In many states, the start of April marks the second month where residents will be asked to shelter in place and avoid gatherings of 10 or more people. The craterous impact this is having on the economy is being felt across multiple sectors, especially those focused on live events. In addition to sporting events, concerts and festivals, in-person tradeshows have all been cancelled or rescheduled to the fall.
As a result, Bruce Powell of ExhibitMax found his Minneapolis-based exhibit company without a market to serve. While the company had made a name in creating custom and rental tradeshow booths, carving a path forward meant taking inventory of what they still had to offer.
“When we had time to pause, we were asking ourselves a) What can we do to help? and b) How can what we have within our skill set and inventory be a solution?,” Powell explained recently.
Understanding that COVID-19 would be front and center for months to come, the company shifted its focus to serving people on the front line of the pandemic and launched a new arm, BioMax. The initial offering reimagined the company’s inventory: use its rentable exhibit panels to create safe, effective isolation spaces. The team quickly developed a working model that could be up and running in two weeks, giving overwhelmed hospitals a quick, low-overhead solution for expanding quarantine spaces as more patients need treatment. And while the idea gained traction with potential customers, part of the response was unexpected.
“We had a cookie cutter version, meant to plop within hospitals and ICUs. Most of the places we’ve been talking to want a custom solution, and it ended up making the sales cycle a lot longer than we were hoping for it to be,” Powell said.
While BioMax continues to pursue partners for its isolation systems, the company pivoted again recently to take advantage of the team’s deep expertise in manufacturing. By retooling existing equipment on the production floor, the team is now focused on creating plastic face shields, which allow health workers to prolong the life of their N95 respirator masks. Built to medical standards used by John Hopkins, the face shields help meet a market need for personal protective equipment as states across the nation struggle with shortages.
“For a lot of businesses, they have resources and ability to make stuff, it’s just having the creativity to say, ‘how can I apply that to this situation?’,” Powell said.
Given the potential seasonality of this virus, the BioMax team is looking for more ways to pivot and develop products that can fuel a long-term shift in their business. And while the company will continue to refine its offering, some learnings from the past few weeks could be useful for other small businesses looking to chart a new path forward:
Expect a Learning Curve
While Powell and his team have 25+ years of experience in the tradeshow space, they were not as familiar with the issues and needs of clients at hospitals or ICUs, so they’ve had to study up.
Focus on Sales Fundamentals
Starting with a new set of prospects means digging deep, following up regularly and not being stymied by gatekeepers. Practicing fundamental sales skills is critical for BioMax in developing a pipeline. While the majority of the team has limited experience as sales reps, everyone has rolled up their sleeves to help with the sales effort.
Create a Safe Work Environment
In order to manufacture face shields, BioMax had to rethink its production area to accommodate social distancing. The result is an assembly line of stations – each separated by 20 feet – where employees complete each step in assembling the face shields.
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