Franchise Strategy and Business Expansion of Service Firms in the Nigerian South West Zone

This study examines the role of franchise strategy in facilitating business expansion among service firms in the South West geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The franchise model has gained increasing traction in the Nigerian service sector, particularly in food, education, healthcare, and business services. The research employs a survey design targeting franchisors, franchise managers, and franchise support officers of twelve service franchise operations in Lagos and Oyo states. A total of 80 respondents were selected through purposive sampling. Structured questionnaires measuring franchise strategy components, expansion outcomes, and operational consistency indicators were administered. Data analysis combined descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Findings indicate that service firms deploying structured franchise systems with comprehensive operations manuals, ongoing franchisee support programs, and territory exclusivity provisions achieve significantly faster network expansion and higher franchisee performance consistency than those using informal franchise arrangements. The study finds that rigorous franchisee selection processes based on capital adequacy, business orientation, and local market knowledge are the most critical front-end strategic decisions for franchise expansion success. Training program intensity is identified as the strongest ongoing predictor of franchisee outlet performance. The research concludes that Nigerian service firms must formalize and professionalize their franchise strategy frameworks to harness the expansion potential of the model. Keywords: franchise strategy, business expansion, service firms, South West Nigeria, franchisee management.