Svoe café explains how it spends its initial franchise fee

Most of Svoe café’s initial franchise fee goes towards franchisee-related costs, according to Pavel Dedulevich, franchisor and co-owner of the Svoe café chain and Faso gastrobar. He made the comments in an interview with HoReCa.BYe. An extract was published on Dmitry Fedkov’s TenChat account on 13 November 2026. For those considering the Belarusian franchise market, it offers a reason to look more closely at what the upfront payment covers and how partners are selected.

What the upfront payment covers

According to Dedulevich, most of Svoe café’s initial franchise fee is spent on franchisee-related costs. His examples included developing a website, a mobile app and a technology solution, as well as paying the team. He thus described the fee not simply as a payment for joining the brand, but as funding for specific work carried out for the partner.

However, the published extract gives neither the fee amount nor a breakdown of individual costs. The claim that most of the payment is used this way remains a statement by the chain’s co-owner: it would be inappropriate to turn it into a precise percentage or calculate the cost of individual services. Nor does the list establish which solutions are developed for individual franchisees and which are shared across the network.

For a prospective partner, this provides a useful basis for further discussion. If the offer includes digital tools and the team’s work, it is worth clarifying the deliverables: exactly what the café will receive, when it will receive it, and who will be responsible for using these solutions after launch. These are questions for negotiation, not confirmed terms of the Svoe café franchise.

Why the chain selects its franchisees carefully

Dedulevich also said that Svoe café takes a careful approach to selecting franchisees, linking this to protecting the company’s reputation. In his account, selling a franchise involves assessing the prospective partner, rather than simply checking whether the buyer is willing to pay the initial fee.

He did not set out detailed selection criteria in the published extract. It is therefore not possible to say that the chain requires particular experience, a specified level of capital or the owner’s personal involvement in the café’s day-to-day operations. Prospective franchisees should discuss these requirements directly with the brand’s team.

The practical point is that selection works both ways. The entrepreneur assesses the chain’s offer, while the franchisor assesses the prospective partner. Applicants would benefit from finding out in advance how the introductory process works, what information they need to provide and which expectations both sides should agree on before signing a contract. Selection alone is no substitute for checking the terms, but it does raise the question of whether their approaches to management are compatible.

A franchise as a way to gain experience

In the interview, Dedulevich described a franchise as a suitable option for someone who wants to start a foodservice business but lacks practical experience. In his view, buyers gain access to the experience of entrepreneurs who have already made and learnt from mistakes and, if they choose the right offer, can learn how to run such a business.

It is important to treat this as the franchisor’s view, rather than a promise of results for every buyer. In the same conversation, he criticised franchise offers whose creators, he said, focus on collecting initial fees without helping their partners develop. The publication provides no figures showing how widespread this practice is.

The interview therefore offers no basis for conclusions about the profitability of Belarusian franchises in general or the financial performance of Svoe café’s partners. Instead, it raises another question: what expertise is actually passed on to the buyer, and through which activities by the team? Prospective café owners should distinguish a general promise to ‘teach you how to run a business’ from a specific list of training, materials and operating procedures that can be discussed before signing the agreement.

What to clarify before buying

The statements about the purpose of the fee and partner selection suggest several specific questions to ask about Svoe café’s offer. First, prospective partners should request a breakdown of the upfront payment: which work it includes, what is charged separately and what deliverables demonstrate completion. It is also worth clarifying exactly what the technology solution mentioned involves.

The next set of questions concerns the website and app. Prospective franchisees should establish who will manage these tools, how updates will be handled and what ongoing costs they will incur. Listing development among the costs does not, in itself, answer questions about maintenance and access to services.

Finally, both parties’ responsibilities should be discussed: what the chain’s team will do and which tasks will fall to the café owner. This will help candidates assess the offer against their own experience and willingness to take part in day-to-day operations.

The practical takeaway is that Svoe café’s statement about how it spends the fee provides a starting point for substantive negotiations. Before paying, obtain a specific list of work, timescales and responsibilities — and check that the agreed terms are reflected in the contract.