Clínica da Cidade brings franchisees together for training in Itu

Clínica da Cidade’s annual convention, held in Itu, in Brazil’s São Paulo state, brought together franchisees from across the country to share management experience. Among the guests was Rodrigo Waughan de Lemos, president and founder of Grupo Gérbera_+, who offered insights into strategy, innovation and consumer behaviour. Portal W&G reported on the event on 10 November.

Management experience on the convention agenda

Lemos spoke on “The Architecture of the Retail of the Future”, also the title of his book. His presentation explored ways to make operations more efficient, linking discussion of retail’s future to the decisions made by people running businesses day to day.

The entrepreneur operates multiple franchises and leads a group with a presence in 46 towns and cities in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, running dozens of retail operations. This experience informed his contribution to the convention, where the audience comprised franchisees from different locations.

Having a manager responsible for multiple operations at the event brought a perspective extending beyond the daily running of a single outlet. The reported focus was on sharing business experience, with reflections on business development, strategy and operational efficiency.

Innovation and consumer behaviour featured alongside management on the agenda. This combination brings together two challenges: understanding shifts in demand and assessing how operations can respond. It is not simply about discussing new developments, but about relating them to the choices made by those responsible for individual outlets.

Training beyond operational support

The Clínica da Cidade event illustrates a trend described by Portal W&G: some franchise networks are broadening training for business owners beyond the operational support provided by their brands. Conventions, talks, business meetings and development programmes have become part of these strategies.

Topics covered include financial management, marketing, sales, innovation and planning. The aim is to help franchisees better understand their businesses, identify opportunities and develop strategies to remain competitive. At the convention in Itu, Lemos’s contribution focused on strategy, innovation, consumers and efficiency.

This distinction is important in understanding the role of training. Learning a brand’s procedures and developing the ability to manage a business are complementary objectives. The agenda described for these events broadens the scope of learning to include commercial and management issues, rather than focusing solely on carrying out an outlet’s routine tasks.

Exchanges between business owners are also part of this format. By bringing together managers from different regions, the convention offers exposure to experiences outside each participant’s local day-to-day environment. Knowledge-sharing is therefore part of the event’s purpose, rather than merely a side activity.

Training reflects the scale of franchising

The discussion about skills development takes place within a franchise sector that has a substantial presence in Brazil’s economy. According to figures from the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF), cited by Portal W&G, sector turnover reached R$301.7 billion in 2025, an increase of 10.5% on the previous year.

By the end of that period, there were 202,444 franchise operations and approximately 1.76 million direct jobs. These figures help illustrate the number of businesses and people involved in the day-to-day running of franchise networks.

These indicators provide context for the training agenda, but do not, on their own, demonstrate the results of a convention or training programme. The Itu initiative stands out for its exchange of knowledge between business owners, within a sector that needs to prepare managers for a range of responsibilities.

Knowledge as an ongoing priority

ABF itself runs educational initiatives, courses, training sessions, events and networking opportunities aimed at developing the franchise community. According to the report, meetings between business owners and specialists provide opportunities to discuss performance indicators, commercial strategies, digital transformation and customer relationships.

Clínica da Cidade’s convention forms part of this wider agenda by bringing management experience into discussions with its franchisees. Its central aim is to connect strategic thinking with the management of individual outlets.

In practice: to make the most of training, select a specific challenge facing your outlet, consider it in light of the experiences presented and define an action whose results you can monitor.