Coronavirus and Franchising: Arif Abdulla of Nurse Next Door and Aaron Behrens of GYMGUYZ

The coronavirus continues to have dire effects on businesses across the country, and the franchise industry is no exception. Franchisors across segments are strategizing new ways to support their franchisees, keep customers satisfied, help local communities and come out stronger on the other side of this crisis.

To that end, 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills and Charles Internicola, founder and partner of the Internicola Law Firm, are covering the coronavirus and its impact on the franchising industry through a webinar series titled “Coronavirus and Franchising: Mindset + Strategy to Recover and Grow.”

In today’s morning webinar, Powills and Internicola spoke with Arif Abdulla, Vice President of Global Franchise Development for Nurse Next Door, and Aaron Behrens, a multi-unit franchisee with GYMGUYZ, to discuss how their brands have adapted to better serve customers and franchisees.

Here are some of the key insights from their discussion.

Coronavirus has taken its toll on employees and employers. It’s a challenging time and people are scared. Leaders must help their people understand the situation and get creative to bring solutions.

Leaders must also be realistic about the challenges they face and look at how they can cut costs. They can work closely with their accountants and explore programs to support franchisees during this difficult time.

People respond in different ways to a crisis. Some franchisees might need more support than others. That’s what franchisors are for: to provide different levels of support where needed.

Essential service brands, whose employees are still working, must make sure they are taking the right precautions with staff members and making sure they have the right equipment. Make sure staff members know about safety policies and have the necessary guidance to provide services safely. Guidelines are changing quickly, so it’s important for franchisors to provide that information.

Unlike independent business owners, franchisees benefit from established procedures. Everyone is unsure about the final outcome of the coronavirus pandemic, but franchisors have the ability to help their systems ramp up more quickly when they reopen their doors, whereas independent businesses will have to start over completely.

Even businesses and industries with hiring challenges will want to make sure they hire the right people. Employees still need to be qualified and have the right skill sets. The same goes for finding the right franchisees. They shouldn’t just be in it for the money. Their goals and values should align with the franchise’s.

No one knows how things will look in a few months, let alone a year from now. Brands must take their collective knowledge and pivot where they need to while maintaining their core business values.

When everything settles down, brands will see a rush of people looking for their services. For this reason, brands should consider continuing marketing efforts and letting people know the brand is still there and ready to support them.

The market is too unpredictable, and everything is changing too rapidly right now to look too far ahead. Looking at the business in smaller increments of time can create small victories and help brands gauge what is going on. Brands need to remain nimble and increase the cadence of their communication with their franchise partners.

If a business owner is not making mistakes, they are not learning, and that is where they can get into trouble. This is an unpredictable time, but it’s also the time to be fearless and to take risks and do something different. If you’re not testing new strategies, you’ll run into issues down the road.

One can look at this situation from a mindset of abundance or scarcity. Look at the possibilities and opportunities and how your brand is presenting itself to the community. There will be good days and bad days. Keep an open mind, take risks and look for opportunities.