Manish Shah, Associate Director, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd

A renowned name in the financial services sector, Motilal Oswal offers a range of financial products and services. Manish Shah, Associate Director- Business Strategy, Equity & Product Development, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd shares the success story of his company.  

Ramanjit Kaur (RK): What inspired Motilal Oswal to take the franchise route? What difference have you noticed in the performance of the company after it opted for franchising?

Manish Shah (MS): Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agrawal started their careers as sub-brokers. The belief in entrepreneurship and the drive it brings to the business made Motilal Oswal take the franchise route. Franchising brings more scalability to the business and the business becomes entrepreneur driven.   

RK: What practices and initiatives have you introduced in Motilal Oswal?

MS: The practices initiated by us include:

• National Awards for the best franchisees in various categories
• Regional Awards for best franchisees in the various regions
• In our advertisement campaigns our franchisees act as brand ambassadors

RK: What is the eligibility criterion for selecting franchisee for your company?  
MS: We seek franchisees that have knowledge of the financial market and must be financially sound to invest a minimum amount of five lakh rupees. . 

RK: How many franchises do you have and in which all cities?

MS: We have a total of 1,257 outlets. Of these, 1,231 outlets are managed and run by 850+ franchisees across 576 cities / town in India. 

RK: What support do you provide to your franchisees?

MS: We support our franchisees in the following areas:

• Business development: This is an innovation of Motilal Oswal in the field of stock broking. The business development manager acts as a consultant, mentor and guide to the franchisees.
• Advisory support: Advisory support is an USP of Motilal Oswal. 
• Training: Motilal Oswal provides training at the initial phase of the business which no one else in the finance industry provides. This is called the New Bride program.

RK: What is the break even period for ‘Motilal Oswal’ franchise?

MS: The break even period depends on the stock market volumes and the franchisees’ hard work.  

RK: What are the challenges that can be faced by a franchisee in this business? How can they overcome these challenges?

MS: Competition is the most obvious challenge in a business. Apart from this, the biggest challenge a franchisee usually faces is the retention of the key staff.  Here we provide support to the franchisees in form of sourcing people from various job sites and help in even interviewing and training the staff post recruitment. 

RK: What are the company’s future plans in terms of expansion through franchising?

MS: The company has plans of having more than 5,000 outlets in the coming five years.  This will be through the franchising route mainly.   

RK: Share with us any new venture that your company has entered into?

MS: Few years back, Motilal Oswal financial services entered private equity, asset management and investment banking.