How to grow a business in times of crisis in the Philippines

A better new normal in times of crisis - technology can help the Philippines overcome the impact of the Pandemic and keep businesses growing. 

In the gloom of the economic recession, the Tech economy grabs its spotlight to be crucial for Recovery. COVID-19 has accelerated the digitization of the offline economy, making tech companies even more important. The use of digital technologies such as digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine, and online education, is rising in the Philippines and has helped individuals, businesses, and the government cope with social distancing measures, ensure business continuity, and deliver essential services during the crisis. At the same time, this is a unique opportunity to rebuild economic communities with a lower negative impact on the environment and a stronger focus on inclusion and fair access to the amazing value that tech ecosystems create.

Minimize the negative impact of the crisis on business operation at Jeff

This unusual situation is affecting all types of companies, large and small, from almost all sectors, on a global basis; and of course, Jeff is no exception.  However, taking into account that laundry is a daily customer need, the demand for the service is still high and we, therefore, had to work to find a way to keep serving our customers under an unpredictable situation like COVID-19. 

In the Philippines, we worked closely with all our internal teams to establish support routes for our partners that want to continue operating, to be able to do so. Even though there was a period that we were forced to temporarily close our stores offline, thanks to our technological platform we could remain operating online while implementing contactless delivery to minimize the impact of the crisis on our franchisor's business. The online orders of Mr Jeff service have been barely impacted and have increased slightly compared to before the pandemic started. 

Crisis - It is not only time to find ways to survive, but also to look for opportunities to grow business at Jeff Philippines. 

As the fastest growing franchise in the world with over 2,000 franchises in +40 countries, in times of crisis, we keep growing. Entrepreneurs are still willing to invest as they know that all crises are temporary, and they are on the lookout for investment opportunities that can provide high returns with controlled risk, as well as self-employment.  

At Jeff, we consider ourselves to be nonconformists. When faced with challenges, we see opportunities. Looking back in history, today's great companies were created in contexts of crisis. We want to learn from them and also think of this as a “Short-term Crisis, Long-term Opportunity”. 

Throughout the pandemic, we are taking the time to rethink the plans and strategies that were being executed in order to work harder and smarter. Our teams bring forth innovative solutions to improve our service and stay more relevant than ever.  We also want to stay united as a team, and thus keep all our staff up to date through company-wide meetings on a weekly basis and even offer online classes of fitness, beauty tutorials and dancing to our employees.

Partners are always the first priority to keep growing

Without a doubt, our commitment to our franchisees is fundamental and we put all the means at our disposal to help them with everything in our power.

First by freezing the royalty or Marketing fee of all franchisees for certain months and working on putting legal and financial management advice at their disposal to reduce their costs during the crisis, as well as marketing advice for the scenarios in which they can continue operating. 

In addition, we generated operational protocols to guarantee the security of the processes in all the Jeff centers, both for the employees and for the clients. As an example, we supported laundry partners to implement extra safety measures such as staff wearing new masks and gloves daily, machines being sanitized with 70% alcohol in-between loads, floors being sanitized with 1:10 diluted sodium hypochlorite (bleach), drying all cotton garments for at least 30 minutes in our dryers and launching a new contactless delivery service, among others. 

From a marketing standpoint, we adjusted quickly in the way we communicate with our customers through email actions and social networks. After understanding how our brand can play a role in people’s lives during this crisis, we switched gears to respond to two main user needs: giving them certainty through informative content on how to take care of their clothes to stay safe, and becoming a source of entertainment and emotional support for our users in need of connection.

Hope for a quick recovery in The Philippines

This crisis is manifesting the highest peaks of the epidemic at different times in different parts of the world. 

Having such broad global coverage, with a brand that is present on 4 continents and more than 40 countries, means that we have a flexible model that allows us to allocate resources to those markets where the impact of the epidemic has previously remitted. 

In the Philippines, we hope to see the country as one of the very first to recover after the pandemic is over. 

As soon as we are able to go back to normal we will continue betting big on the Philippines as one of our core markets, so watch this space!

You may be interested in: 

• Top 5 Best Franchise Business Opportunities in the Philippines
• Why Mr Jeff is the best laundry franchise business in the Philippines