Coronavirus and Franchising: Jon Sica of Batteries Plus Bulbs

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 Jon Sica, Vice President of Franchise Development and Project Management and Chief Strategy Officer for Batteries Plus Bulbs about how the franchising industry is responding to the crisis.

Here are some of the key insights from their discussion.

Communications 

It is no longer enough for franchisors to communicate with franchisees every week, or even once every other day. Communications must be relentless, every single day. 

A Historic Chapter 

Once this historic crisis is behind us, the country is not soon going to forget about it. Franchisors will be talking about this topic to new franchise candidates for years to come. Brands should make sure they have a good story to tell.

New Franchisees 

Entrepreneur-minded individuals are going to be looking at franchising as a safer, more risk-averse alternative to independent business ventures. We are likely to see a much larger pool of new franchisee candidates soon. 

Brand Awareness

Even legacy brands risk under the radar in certain markets where they cannot serve customers. Brands cannot afford to allow their customers to forget about them during this slow period. Brands should take this opportunity to promote their business as much as possible. Websites and social media are invaluable tools to engage with customers while they are at home. This has the additional benefit of prompting steady lead flow from interested prospective franchisees. 

Real Estate Opportunities 

Real estate is tremendously important to franchise economics. Franchisees can take advantage of the state of real estate and work with landlords to improve what could be a lucrative investment. 

Pivoting 

Brands that have been able to pivot during this time are well-positioned for success. This situation will teach everyone a lot about what it means to be a reliable, sustainable and effective brand. 

Small-Box Benefits

Small-box brands enjoy a level of flexibility that their big-box counterparts do not. Customer conveniences such as curbside pickup can be implemented much more quickly. Bigger brands should take a close look at the solutions that small-box brands are implementing and see how they can adapt those strategies to their own models.

Brand Integrity

The integrity of a brand’s value proposition is the key to its success, pure and simple. 

It’s about tools (products), techniques (how the brand operates the business) and the technician. When a brand is strong on all three fronts, the sky's the limit, and we’re going to see a lot of great success stories coming from brands that lean hard on their core value proposition during this period.