Franchising and Covid-19

Franchising and Covid-19

🔥NEW First of all, wether you are a franchisee or a franchisor, it is important to maintain a positive mindset and follow all of the local rules and regulations of the territory that you are in while riding out the current Covid-19 crisis.
Among the most severely impacted economic sectors globally are the hospitality / hotel / restaurant sectors. After all, they rely on people visiting their establishment. And for people to be able to visit them, free movement must be allowed. Numerous countries are however on lockdown (an estimated 3rd of the world population, depending on what resource is to be believed). Airlines are virtually grounded globally. Without potential customers able to move around, hospitality establishments are not able to make sufficient revenue to pay overheads. This has resulted in staff retrenchments, salary reductions and forced leave - both paid and unpaid.

We have seen GOVERNMENTS stepping in to assist with bailout packages, BANKS providing finance options to allow clients to weather the storm, and even LANDLORDS have come to the party.

But what have FRANCHISORS done so far?
1. Are they assisting franchisees from a financial perspective, be it reduced fees, fee deferments etc?
2. Are they helping with plans for the day that hopefully "things" start returning to normal? With the number of retrenchments will the businesses be able to open properly.
3. Have franchisors considered the potential damage to their brands when they re-open or are they alternatively looking at ways to help with the re-opening of businesses?
What do you think that franchisors should be doing during this crisis, are they doing sufficient to assist their franchisees?
Are franchisees engaging their franchisors or have they reverted into panic mode?
What are your thoughts?