizes, too. “We want to win that
for the next 20 years, but for now we’re going to work
hard to win it again next year,” says Bill.
If they do, they may just break that decibel level
record again.SYMPOSIUM CAFE STATS
Franchise units in Canada: 25
Franchise fee: $50K
Investment required: $615K-$675K
Start-up capital required: $300K
Tr aining: 3 months training included in franchise fee for up to 3
persons
Available territories: ON
In business since: 1996
Franchising since: 2004
CFA member since: 2010COVER STORY