Just Shutters has reviewed its experiences during the difficult months of 2020.
Pollyanna Smalley, Franchise Recruitment Specialist at the window coverings company, has described the challenges it faced last year. She explained,
“Covid-19 did affect us in the first lockdown, as we closed for approximately six weeks. Since then, we’ve been trading as normal and our 19 franchisees are finding customers appreciative that we are still fitting under Covid-19 guidelines and doing appointments.”
On the whole, the blind and shutter franchise has been able to continue appointing new franchisees and employees. Pollyanna said,
“We are seeing an uplift in enquiries and have also had a new franchisee do their training and start trading in the first week in January 2021. The main drawback we are experiencing is banks are unwilling to loan money to prospects at this time.”
Like many businesses, Just Shutters has introduced new tech-based products to combat the difficulties of the pandemic lockdowns.
“In March, we brought in a new measuring toolkit for our customers to use on our websites. They could get an estimate of costs before we came round to their house to do a survey. Customers have found it very useful."
The franchise was grateful to be able to rely on support from the British Blind & Shutter Association (BBSA), which offered advice and recommendations for businesses in the industry.
Just Shutters hasn’t been discouraged by the events of 2020, and is in the process of developing its next expansion plan. Pollyanna said,
“Just Shutters is planning to grow with new franchisees this year - our target is five to seven in the next six months. We also intend to introduce new product lines over this period for our franchisees, so as to continue to be one of the leading shutter companies in the UK.”
Alice Tuffery, Point Franchise ©
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