Along with John and Cory, I had attended BYU’s Microfranchise Learning Lab in Washington DC this past Friday. Two of the four microfranchises featured, HealthStore Kenya and Scojo, operate in the health industry. Granted, microfranchises are flourishing in many industries (see Kirk Magleby’s catalogue of over 60 microfranchises), but how does the microfranchise business structure enable success in the health industry in particular?

Mi Farmacita Nacional pharmacy chain (Mexico), Janani health clinics and health product outlets (India), ASEMBIS eyecare clinics (Costa Rica), Scojo Foundation reading glass vendors (El Salvador, Guatemala, India) and HealthStore Kenya clinics and pharmacies, are all fascinating examples of microfranchises able to deliver affordable and high-quality health products and services to poor rural areas, a feat impressive enough without considering the fact that franchisees in all five cases are financially sustainable. The franchisors themselves are non-profit organizations (with the exception of the for-profit pharmacy chain, Mi Farmacita Nacional) that collect fees from their franchisees but are able to subsidize a part of their administration costs with donor funds, decreasing financial strain on their franchisees. Other strategies common among these five microfranchises include: