Ben Kaufman would not need you to overlook the worry he felt on March 10, 2023. On the time, the founder and CEO of CAMP, a nationwide retail chain with “Household Expertise” shops, was shocked to be taught that Silicon Valley Financial institution had collapsed. Abruptly, Kaufman now not had entry to the cash he wanted to run the corporate. He wasn’t even certain if a few of that capital can be misplaced endlessly.

So the veteran entrepreneur wrote an electronic mail and despatched it out to CAMP’s complete buyer checklist. “It was a cry for assist,” says Kaufman. “We knew we had a loyal buyer base who would possibly help us over the weekend.”

He adopted that up with an Instagram publish that featured a 40% off “BANKRUN” promo code and an image of a dejected baby alongside strains like “I by no means favored the Bay Space” and “This sucks.”

What adopted was an amazing present of help – with extra gross sales within the subsequent 48 hours than a typical month.

Now that the specter of authorities intervention to guard depositors has been averted, Kaufman can replicate on his expertise. It gave him the chance to get nearer to his clients and the neighborhood that CAMP has constructed. It additionally made him see the vulnerabilities that include being tied to a financial institution.

“Within the early days of CAMP, Silicon Valley Financial institution was the one financial institution prepared to provide us a line of credit score,” says Kaufman. “And one of many phrases of a line of credit score with them — which, by the best way, we now not had — was that you just needed to hold all of your deposits there.”

Click on on the video above to be taught extra in regards to the classes discovered from the disaster and CAMP’s additional growth.

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