expert advice
Lori Karpman, President, Lori Karpman & Associates
DOING BUSINESS IN LA BELLE PROVINCE:
Can You Really Afford to Ignore It? I am a born and bred “Quebecoise”, and proud of it. I grew up and was educated in English in the Province of Quebec. I have lived through the turbulence of the sovereignty calls, the language laws, and the economic situation it has created. Notwithstanding all that, I still maintain that any company ignoring Quebec expansion for any of those reasons is doing so as its own risk.
Q
uebecers are the most loyal consumers in Canada. Furthermore, their philosophy and buying habits are aligned with the European way of life, a ‘joie de vivre” not found in any other province. Over the past 25 years as a franchise specialist in a variety of capacities, it always surprises me how the most sophisticated and successful professionals regard this province much like the planet “Mars.” In fact, when I asked the President of a very successful franchise chain why she did not plan to come to Quebec, her answer to me was, I kid you not, “that’s like going to Mars!” Much like NASA grappling with the issue of even if there was confirmation of life and water on
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Mars do we still want to go? With respect to expanding to Quebec the answer is a resounding “yes”.
A Unique Market
Having had the luxury of doing business in almost all the provinces in Canada, both as franchisor and franchisee, I have come to learn the differences amongst different parts of the country. The first and foremost reason to develop the Quebec market is that one third of the Canadian population lives here. One third- that’s a big number. To me a market that size cannot be ignored no matter what it takes to develop it and yet, this is still not enough of a motivator for most brands. Secondly, Quebecers are the most