The pandemic has taught the franchise industry numerous lessons, not the least of which are our workforce’s increased dependence on technology like video conferencing, cloud storage, digital collaboration and of course, Netflix.

The upside is, for many professionals working from home during the time of coronavirus, there has been a mostly positive effect on productivity. 

YouGov’s survey showed that the time saved from commuting, fewer distractions and fewer meetings hasn’t been as devastating to output as we initially thought. In fact, many companies claim their employees are now hyper efficient while working from home thanks to modern tech, albeit a lot lonelier doing so. 

But there’s a downstream challenge of this trend worth discussing. And potentially leveraging.

With such a high percentage of the workforce operating remotely during this crisis, there are now more and more opportunities for clever cybercriminals to cause trouble. 

A recent IBM survey of 2,000 newly remote employees found that they could pose serious security risks for companies. Turns out, 45% of the respondents haven't received additional security training since going remote, and it’s possible their data isn’t as secure as it was when they were working at one central office location using company sanctioned devices and wifi.

What’s interesting about this trend is, while it’s clearly a problem for current business owners, it’s also an opportunity for potential business owners. 

If you connect the dots with everything that’s been happening in 2020, technology based franchises are becoming more highly lucrative investment opportunities each day.  

As we revealed in our dive on this in our 2020 Top Commercial Technology and Security Franchises, security franchises aren’t being shut down as much as other businesses are. They are only becoming more attractive investments for those looking for more secure opportunities as we move forward in a down economy. What’s more, technology franchises are a path for budding and veteran entrepreneurs to help organizations protect their resources, both digital and human.

The writing is on the wall. Remote work is going to be a long lasting reality within many organizations. Companies have started spending billions beefing up their safety measures to ensure their remote teams aren’t vulnerable to hackers. And they will continue to double down on their team’s digital hygiene, being proactive in risk management and overall becoming more security conscious.

How can you help create value in this whitespace? What can you do to support these companies and their remote teams as the workforce transitions to these new, less controlled environments?

Our recommendation is to include technology franchises in your opportunity search. Even if you don’t necessarily have a background in tech or security, the industry is rife with opportunity for those who are ambitious, opportunistic, and most of all, committed.

Many of these technology and security franchises are emerging brands, but we’re confident that the state of the art technology they provide in an otherwise service based industry could be a game changer for future business owners. With everything from touchless access control to thermal body temperature reading cameras, technology franchises can thrive in our post pandemic world. 

If you’re looking for a growing b2b industry that’s recession resistant and doesn’t require a tech based background, technology based franchises could be your best bet to build a business that protects millions of people. 

Even if they’re sitting around watching Netflix when they should be working.