How One Small Business Reinvented their Strategy to Make Products for the COVID-19 Outbreak
As we all learn how to cope with the devastating impact of the Coronavirus outbreak, many businesses are shutting their doors to weather the storm. However, there are certain businesses across the country working hard to play their part in the fight against COVID-19.
iPromo is one such company making its mark on the battle against this global pandemic. While typically in the business of promotional item production, this Chicago-based company has shifted gears in a massive way in order to provide help where it’s most needed.
A New Line of Medical Products
iPromo has launched a new line of medical products called iHealth, which features important personal protective equipment (PPE) that is currently in devastatingly low supply. PPE includes items like medical-grade masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, isolation gowns, and more, that are necessary for keeping healthcare workers, essential business workers, and government employees safe while they help in the battle against Coronavirus.
As public panic grew in the early weeks of this pandemic, PPE supplies flew off the shelves. Unfortunately, greedy opportunists saw their chance to profit on our world’s communal pain by buying up these crucial items and turning around to resell them at exorbitant prices.
iPromo saw this horrifying trend and jumped into action. Thanks to their close relationships with suppliers around the world, this company was able to secure contracts to source these scarce PPE supplies, including bulk hand sanitizer, KN95 masks, and more.
Their line of medical supplies can now serve as a stopgap for healthcare facilities, government agencies, and business owners working to protect their team, their patients, and their customers from the spread of this infectious disease.
What’s more is this company’s clear commitment to providing these items at fair prices. Not only do they clearly indicate their pricing breakdowns, but they also offer discounts for healthcare workers who need these supplies to stay healthy while working on the front lines of this pandemic.
Business Owners: How to Do Your Part
If you own your own business and want to help your community like iPromo, there are ways you can shift your strategy and daily operations to meet the needs of your communities. For restaurant owners, it might mean offering free meals to first responders and other healthcare workers. Distilleries can get in on the action by using their ingredients and machinery to create hand sanitizer. If you offer online resources, such as digital learning tools, you may consider offering some of these for free, or at discounted rates.
In some cases, your role may simply be to do nothing at all. If your business has been ruled as non-essential, do the right thing and shut your doors to the public. By preventing the spread of this disease, we can try our best to eradicate it and mitigate its deadly impact while protecting our businesses.
Local Communities: How to Do Your Part
All of us can help in the battle against this unprecedented situation. If you’re looking for ways to provide aid during this tough time, consider the following:
- Stay inside: The simplest directive on this list, but arguable the most effective. By staying put, we can help stifle the spread of infection and save lives in the process. If you must go out, cover your face and wear gloves if you have them.
- Donate: If you can afford to make donations to local charities, now is the time to do so. Food banks can use help to handle the growing need during these tough times.
- Create DIY masks: If you can’t access bulk supplies but want to help in your area, check out these instructions for crafting cloth masks that can be used.
Final Thoughts: Fighting Coronavirus
We could all learn a thing or two from these efforts, and iPromo serves as a shining example of the way business innovation can benefit local communities, states, and the country as a whole. While our daily news headlines are unsurprisingly bleak, there are bright moments like these that outshine the negativity and renew our hope.
Let’s take pride in our country’s businesses, provide support where we can, and ride out this storm together.
