Since starting up in 2014, commercial flooring brand Koydol has always been designed to overcome obstacles, having been created after Koydol President and CEO Amadou T Agne went through 15 years of trial and error in the commercial flooring segment. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, Koydol proved to be uniquely resilient due to the brand’s innovative technology systems, robust client relationships and expert leadership team. Now, after emerging from the pandemic stronger than ever and with no projects lost, Koydol is launching its franchise opportunity with the kind of finely-tuned operations designed to ensure rapid franchisee growth in a post-pandemic world.

How The Koydol Team Navigated the Pandemic

When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, Agne says it immediately tested the resiliency of the Koydol business model. “Since all of our systems were cloud-based, we could manage working from home on projects without much disruption,” he said. “Everyone had access to all the information they needed. Koydol is one of the first paperless flooring contractors in the U.S., which differentiates us and makes us resilient in the case of future crises. We were set up well and didn't have to make many changes. We are technologically prepared to work remotely, which makes us reliable to our clients.”

In the field, Agne says Koydol took extra caution, practiced social distancing and supplied safety equipment to help crews. With business development, the team used online CRM systems that allowed estimators to submit bids and follow up with general contractors. Because there were some issues with imported goods being delayed, Koydol took extra measures to mitigate risks for clients. The team expedited shipments in advance, locked in the lowest prices and made sure installers were complying with CDC requirements.

Agne’s in-depth industry experience gave him a deep understanding of what general contractors were looking for. As a result, Koydol was able to appeal to general contractors with robust operational systems and deliver virtually any size project within budget, on schedule and to the contractor’s specifications despite the challenges of the pandemic.

How Koydol Proved To Be a Recession-Resistant Business in the Commercial Flooring Industry

The commercial flooring segment was initially hit harder than residential in 2020 due to the COVID-19 shutdowns. But in the second half of the year, sales started to grow again, so that total industry sales fell just short of 2019’s number at $22 billion, a decline of 0.5%. In 2021, as businesses across various industries start to reopen and the economy rebounds, the U.S. commercial flooring market is up about 15%, which is unprecedented. The experts project more than a 5% growth next year as well. The residential market has already exceeded the 2019 peak, and commercial should get there within the next few years. The global commercial flooring market is forecasted to reach $50.31 billion by 2027.

Additionally, Agne notes that Koydol has a fairly diverse segment penetration within this booming industry, tackling projects in multifamily, education, health care and general commercial niches. This ability to focus on more than one market segment limits the brand’s market exposure, which is why if one market fell during the pandemic, the others kept Koydol going. Overall, there was no pause for the company’s 25 full-time employees and contracted teams of workers — up to 125 might be on the job per day.

“Our pipeline was strong before the pandemic, and we didn't see much decrease in our backlog because we built it for 18 months,” said Agne. “Since we specialize in commercial flooring, there was a temporary hit when office spaces shut down. After vaccination started and the market bounced back, the commercial flooring segment quickly reached pre-pandemic levels, so we project high growth. We’re working to rebuild the backlog to get back to 18 months of work.”

How Koydol Used Its Experience to Create a Pandemic-Proof Franchise Opportunity

Now, Koydol’s pandemic-resistant systems and lessons have been operationalized to ensure franchisees find the same success the brand has enjoyed over the past year-and-a-half. Koydol franchisees will have access to fully cloud-based, proprietary systems to ensure consistent efficiency across all areas of the business, as well as access to Koydol’s robust network of established clients, international estimating team and aggressive proposal process.

Best of all, Koydol franchisees will also benefit from an expert corporate team, who have successfully navigated the pandemic with decades of in-depth experience in the commercial flooring industry.

Looking ahead, Agne says he plans to launch eight franchisee-owned territories by the end of 2021, starting with markets in Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Koydol will open the market for the franchisee, bidding on target markets prior to granting the territory to a franchisee so they can launch quickly and start generating revenue right away. Each territory will be large enough to reach $5–$10 million in projects after the fifth year of being in business.

Starting next year, the brand aims to add 10–15 new territories per year, with a goal to cover all major metropolitan areas within the next five years.

The cost to open a Koydol franchise ranges from $79,500 to $122,000, including a $30,000 franchise fee. For more information on franchising with Koydol, visit http://www.koydolflooring.com/#buy.