Becoming the founder of a successful business is difficult enough during regular market conditions. And in the throes of a pandemic, entrepreneurship becomes seemingly impossible.
However, while plenty of businesses have been struggling on the brink of financial ruin, an intriguing countertrend has appeared, where a significant number of new businesses have sprung up. Times like these increasingly prove the truth behind the “when there’s a will, there’s a way” adage — Adam and Marissa Goldstein are the perfect example of that.
An Unlikely Success
Last February, the couple started their own business called Rafi Nova — dedicated to the manufacturing and selling of adventure travel backpacks. The company was founded with sustainability and fairness in mind, providing decent rates for the Vietnamese female workers who stitched the backpacks. However, as you might have guessed already: the pandemic has not been kind to the travel accessory industry.
As both international and even domestic travel suddenly ceased worldwide, the prospects for their company grew increasingly grim. After all, people weren’t able to plan a trip to the supermarket — let alone a traveling adventure that would require a Rafi Nova backpack. By all accounts, it seemed to be the worst moment that the Goldstein couple could have chosen to start a company in the travel fashion niche.
When money started drying up, and revenue was practically non-existent, the couple decided to at least do some good work — they put their Vietnamese workers to the task of stitching face masks; with the intent of donating this equipment to medical workers and other essential staff across the United States.
They believed it was their duty to help people in need. But soon enough, the opportunity to do some good business appeared as well. Plenty of their friends and family began asking them to sell the masks, having heard that their production had shifted towards these much-needed products.
Without much forethought, one day Marissa took a selfie with one of their newly produced masks and posted it with a simple message: “We have masks.” It took less than 24 hours for them to receive more than $20,000 worth of orders.
Fast forward half a year, and you can see that they’ve never looked back since then. Today, their company numbers more than 60 workers in Vietnam and the United States combined. Seeing as demand has been predictably high, they’ve managed to expand into other product lines, with a new facility having been opened in October of 2020.
An Uncertain Market
This is just one of the examples of how the pandemic has shifted the ground beneath entrepreneurs worldwide. And yet, both in Silicon Valley and across the globe, startups are experiencing a different situation than usual economic recessions of old.
Usually, a recession spells disaster for most startups. After all, these are the most fragile companies, and many potential entrepreneurs decide to hold their plans for better times for fear of failure in uncertain times.
However, this time around, the number of US-based startups has actually increased in an otherwise gloomy market. It’s not clear whether these new entrepreneurs are people who were forced to seek new income sources due to job losses, inventive people like the Goldsteins grasping a unique opportunity — or a combination of the two, which is most likely.
One thing is certain — there has never been an economic downturn of this particular nature. The modern economy has never experienced a situation where huge parts of the globe were completely shut down for months. Naturally, this has hit service companies the most — but even there, some entrepreneurs have managed to make the best of an intensely bad position.
Rafi Nova Marches On
As for the entrepreneurial couple behind Rafi Nova — their life has changed for the better in an unlikely way. These days, their family lives between Boston and Vietnam. Their exploration route through remote South Asian villages has led to remarkable bonds with local Vietnamese families; they’ve since grown fond of the many art forms and the cuisine found in the area.
When it comes to their textiles, they are still as humanely processed as at the start of their companies; all masks, pouches, and backpacks they still produce are purchased from local Hmong artisans at fair prices. The Goldsteins put much stock into the locals’ creative efforts and the contribution they make to the Hmong community.
It’s worth noting that the success story of Rafi Nova is made all the more inspiring by their dedication to ethics and fair trading. Their purchasing of materials directly from local Vietnamese artisans shows a willingness for honesty and openness that should be a loud example to many other textile manufacturers.
At the very core of Rafi Nova, we can find one primary value — family. Their work provides much-needed income to local families in Southeast Asia while fostering a sense of community with their suppliers. The Goldsteins imbue a sense of honesty and familiality into each of their products — definitely not a bad way to thrive in times perceived as hard for entrepreneurship!