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This franchise owner maintains a hot-and-ready mindset as coronavirus pandemic continues
As a franchisee of three metro Detroit Little Caesars and one Jersey Mike’s Subs restaurants, Canton Township resident Daniel Wanshon was forced last week to sit down and share some difficult conversations with his 75 employees regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
“I asked them if they felt comfortable working in this environment, and if they didn’t, I’d totally understand,” Wanshon recounted. “I assured them that if they’d prefer to stay home and stop working for now, they’d have their old jobs back once all this passed.”
A majority of Wanshon’s employees opted to temporarily give up their jobs — one store’s workforce shrinking from 15 to three — forcing him to adjust the way his restaurants operated while trying not to sacrifice the high-quality services he wants his franchises known for.
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“I have a tremendous amount of admiration for those who decided to stay as well as for those that didn’t,” he said. “For those still working, we are doing everything in our power to keep our work spaces as sanitary as possible, and with our (Little Caesars) pizza portals we can minimize the face-to-face contact we have with customers.”
A downturn in business has forced Wanshon to sacrifice. With orders down 60-70% from a normal period, he has not paid himself a salary in several weeks.
But he’s not complaining.
“I look at the sit-down-only restaurants and how they’re suffering … it’s easy to put things into perspective,” he said. “Thanks to Door Dash, Uber Eats and similar apps, people can order food from one of my stores and never come in contact with another person.
“My No. 1 priority now is making sure my general managers, assistant general managers and employees are paid and taken care of. Because once you lose key people in your business, you never know if you’re going to get them back.”
Wanshon’s wife, Brooke, is a healthcare professional, giving him a eye-opening information from the front lines on the war against coronavirus.
“When the governor gave the stay-at-home order earlier this week, obviously, it was bad for our business, but I understand why she did it and that she wouldn’t have done it without reason,” Wanshon said. “Brooke is sharing details of how bad this virus is.
“Now, if (Gov. Whitmer) would have said that only gas stations and grocery stores were deemed essential and the only businesses allowed to stay open, forcing franchises like ours to close, that would have been, honestly, a little too much in my opinion, because we have bills to pay and I feel that customers still need options like we offer. We get them at least a small measure of normalcy.”
Family affair, small business
Wanshon said his journey through these difficult times has been bolstered by family.
“Two of my general managers are my brothers,” he said, smiling. “So when I asked employees if they wanted to take a temporary leave, I knew they would have by back and they know I’ll always have theirs.”
Wanshon wanted potential customers to know that, although his restaurants are large corporate entities, franchisees are no different than most mom-and-pop stores.
“I think it’s a misconception people have that franchisees like myself are better off because we’re affiliated with larger corporations,” he said. “Financially, I’m like you and the mom-and-pop owners. Our corporate offices are doing things to help us — for instance, they’re waiving the 4.5% we usually pay them for marketing, which we appreciate — but we’re, for the most part, in the same boat as all small businesses trying to survive this crisis.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Wanshon was making ends meet, handing out orders (gloves securely covering his hands) at his Canton Little Caesars at 7229 N. Canton Center Road. (his other locations are at 1494 S. Sheldon Road in Plymouth and 38141 Ann Arbor Road in Livonia).
And the ever-present smile on his face provided a reassuring reminder to his employees and customers that it’s business as usual, even though these times are anything but.
Contact reporter Ed Wright at [email protected] or 517-375-1113.
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