BLAROSE: navigating post-crisis challenges

Abstract

On a rainy evening in mid-august, looking outside the window while sipping coffee, Ms. Avneet Kaur, co-founder and CEO of Blarose, was immersed in deep thought. Having been through significant early struggles, Avneet, along with his business partner, Mr. Anil, had finally managed to establish a fast-growing event planning and organizing company. Primarily engaged in organizing fashion and lifestyle exhibitions, Blarose, in its short history of only two years, had become well-respected in the industry across North India. However, the momentum it had achieved during a phenomenal 2019 ran into a tumultuous 2020. Like various other industries and companies across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic had put a pause on Blarose’s activities. Being an event-centric company engaged in organizing large-scale exhibitions that involved congregations of hundreds of people, Blarose was, in fact, hit worse than companies in other, less contact-intensive industries. Although many companies had now started functioning owing to relaxed government guidelines, Blarose still couldn’t resume in full flow as gatherings were restricted to a maximum of 100 people at a time. Still captured in deep thought, Avneet came back to reality only when the rain got heavier and started smashing against the window. She thought about the last six months, all drained out by the pandemic. But this was no time to sulk. She had to be ready to hit the ground running whenever the restrictions on people gatherings would be lifted. Not only this, but she also had to think about the bigger picture. How would the exhibition industry pan out after things get back to normal? How should she promote her exhibitions after the pandemic subsides? What venues or places should she hold these exhibitions in? Would people still visit such exhibitions? What if people had already found a good substitute in the fast-rising online websites? And what if things never get back to normal? Would she have to change her product and service offerings in the face of the new normal? Burdened by all these questions, she remembered her early struggles. If she could conquer those, nothing would stop her from conquering this. She immediately picked up her phone and caller her ex co-founding partner and now an informal advisor, Mr. Anil, to discuss the way forward.