Domino's Pizza was one of the attractions for visitors attending the Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo at the weekend. The steady stream of people looking to invest in their own business was greeted by the pizza brand's stand right at the entrance to the Melbourne show.

The Melbourne market is a particular target for the pizza company which is looking for up to 40 stores in the area, according to Rian Bell, stores sales and purchasing at Domino's.

Established companies such as Kwik Kopy, Fastway Couriers, Cafe2U, Hudsons Coffee, Cleantastic, Appliance Tagging Services, RP Vending, MBE, United Petroleum, and the Jim's group reflected the diversity of the franchising sector.

But there were plenty of fresh faces in the exhibitor line-up too, including Pete Crofts' Humourversity training business, SuperGeek's mobile IT repairs, stormwater pit construction firm ProPit Services and Res Sleep, an opportunity to help relieve sleep apnea.

PopTag is a business offering smartphone apps that allow the user to easily access the tags stored on their mobile from companies offering deals and promotions. CEO Steve Russo told Franchising the expo was a huge success. "It was fantastic. We've been inundated, and are now madly processing the information."

Visitors also flocked to the series of seminars held daily, with the lunchtime franchisee bootcamp a particularly popular event. In addition to business opportunities, there were lawyers and business consultants, the Franchise Council of Australia, and Franchising magazine all available to talk about franchising issues.

* Check out our Facebook page, Franchising magazine, to see more pix of the expo.