Did you know that Airbnb, Venmo, and Uber each launched during the Great Recession? Economic crashes seem like the worst time to start a small business, but not if you have an innovative business model that meets a new need in a new environment.I wanted to employee contact list speak with someone whose innovative new business is taking off in the current climate. For this article, I interviewed former Silicon Valley product manager turned small business entrepreneur Alex Willen to employee contact list find out how he pivoted business models to compete in our new socially distant environment.
The best part of this interview? It's about the dogs!“One day when my kids have to do a history lesson project on how the pandemic has affected the world, I'll have some great material for them. » Alex Willen, CEO of Cooper's TreatsFrom boarding plan A to employee contact list thawing plan BAlex had spent the past ten years working as a product manager for tech startups in Silicon Valley when he decided to employee contact list change his life, move to San Diego and start his own company.cooper's treats logoThat was a year ago, when travel was reaching all-time highs, commuting seemed endless, and unattended pets were destroying furniture across the country.
So Alex embarked on Plan A: writing a business plan for a dog boarding business in the San Diego area.But then the world changed. “I was days away from closing an SBA [Small Business Association] loan and starting construction when the pandemic hit and the bank temporarily froze its small business loans. Weeks later, when banks started to employee contact list lend again, it was clear that "taking a large loan to open a business bustling with people traveling and commuting to employee contact listthe office was not a good idea." Plan A was in trouble.Alex decided to cut his losses and transition from a physical business to a more innovative digital business model.