Franchises receive practical assistance to help them succeed in business, including training that equips them to give excellent technical advice.

They may offer customers the full Raylite range, including deep cycle batteries for TV sets, marine and recreational vehicles and storage batteries specifically designed for house owners who do not have electricity.

Franchises may also sell battery accessories, including a range of chargers, testing equipment and other battery related items.

The Battery Centre franchise was launches at around the time of the introduction of television to South Africa (on 06 January 1976). People living in areas that had not been electrified were quick to take advantage of alternative energy options.

In July an enterprising Battery Centre franchise in Rustenburg, Henk Maree, opened the first containerised Battery Centre in Phokeng and soon had numerous enquiries from entrepreneurs wanting to buy one of the battery shops built into a standard shipping container.

In 1994 one of the most successful national TV advertising campaigns was flighted to stimulate Battery Centre sales prior to the festive and holiday season.

The 15 second TV commercials were given heavy exposure at different times of day. Very few people who watched TV at the time would have missed (and forgotten) the humorous series, depicting a traffic cop coming out from behind a billboard and climbing into his motorcycle to chase a speeding motorist only to discover that the battery was flat, or the patient who had to walk to hospital on crutches because the battery in the ambulance had suffered the same fate.

This, the first of several such campaigns, won the prestigious South African Loerie Award, as well as a number of awards overseas.