Coronavirus and Franchising: Dr. Jen Welter, Ph.D

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 afternoon webinar, Powills and Internicola spoke with Dr. Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach, sports psychologist and Olympic gold medalist, about her inspiring story and how business owners can respond to the crisis.

Here are some of the key insights from their discussion.

Be a Part of the Solution

The most important thing for everyone right now is learning how to become part of the solution. Business owners need to find their inner leader, create a positive mindset and set goals in order to guide their team to success. We all owe it to whatever team we are a part of to help each other get through this. 

More than anything else, we have to let our humanity shine through. The psychological impact of this health crisis is extremely damaging. We all need to push our boundaries of compassion. Pick up the phone and call people who might be by themselves in order to let them know they are loved. 

Find ways to make a difference everyday. Whether it be teaching kids about social distancing, donating masks to medical professionals or helping employees, we all need to lead by example. 

Before this crisis, we were all busy and short on time, but now the world has been forced to slow down collectively. We all have time to give. Since we are all on the same playing field, we don’t need to be distracted by the thoughts of missing out or falling behind.

Get Out of Your Own Way

It is essential that we clear our mental clutter in order to give ourselves a sense of accomplishment. By recognizing mini-wins everyday, we can start to get out of our own way. Evaluate your toolbox and use this downtime to do things you’ve always wanted to do. Once we reevaluate our mindset, we can overcome our negative habits when things get back to normal. 

It is important to prioritize exercise and movement during this time in order to release endorphins. Creating a motivational playlist is a great way to take ourselves out of a negative headspace. 

Athletes are taught to live in the moment — if you are thinking of the last pitch, you will likely miss the next one. Business owners need to adopt that laser-focused approach to be successful in this moment. Our minds can really only hold one thought at a time. Determine what you need to do in this moment to be successful and focus all of your attention on that short-term goal.

Momentum is powerful because it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Success is largely determined by how we psychologically frame a situation and incrementally motivate ourselves to achieve an overarching goal. Small wins help us win big overall. 

Find Your Core

It is important to find joy in the process. From athletes to business owners, people’s dreams are being put on hold. While we can’t change this tragedy, we can impact how it affects our lives as a whole. 

It is not about what we’ve done, it is about what we do with what we’ve done. For example, Welter didn’t stop after becoming the first female NFL coach, she used it to open doors for generations of women to come. How we respond to this crisis will create ripple effects that can impact the lives of others.

Now is a time to really dig in to who we want to be at our core. When we have a stronger image of who we want to be, losses are easier to overcome. For those who are lucky enough to be healthy and safe, now is an unprecedented opportunity to reshuffle our deck of cards. 

The greatest gift we have to give anyone is our time and emotional investment. These are the cards we’ve been dealt, so we need to make sure to use them to make an impact.

Without an end-date, it is very hard to make long-term plans. This time will be better spent creating new opportunities as opposed to making plans to regain what was lost. Don’t just sit in fear. As business owners and leaders, it is important to embrace this mindset of growth in order to start a shift in the way we operate.