Routledge COVID-19 and Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities for Small Business

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses are especially vulnerable. This is one of the first books that explicitly examines the linkage between crisis and entrepreneurship with a specific focus on small businesses. The book adopts a holistic approach and outlines strategies that small business owners can utilize as well as business opportunities that are available in these new market conditions. It also provides a comparative analysis of the current and future market conditions to enable a better understanding of how institutional structures can facilitate or hinder growth. The book also goes on to explain why and how creativity and innovation can help to mitigate the impact of such a crisis on business and highlights why business continuity is especially crucial to family-owned businesses. This timely publication will help to guide small business owners and entrepreneurs to maintain business continuity and build up their resilience in a challenging business climate. Review "The impacts of COVID-19 have already been catastrophic and devastating for life, societies and economies around the world. It has cost the life of more than a million people so far and has created misery for all. In this environment economic actors try to survive and maintain activities, support their communities and create value in their ecosystems. This book addresses COVID-19 and entrepreneurship by exploring challenges and opportunities for small business. Small businesses have proven resilient in crisis situations. The direct, unquestionable and passionate involvement of entrepreneurs and their families provides strength that large organisations usually envy. However, in such times of crisis small businesses need support, innovation and solidarity to overcome the difficulties. A focus on humanity for all people involved, including entrepreneurs and their loved ones, customers, neighbours and all stakeholders is essential. Liquidity and resilience are also critical with governments, financial institutions and property owners providing understanding and support. Flexible and innovative operating models are needed to deal with the uncertainty of any crisis and to address contextual challenges in a smart way. This book contributes to this discussion by providing research, best practice and a dialogue from different parts of the world." Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University, Business School, UK "COVID-19 has significantly changed the world on multiple levels and led to a need for remedies and solutions with an urgent imperative for entrepreneurial transformation. This edited book looks at the role of small business in developing entrepreneurship, thereby offering a novel and insightful read." Catherine Prentice, Griffith University, Australia "This is one of the first books to examine the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and entrepreneurship in the context of small business. It can help readers understand how small businesses and start-ups can best deal with the COVID-19 pandemic." David Ahlstrom, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong "This book discusses insights from the SMEs' challenge during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. It reflects how impacts differed for entrepreneurs' and managers' perceptions and those located in and outside emerging markets. In the end, there is much potential for SMEs to contribute to a more inclusive, collaborative and open innovation post-COVID economy." Maribel Guerrero, Northumbria University, Faculty of Economics and Business, UK "The book edited by Dr. Ratten works well for a student of Entrepreneurship to understand the impact of unforeseen events such as Covid-19 spread. Predictions related to future are not easy but planning from Black Swan events is not impossible either. This book helps the student get a clarity on the cause and effect of strategies used by the governments in designing specific policies. The book also helps the student of entrepreneu