Franconnet’s report on the state of today’s franchise industry, recovery strategies and more, in today’s daily briefing
Franconnect released its updated report on ‘The State of Franchising Today’
As many franchises were coming to grips with government shutdowns in late March, Franconnect surveyed 233 franchise leaders to assess the state of their businesses. The resulting data quantified exactly how and where the impacts were rippling through the franchising world, from business closures, to franchise sales efforts and more. The participants represented eight industries: QSR, business services, personal services, residential/commercial services, real estate, full-service restaurants, hotel/lodging, and retail food products & services.
With the recent partial lifting of restrictions and businesses eyeing recovery strategies, Franconnect re-surveyed the brands to see what had changed over the course of a tumultuous month.
Franchise industry leaders are amplifying the findings from this analysis. Robert Cresanti, CEO of the International Franchise Association, said: “Franchises have been among the hardest-hit businesses by the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread store closings and uncertainty are a fact of life for franchisees and brand executives across sectors. These insights on franchise sales, executive perspectives, and ‘what’s next’ can guide businesses as they seek a path forward.”
Read Franconnect’s full analysis, including some highlights, a few challenges, and a few surprises.
Fantastic Services looks for new area developers to meet the rise in demand
With self-isolation orders from the U.K. government, landscaping, gardening, and general yard care industries are seeing unseasonably good business.
“We are closely monitoring the rise in demand for gardening services in the different parts of the U.K. and we’re observing requests from many areas that we’re still not operating in,” said Anton Skarlatov, Fantastic Services CEO. “We continue to expand even in these challenging times, last week signing two new territories – Sheffield and Canterbury.”
Due to requests from more areas and a rise in gardening service bookings for the last two months, Fantastic Services is now looking for new gardening area developers to join the network and has reduced its franchise fee to £5,000. “We understand that it is hard to manage personal finances throughout the coronavirus outbreak. Due to the constantly growing opportunities and the increasing demand for gardening services around the U.K., we’ve decided to reduce the franchise initial fee,” explained Skarlatov.
Papa John’s sees its best sales month in the company’s history
The pizza chain’s same-store sales for North America rose by 27 per cent in April. Although consumers were armed with stimulus checks and stuck at home, CEO Rob Lynch said the coronavirus outbreak wasn’t the only contributing factor for the sales growth.
“We said about 10 per cent of that can be attributed to the tailwind of COVID and the new behaviors,” he said on CNBC’s Power Lunch. “So that means there is double-digit growth that is built in around other things.”
The other major factors he pointed to were Papa John’s menu innovation and third-party delivery, as well as a rise in its rewards program. “We have 1 million new customers coming into the franchise. A lot of those coming are in through our loyalty program,” he said.
Related webinar organized by the IFA: Register
TOPIC
Developing a strategic retention model for restaurant franchises
SPEAKERS
Robin Gagnon, CFE, CMO, and Eric Gagnon, president (We Sell Restaurants), Tim Muir, CDO (FOCUS Brands) and Jonathan Neville, partner (Arnell Golden Gregory LLP)
DATE & TIME
Thursday, May 14, 12:30-1:30 pm ET
