What I Learned from the Crisis Response Webinar with Afshan Khan and Ilana Diamond

What is Crisis Response?

Crisis Response is a recurring webinar that features experienced business operators who survived crises such as the Dot-com bubble and the Great Recession. Our guests will share stories, strategies, and words of advice for what is happening right now. 

This series is a response to COVID-19 and the ensuing financial crisis organized by Abstract Collective and Newberry Consulting.

About Afshan

Prior to joining Innovation Works, Afshan was CEO of Focal Point Products, an international manufacturer and distributor of polyurethane millwork building materials for home construction, commercial projects, and building renovation. Earlier in her career, Afshan held a number of key positions in Xerox Corporation, in business development, M&A, and strategic planning.

Afshan holds an MBA from the Carnegie Mellon Tepper Business School and a BS in Business Administration and English from Duquesne University.

About Ilana

Prior to joining Innovation Works, Ilana served as President and CEO of Sima Products, an international consumer electronics accessory manufacturer, which she led to a successful exit. She is an active angel investor and advisor in Pittsburgh’s startup community and has served on the boards of industry and community organizations including Propel Schools, Carnegie Libraries, and TIE Pittsburgh. Previously, Ilana also served on the Executive Board of the Consumer Electronics Association.

Ilana holds a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Economics from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

----------

Keep Communication Lines Open and Be Honest

Be proactive with your partners and stakeholders and reach out to them with this statement: “We have a problem and here is what we are going to do to solve it.”

Move Swiftly

Identify issues and start taking action right away:

• If you make a physical product, make sure you have no single-source suppliers for any mission-critical supplies.
• Can you move your manufacturing partners closer to home? Within the U.S. if needed?
• Secure customer relationships and be there for them. They will remember you once the crisis has ended.

Do a gut check of your business and act accordingly:

• If possible, retain your employees with a short-term pay cut
• If needed, layoff employees
• If possible, raise capital
• Audit and shore up your supply chain

Remember, not taking action is still an action.

Practice Scenario Planning

Be proactive about scenarios that could happen in the long-term like a recession, loss of one of your major customers, loss of a major partner, loss of key talent, etc.

In regards to COVID-19, Ilana and Afshan worked directly with hardware startups to assess the crisis and make a plan focused on how slow, medium, or fast COVID-19 impacted their industry.

Think Broadly and Find Ways to Pay the Bills

Be agile and adapt to keep your business afloat. Ilana shares an example of a business she works with that creates modular homes. During COVID-19, they started offering an additional service to re-design workspaces for people working from home during the pandemic. This helped them generate revenue to keep them afloat.

You Can’t Do Everything Well Every Single Day

Focus on 1-3 items per day to focus on and take reasonable risks during uncertain times.

---------

Where can I find the recording of the Webinar?

You can find the full webinar recorded and shared on YouTube here. If you are a hardware entrepreneur, you will want to watch this and take notes.

When is the next Crisis Response Webinar?

The next webinar will be Wednesday, June 17th at noon EST. Space is limited to 50 people and tickets are going fast. Learn more about the details and register here.