Two years ago, David Zamarin wowed the judges on Shark Tank with a water and stain repellent spray, walking away with $200,000 in investments for his startup Detrapel. When the coronavirus struck, Zamarin applied that same entrepreneurial mindset to a new need, pivoting his company in a matter of weeks to make hand sanitizer and cleaning products. “We’re in the business of protection,” says Detrapel’s website, linking their existing business and the new one into which they’ve leapt.
Zamarin isn’t the only entrepreneurial leader who has responded nimbly and rapidly to the unprecedented constraints and opportunities created by the coronavirus pandemic. Vacuum company Dyson invented a new type of ventilator, while Bauer switching from producing hockey gear to making personal protective equipment. Numerous textile companies, such as bag startup Rafi Nova, pivoted to making masks for consumers.
In a time of crisis and uncertainty, the ability for each of us to think and operate like an entrepreneur is more essential than ever. Businesses are facing turmoil on multiple fronts: The pandemic is reshaping markets, people are working and shopping from home, and concerns about racial justice and financial crisis are boiling over. Entrepreneurial leaders succeed by adeptly navigating this kind of unpredictability and productively channeling disruption into opportunity…
Read the full article at Entrepreneur.
This article was produced by Footnote in partnership with Babson College.
