48. Dilip Bhavnani

Sunscope (asi/90075)

2019 Rank: N/A

Title: COO

Industry Experience: 33 years

When California issued its shutdown order in mid-March, Dilip Bhavnani was crestfallen.

Top 40 supplier Sunscope had just finished a transitional year, experiencing a 6.4% decrease in revenue while shifting its focus to direct importing in lieu of its traditional stock inventory programs. With the COVID-19 pandemic about to decimate the promotional products industry, the COO of the Los Angeles-based company was forced to lay off and furlough 220 employees (he has since rehired 11 workers). That night, he went home and cried. “You know how people joke that behind every man there’s a great woman?” Bhavnani says. “Well, I honestly believe it.”

The next morning, his wife Kamila crashed the pity party, reminding him that they know how to make money. After all, Bhavnani is a third-generation member of Sunscope: His grandfather started the company in Hong Kong in 1946, and his father and uncle started its European division in the 1960s. He joined in 1985 and steered the family business toward promo two years later.

“I hated the wholesale business,” says Bhavnani, who was last on the Power 50 list in 2016. “It’s extremely cutthroat. Quality, delivery and service is always secondary to price, whereas the promo industry is based on trust and relationships.”

Bhavnani relied on those relationships and family connections to get ahead of the PPE curve. With his cousin running company operations overseas, Bhavnani was able to get a first-hand account of how the pandemic was affecting China and Europe. That’s when he put cash down to ensure supply of raw materials, importing them to manufacture masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and other equipment distributors were scrambling for. He also maneuvered to help get those items through the inspection process faster than his competitors.

As a result of the aggressive plunge into PPE, Bhavnani says his company has experienced its best year ever, with sales growth of more than 50% from 2019. “We’re a fairly large company, but we run it like a small business,” he says. “We have the ability to pivot quickly.”

Having already donated over eight figures to charities throughout the U.S., Bhavnani plans to specialize in whatever the public needs as the pandemic continues. Sunscope won’t be hopping off the PPE train anytime soon. “Masks may have a shorter life,” Bhavnani says, “but hand sanitizer and other PPE products are here for a long time to come.”