United States of America is the ultimate home of franchising. This is where it has been created, formed and established and American projects thus set the main trends of franchising.  When creating forecasts for franchising in the Czech Republic in the coming years, it is not only advisable to draw on crystal ball but also on the contemporary development of American franchise market.

But the inspiration ends there because the differences between the franchise market in the US and the Czech Republic remain huge. While the American franchising market is the most developed in the world, the Czech market has opened to franchising only with the Velvet Revolution and is still ripening. The differences between the two markets expressed in numbers are even bigger.

In its forecast for 2016, the American International Trade Agency (ITA) states that there is more than 780 thousand franchise units existing in the U.S. On the other hand, according to the Profit System Franchise Services, the number of franchise units existing in the Czech Republic at the end of 2015 did not exceed 7 thousand.  

So, what are the trends set by American franchisors? In recent years, the U.S. examples of promising franchise concepts include, in particular, the business models that promote healthy lifestyle, green technology franchises or concepts related to the care for elderly citizens. Progressive novelties of recent times are the franchise chains that offer customers some opportunities for active leisure time.

Chronic lack of time forces current consumers to handle multiple activities all at once. The continuing emphasis on providing superior performance in all spheres of life leads to the desire to spend leisure time effectively, while avoiding feeling bad because of wasting one's time. At the same time, consumers feel saturated with available goods, and standard purchases no longer bring them the desired satisfaction.

The resulting gap in the U.S. market was therefore filled in by the franchises which offer customers creative training courses associated with gourmet experience. One example may be the Painting With a Twist franchise classified by the U.S. Entrepreneur Magazine amongst the fifty most developing franchises of this year. This franchise lures its customers to professionally conducted painting courses and offering them free beverages. Having enjoyed a good time with the team, the customer takes home not only his product but also the feeling of well done work.

The same concept may be found in other chains, which is offered under the catchy name "paint-and-sip" classes. The courses may be focused on various target groups. In addition to lectures without limits, there are events designed for couples, ladies-only or courses designed as a typical teambuilding.

In the Czech environment, we can also find original franchises focused on active leisure time – for example a concept of escape rooms offered by the international franchises EXIT ROOM or PUZZLE ROOM.

However, Jiří Ctibor, a franchising expert and partner in the law firm Z/C/H Legal, points out that the link between a gastronomic franchise and leisure time is still missing in the Czech Republic, and the dormant opportunity is thus still awaiting a capable franchisor who would grab it.

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