As we all know COVID hit the world March of 2020 and has had a measurable impact on all aspects of our lives for a full 2 years. After the recent spike in Omicron cases again impacted our business in January 2022 we quickly recovered and can now finally see meaningful signs of a return to normalization.
Businesses and schools are open, people are traveling, mask mandates are being removed and there is a general sense that we are moving forward. We can see faces again and transactions are at the highest level they have been since the beginning of the pandemic. We still have a way to go but compared to last year we are doing much better and I hope you are all feeling encouraged and optimistic.
Top performing Franchisees for 2021 are as follows:
Largest franchises by number of ATMs(1)
#1 Scott R & David Z. 63 ATMs
#2 Michael & Philip R. 59 ATMs (+8% vs 2020)
#3 Marc M. & Tabitha C. 58 ATMs (+12% vs 2020)
#4 Bao L & Amy D. 52 ATMs
#5 Bryan & Bonnie D. 50 ATMs
These top franchisees were also the top 5 in 2020. All did a great job maintaining the size of their business with 99% retention of accounts. As you can see two of the top 5 even managed to grow their business 8% and 12% during one of the toughest business years in history. Great job guys – keep growing!!
(1) Based on number of ATMs installed and operational as of 12/31/2021
Highest Earners (2)
#1 Marc M & Tabitha C.
#2 Michael & Philip R.
#3 Marco S.
#4 Scott R. & David Z.
#5 Jeems L.
While we can’t discuss specifics related to income I do want to note that even with all the disruption to our business in 2021 all 5 of these top franchisees still earned six figures in 2021. In fact #1 Marc Moore and Tabitha Christie earned significantly more in 2021 than they did in 2020 or 2019. See more details in their article below.
2021 Business Developments
We added Genmega as a standard option alongside Triton. We are still big fans of Triton but with all the developments in our industry specifically related to software options for additional revenue as well as some price differences it made a lot of sense to add a second option and specifically Genmega.
We continue to enable DCC on all new units and many older ones. As international travel resumes we will greatly benefit from this work.
We continue to add Bitcoin software to supported units while waiting for Triton to complete its active development with LibertyX. Last conversation estimated the project will be completed by the end of June and available to deploy in July. ACFN is on the list of first clients to be notified and we will release as soon as possible. As you are likely all aware cryptocurrencies are disrupting traditional finance and are likely to be a meaningful part of the future of money. It is in our best interest to be part of this industry and we are already doing transaction every month. The two significant upcoming events are the version for Triton that will enable us to add Bitcoin to many more ATMs and certification of cash-for-bitcoin that will enable customers to get cash for their Bitcoin at our ATMs. This is where I believe we offer the highest value and look forward to implementing.
Beta Testing PharmaVend - we are getting close to deploying our first PharmaVend machine https://acfn-solutions.com/products at a local mall in collaboration with a local franchisee.
We look forward to monitoring the results and sharing those results with all franchise owners. Although a completely different product vs cash/ATM PharmaVend does have many similarities to owning and operating ATMs with electronic processing of sales and weekly/ biweekly visits to monitor and stock. We see a lot of potential with this product and will keep you informed of our progress.
I want to add that I am personally grateful to each and every one of you for weathering the COVID storm with ACFN and very impressed with how well we have all worked our way through this historic disruption to business. It was tough and we all had to deal with our own challenges but it is important to acknowledge that for the most part we preserved our business very well. We are on the tail end and will now get to enjoy the benefits for many more years. Hundreds of thousands of businesses have not done as well and have closed their doors never to open again. We did well and I appreciate everything each of you did to get to where we are now. Once again looking at the future with optimism. Let’s have a GREAT 2022!
Jefrrey Kerr
CEO & President, ACFN
