Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 10

71 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 in general because the relationship is very substantial.” Staying up to date with technology is an ongoing investment for the organization, something which Aschauer suggests allows the franchisee to operate their business efficiently and provide a valuable experience for their customer, from the initial contact to the completion of the job. “For us, the big focus areas are always adding any new technology that allows the franchisee to more cost effectively scale their local business or adding technology that supports our brand experience, the actual end user, the customer experience, the folks that actually buy floors from us. We are constantly investing in new technology to support those.” In terms of growth and innovation, Floor Coverings International continues to bring on new franchisees, many coming on board during COVID. Aschauer describes, “We are up nearly 60% this year, which is kind of unheard of for a company that is in its 30th year. We are adding new franchisees at an unprecedented rate. COVID has kind of helped us in that sense too because there’s a lot of folks that are looking at their career and trying to figure out what they want to do after some big life-changing times happened to everyone.” Large scale technology and marketing projects are happening throughout the organization, while the operations team continues to focus on recruitment of design associates and new franchisees. Looking into the future, Schloerke shares his thoughts: “I’d say, in three years, we would want to continue to see big strides towards the vision we have for the organization, that this is the absolute workplace of choice, of course, for our corporate team members, but more importantly, for the folks that are joining at the franchisee level and the employees of our franchise owners. They’re the ones that drive that mobile showroom up to the home and help our customers and they’re the face of our business.” FLOOR COVER INGS INTERNAT IONAL