It's important to reassure your franchisees and partners that you are committed to riding out and addressing this wave of uncertainty and turmoil with them. The current pandemic doesn't change the fact that franchising comes with less risk. Your support as franchisor is invaluable.

Listen to your teams' concerns and work with them to overcome difficulties they may be having. Now, more than ever, it's important to communicate and be transparent. Open communication lines can help you react as quickly as possible to on-the-ground concerns: perhaps one of your franchisees has already found a solution to a problem starting to affect a different partner.

This is a good time to step up communication frequency while the economy is very volatile. Talk to them and share insights and tips with your franchisees. This will help your partners feel that they are in good hands.

Some of the biggest challenges for many brick-and-mortar franchises revolve around meeting fixed costs like mortgage, rent, wages, and the like. Every peso saved is important.

Support you can lend to your franchisees to help them manage their cost will be appreciated. You can provide guidance in negotiating with suppliers and landlords. If there are relief packages or loan opportunities that they may be applicable for, let them know about these and help them secure ones that they may need.

You can offer complimentary services or plan extensions for customers cancelling services due to income impact. Reasonable discounts on necessities and goods may be filtered down to end consumers and provide some relief. Occasional gifts and tokens that may be given to customers will also be remembered fondly and help build loyalty and good will.

It may seem counterintuitive to open your coffers to new franchisees and partners during this time. Many businesses are seeing losses and budget cuts in many areas. However, continuing to market to new partners and taking new channels have two effects:

While 19.2% of respondents have put their plans to start a business on hold, the majority still believe that business conditions will improve in the next three months.

Remember these four tips:

Continue to invest in your franchisees and improve your business. Step up communication and pivot quickly if needed. Be transparent and clue in your partners to possible changes in the pipeline.

Together, we will get through this pandemic. We heal as one.

Many businesses now are starting to create communities within messaging apps. Slack is a popular choice for businesses, as many business-oriented individuals are already on Slack. Many companies are creating a place for potential clients to contact them on the platform.

Even locally, there are many Viber groups opening up for businesses to reach others, from a takeout and delivery services guide from SMDC Malls to DOH to disseminate COVID-19 information.

The Philippines is one of the most active users of social media and internet in the world. In fact, in the Digital 2020 report, the Philippines is at the very top:

But it's important to make sure that your business efforts are targeted towards the messaging platform that has the biggest reach locally. Line and Kik may be interesting platforms, but if your potential customers aren't there, you're better off focusing on a different platform.

As of July 5, the top 5 messaging applications in the Philippines are:

This is according to SimilarWeb's numbers on Android and iOS usage, shown below. They are similar across both platforms, with the exception of WhatsApp and Viber switching ranks.

This is a rapidly changing environment and the digital world is moving faster than ever before. Being on the forefront of this shift to messaging apps can be beneficial to your business, directly or indirectly.