I was troubled, as we all were, by the staggering number of business closures and job losses brought on by COVID-19. But as a franchise industry consultant with 35 years in the franchise industry, I remain optimistic about the months ahead. Historic access to labor, real estate, and capital have created an environment extremely favorable to franchise growth, and shifting social and cultural norms will create opportunities for new concepts to expand quickly. All factors considered I’m predicting this to be the best year of franchise growth in at least a decade. Let’s take each market force in turn.
At the end of March 2021, the unemployment rate was at 6 percent. That’s a significant improvement over the worst of the pandemic, but it’s still higher than where it was at the beginning of 2020. And when still relatively large numbers of people are looking for work, franchise systems have an easier time building a strong workforce. But what’s unique to this specific downturn is that in addition to low-cost laborers, it freed up many seasoned career professionals.
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