Modern Business in India is evolving from its previously unorganized form to an organized one and Franchising in India is on the rise due to various reasons like quantum increase in disposable consumer income levels, increased brand awareness, quality expectations, exposure to international standards et al. and in such an ever-changing scenario, the business of Master Franchising is on the rise in popularity amongst business opportunities for high net worth investors and companies.

The “master franchise” concept is slowly developing in the modern franchising practice and the word “master” is used because there is an authority relationship of the master franchisee over the franchisee. The master franchisor is strongly affiliated with the headquarters of the franchisor organization and is in an intermediary position to franchisees.
The over all industry of Master Franchising is a profitable venture in terms of the existing market as well as the over all potential for the development. In India, Successful examples of Master Franchisees have been the direction to what has come to be known as the Indian Way of doing business, following something that has not been tried before, but leading the path towards growth and expansion. Master Franchising gives the individual rights for the specified larger cluster or territory as compared to the Unit Franchise and which also means that the person who takes up the master franchise of a brand, has some authorities over and above the Unit franchisees which satisfies an entrepreneurial zeal of the individual as well as carves a path way for the progression on the path of expansion and penetration in the correct way in to a territory or a location.

The Indian Market has seen a constant rise in the income levels as well as the availability of more spending power due to disposable funds for the individuals and the rising brand awareness and the urban culture amongst individuals. This has etched an entry of the international brands in the Indian markets as well as the way of growth to National brands and the local brands looking at plans for National Expansion. Mr. Kashif, Director of Aura Thai Spa Services Pvt. Ltd. says that, “A Master franchise network is an extended hand of the company for the expansion in to the various territories in the effective manner and the smooth operations of the units in the efficient way. This enables the development and the sustainability of the brand as well as the franchisee units of the company in the best possible manner”

Most International brands across different verticals look at India as a great market with a huge potential, the fuel adding to the growth of the Indian market segments is that more and more Indian people are exploring global opportunities and the brand recall also increases, so when some brand which is famous in some other country comes in India, it has a well-established customer base for the initial stages of the launch or the opening of the store and the same shall be applicable for the later stages when the brand gets another image makeover according to the Indian market requirements.

On the same lines, when a brand from one territory or geographic location of the country plans to establish itself as a National brand and comes across with a Master Franchise Model, it gets itself in to the process of localization according to the market that it is targeting for its growth and expansion and the same can be seen for a wide variety of options altogether. This is the primary reason as to why do companies need master franchisees and why do they offer such lucrative options for them. Acquiring a Master franchisee may be a comparatively costlier proposition than a Unit Franchise but the cost incurred is on the basis of the territory or the region in concern and the financial gains that are involved in getting the exclusive rights for a brand or a business model, but the benefits of owning an MF are four-fold with benefits pouring from the sign-up of new franchisees as well as the additional benefits from the ongoing operations as well. The ideal profile of a Master Franchise is a company or an individual having an existing distributorship of a product with deep geographical reach. Such a company will achieve excellent cost efficiencies in supporting and selling franchisees.
A company with any retail distribution or channel building for any product or service would be a good fit for a master franchisee business.
Personal Profile of an Ideal Master Franchise would be a person with experience in B 2 B and is able to support small entrepreneurs, so as to help them succeed in business, says Mr. Zafar Khan, renowned Franchise Consultant, Javed Habib Group

Indian Business Sentiment-Want to follow but like to lead:
The Indian market sentiment is a highly differentiated market when it comes to the part of the understand-ing of a business opportunity. The over all psychological profile of an Indian investor is that though an individual might want to follow the success model of some existent brand, there is a strong likeliness that the person might like to lead the brand in the way he wants or perceives the brand in his territory. The best part of a Master Franchise Opportunity is that the scope that is left for the Master Franchise to take the decisions regarding the possibilities of a business model are really very appreciative and the possibilities of the person leading the brand on the basis of the localized knowledge is a really good proposition for the over all growth of the brand. The over all market potential of any territory can only be achieved with the correct implementation in to the potential of the market and the understanding of the business model in the correct manner with accordance to the prospective business that can be gained.