Lockdown and Beyond

We are some of the lucky ones…!!!

As we enter into September we are now a few months out of the national lockdown and the business is flourishing, albeit that we have an eye over our shoulder so that we are well placed as this pandemic plays out over the coming months.

Right back at the start of the lockdown we definitely felt the crunch as people came to terms with the threat of the virus, however it has been amazing to see how our network have dealt with such unprecedented times.

There were definitely a few wobbles at the start but as we look back we are definitely in an industry that can manage and survive through such adverse conditions.  Since the end of March our sales have gradually returned and the summer months of June through to August saw the network post record sales. We are 30% on last year and we remain positive and optimistic that we will continue to see demand. We are lucky that pests are around all year irrespective of what is happening in the world.

There could be a number of factors to this success and while some of it may be circumstance I do attribute much to the strength and resilience of our franchisees.

During lockdown we put together over 30 video webinars to help franchisees look at new or better ways to market their busines and ways that they could improve their business.

Most important we focussed on staying positive and optimistic and did not let the comments on social media and others get us down.

In business you will always face ups and downs and for us it is the way that you deal with it that counts. It is about attitude, persistence and positivity that helps us prevail when others falter.

In fact we even carried out the training and onboarding of a new Franchisee – which was an interesting challenge during a national lockdown – but we found a way and made it work for us and the new franchisee. Feedback on his first 2 months in business has made all the hard work hugely rewarding.