Cash Crusaders meeting the immediate need
“As businesses emerge from the sombre trenches of the past few months, eyes are on those who offer financially stressed consumers a silver lining.” Rudolph van Zyl of Cash Crusaders shares his insight on the future of this successful franchise brand that will play a crucial role in the assisting the public in getting back on their feet.
“Cash Crusaders stores will be able to meet an immediate post lockdown need,” says Rudolph, “and not only in the trading of second hand goods, but people who will need to replace certain items that have malfunctioned during lockdown, will look for value-added quality products, not necessarily high-priced brand names.”
This sentiment stands true to the volume of traffic Cash Crusaders stores saw throughout their stores on the opening days of lockdown Level 3. In addition to the retail arm of the Cash Crusaders business model, customers are also able to trade in their second hand and unwanted goods OR apply for cash loans against their personal items for life’s little emergencies until things slowly ‘get back to normal’.
“What’s truly valuable as a franchisee in this regard is that Cash Crusaders Franchising has built a corporate business as opposed to just a franchise one,” says Rudolph. The operational strategy is geared towards retail, and franchisees with the right passion, entrepreneurial spirit and customer empathy for this environment prove particularly successful. Franchisees who enter the Cash Crusaders business with limited retail experience are expertly trained and the systems and tools offered by head office scale the business to make it easier to run.
The Cash Crusaders business has been built on 3 different business centres, so even though stores were unable to trade during the lock-down period, they’ve been relatively resilient to financial crises due to the business being able to meet an immediate need for their customers.
“Being a part of this type of franchised set-up that has withstood every financial crisis over the last decade, has driven us to open more stores in the coming year,” says Rudolph. “We conduct a significant amount of research into the areas where we set up our stores by understanding the customer and the community needs that stores will need to fulfil,” he concludes.
About Cash Crusaders
Cash Crusaders started in 1996 in Plumstead, Cape Town. Today, the group sells its own branded range of quality new goods, a wide range of pre-loved goods, and offers short term secured loans – three profit centres enabling it to be resilient through any economic circumstance. The market-leading retailer operates through more than 220 stores in Southern Africa, with annual revenues exceeding R2 billion Rand. Cash Crusaders supports a crime-free South Africa and franchisees work closely with local policing forums and take all necessary precautions to avoid dealing in stolen goods, whilst offering a safe and convenient place for customers to trade their pre-owned goods.
For further information contact the Cash Crusaders on: website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube channels.
To protect, lobby, promote and develop ethical franchising across all sectors in South Africa with specific focus on transformation.
