---
title: "How Franchisors Are Reacting to “Essential Business” Designations"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d5fc7713-be74-4f74-b737-f51251e36771
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/how-franchisors-are-reacting-to-essential-business-designations-2712993
category: "Franchisors"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
segment: "Franchisors"
topics: ["Regulation & legal"]
published: 2020-04-30T19:14:02.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:37.440Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/aec1a018e3014f960552f49058bedffd5511.jpg
---

# How Franchisors Are Reacting to “Essential Business” Designations

**TL;DR:** Franchisors are reacting to the 'essential business' designation, with some businesses surprised to earn the designation and others finding ways to adapt. Cindy Rayfield, a franchise broker and franchisee of Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids, discusses how franchises are adapting to the designation.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-04-30. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/how-franchisors-are-reacting-to-essential-business-designations-2712993).*

## Story

**The so-called “essential business” designation has been something of a godsend to businesses who have been allowed to stay open despite the shelter-in-place orders that have shuttered storefronts across the country. But just what qualities make a business “essential” remains somewhat of a mystery, and** **some businesses have been surprised to earn the designation****.**

**Cindy Rayfield has been a franchise broker for 12 years, helping prospective franchisees from a range of backgrounds find franchise opportunities that match their goals and skill sets. Rayfield also happens to be a franchisee herself, owning two Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids salons in the Denver area. 1851 Franchise spoke with Rayfield to learn how the franchises she works with have been wrapping their heads around the “essential business” designation.**

**1851 Franchise: How have the brands you work with been reacting to the decision to classify some businesses as essential and, by implication, the rest inessential?**

**Cindy Rayfield: Classifying businesses this way in franchising is hard because just about every business can be considered essential to the people it serves. Most brands are not out there trying to create a new invention that people aren’t using yet.**

**Most of the businesses designated as essential are home-service brands, but there are plenty of other types of businesses that I would argue are equally essential to people’s lives. My hair salons, for instance, are essential to our customers. As this crisis continues, I hope we’ll see some changes of how that designation is being applied.**

**Rayfield: I think it is new, but it’s also something that brands seem to be quickly adapting to. I’ve noticed a trend at the conferences for the broker organization I belong to: we host more than 100 franchisors in a virtual conference room over two days, and we’ve started to see franchises naturally categorize themselves into two categories, roughly aligning with essential and non-essential, regardless of their industry.**

**Rayfield: Yes and no. Non-essential brands are pivoting, but the adjustments they are making are largely in an effort to reach customers despite closing their storefronts. In my consulting work, I’m constantly asking brands, “what can we do to make our services essential to people, regardless of our designation?” Even if a store has to close its doors for 30 or 60 days, what can they do to keep making sales? For a lot of brands, that means pivoting to online sales.**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- essential business (topic)
- franchise adaptation (topic)
- Cookie Cutters (company)
- business designation (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/how-franchisors-are-reacting-to-essential-business-designations-2712993). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d5fc7713-be74-4f74-b737-f51251e36771).