For Swimtime, 2020 was shaping up to be a great year. Riding high from winning several prestigious awards in the UK and Internationally for our digital transformation, receiving amazing NPS results from our customers, retaining an ever-growing client base and the business continuing to enjoy a period of growth. Then it all came to a grinding halt!
Wednesday 18th March 2020 was a memorable day for Swimtime, it was the day we called an emergency conference call with our network to inform them that operations were to cease with immediate effect. The Covid 19 pandemic was starting to take hold in the UK and lockdown was imminent.
Our franchisees were understandably shocked and extremely concerned by the news.
After the initial flurry of communication to our clients, teachers, and venues, we quickly turned focus to our network, putting ourselves in their shoes, thinking about what their needs were, what fears would they have, and how, as Franchisor, can we help them? The primary concern was how would they survive financially? With their income turned off overnight how would they survive through lockdown? Another concern was the impact on their health and wellbeing, as individuals and their families.
We immediately set up a series of weekly conference calls where we could share information, stay in touch with one another and provide support as required. The first two weeks of lockdown we focused on how to remove costs from the business, secure funding through the various government schemes, furloughing and accessing support from the banks.
As the weeks went by the weekly sessions became educational. As a network we revisited aspects of the Swimtime model, we looked at social media trends, recruitment, training, exploring what could be improved and how. A topic received particularly well by the network was on cash flow projections post lockdown, an essential tool that we worked on as a group. This not only gave the franchisees the tools and skills for the job, but it also gave the network the reassurance they were needing about the reality of their business post-Covid.
At the same time, we recognised the need to provide support on emotional, health and general wellbeing. So, for a more relaxed, casual online gathering, we introduced a virtual coffee once a week where we chatted about the week’s high’s and challenges, personally and for our families.
The engagement from the network has been amazing throughout, with over 95% attendance on each conference call. The sharing and support have united our network, making it stronger than ever.
This pandemic has impacted on us all in a way we could never have imagined. One thing we know to be true, our Franchisees are part of a network, going through this together and coming out stronger because of it. They could not have imagined being an independent business having to go through this alone, with little or no support and guidance.
When times are tough, networks pull together.
