To save her family from insolvency, Anat Apter unwittingly started a journey to establish one of South Africa’s well-known franchises. When her husband told her about 25 years ago their family was heading for insolvency and that she needed to think of something because he had run out of ideas, Apter remembered her mother’s words while growing up in Israel, “If you ever need cash fast, go sell falafel.”
Taking on the odds
Apter tested the idea of selling falafel at a local flea market among friends and family. “They told me, ’It’s a waste of time. The queue to get a stall at the flea market is two years long, why would they give you one?’ But I thought I had a unique product.
“While visiting the Bruma Lake Flea Market in 1992 I thought maybe I could sell falafel there. There was no such food on offer at the time and I knew people would enjoy my falafel.”
But getting into the market seemed impossible. Even with the discouraging voices, Apter soldiered on and approached the stall management where she found a long queue waiting for stall management assistance. Instead of joining the line Apter says, “I just waved my hand and shouted, excuse me, sorry! Would you like falafel at the market? The man behind the counter asked everyone to step aside and let me through. It was like Moses had parted the Red Sea. The crowd parted and I walked right up to the counter. They agreed and gave me some forms and said, ‘You must be here in two weeks’.” Apter did not waste time, she submitted the necessary documentation and on a Friday in November 1992 she started selling her falafel at Bruma Flea Market. “At the flea market that day I sold 50 falafel portions. I had a moon bag and you don’t know the feeling I had when I saw that moon bag full of money. “I was so excited and all the things I had said before, like, I will never do food because my parents used to do food, I no longer thought about that.” Since that day Apter has built and grown her brand to establish a force to be reckoned with in the food and franchise industry.
Challenging times and valuable lessons
Building the brand didn’t come easy. Apter faced a lot of challenges, especially when they took the leap to set up the Anat Foods franchise. She says one of her biggest lesson in business was that she did not find a mentor or someone to teach her about franchising. “We did not have a mentor to explain to us how to start a franchise and we didn’t know much about it. We thought we knew, but we didn’t and later in life this presented lots of problems. It took me a long time to understand that actually I should have had someone who could have directed me, to teach me what a franchise was all about, because you’re dealing here with people. “People giving you money for your brand name and you have to be an expert about your brand and you have to know how to teach them to run that business.” During the 2008 financial crisis the Anat franchise took hard knocks with franchisees. From being on top of the world with more than 30 franchise stores, the franchisor had to close down most of them. When franchisees closed down, Apter was faced with paying the rent settlements of those stores.
“If your business is not strong, a financial crisis will affect you. It can close down your business. Do not be afraid to learn. Be humble and go learn and study what you don’t know.”
Rising from the ashes
Apter realised she needed adjustments to create a successful franchise model. One such change was to ensure the franchisees were properly trained according to her vision. “If I did not teach the nitty-gritty about everything, they would not have been able to run their shops and would not have made money, and when they didn’t make money, I didn’t make money.” Apter says a lot of people think entrepreneurship is easy but the reality is, “Having a business is a day-to-day challenge. From building trust with people who come from different backgrounds to ensuring that every franchise is financially viable. “Because you are working with a lot of people, you’re working with franchisees. These are people you have to care for and a lot of times they don’t think you care for them. “So you have to get the trust that you do care for them. They forget that if they don’t make money, I don’t make money and I have to prove to them every day that I’m in the same chain, that if they’re not making money they won’t survive.”
But it should not be about the money
However, Apter says business is about more than the money. “When you start a business you mustn’t think about money. You must love the business, have the passion and be strong enough to go through everything. Because there is no business that goes smooth all the time. “There are always ups and downs and you have to be really ready for it and be strong. If you think it’s going to go all smooth, don’t even start.” Apter says the challenges are never-ending, from one hard time to next. “You have to say, okay there is a problem now, let’s sit and see what we can do. If you cannot do it yourself try and get help.
I’ve been through a lot of challenges in this business and I’m still getting challenges. I’m 62 but I always say I live like I’m 42.
“I still have plans for the future. You have to be optimistic. You have to love your business. You have to love the product and you have to grow it with happiness.”
