The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company (BTC) CEO Geoff Houston said yesterday that he was “very confident” that the telecommunications provider would get at least 50 franchise stores throughout the Bahamas, noting that the company already had its sights set on three stores in New Providence in the next three to four months.

Mr Houston admitted yesterday that he had hoped to have more franchise stores open by now, with BEC’s first and only franchise store located in Freeport.

“I was hoping we would have more open by now than we have. What we are finding is that it takes time. There are a lot of different people that are very interested. We have got to make sure that everyone we work with is well prepared. I think we are now engaged with 30-40 different entrepreneurs and will be helping them to put together business plans. We have a very small team working on this. They are now looking at different locations and opportunities. While I would have preferred to have more by now I’m very confident that we will get there eventually and you will get to see a lot more franchise stores from BTC this year. We have one open in Grand Bahama and we have three in our sights here in New Providence in the next three to four months,” said Mr Houston.

Mr Houston added: “We have finished our flagship stores. We said that we would probably have 11-12 flagships and then would do the franchise stores. The flagship stores will continue to evolve as we develop the business. We haven’t got a fixed number but always felt that we could get at least 50 or so here. So there’s at least another 40 at least to do and maybe more depending not the requirements. What we are finding is that the requirements are changing for smaller communities but I’m very confident we will get at least 50 in the market.”