Entrepreneurship in the Times of Pandemic: Barriers and Strategies

Abstract

Using a mixed method approach, this study investigates the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed for entrepreneurs and the strategies that organizations can adopt to make a turnaround towards survival and growth. Empirical analysis is done on the factors which have affected smaller firms during economic slowdowns in the past, and policies and plans adopted by firms to overcome the barriers. Factors such as lockdown, remote working, digital marketing and digitization were accounted through qualitative research. In the empirical analysis section, descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis have been used. In the qualitative section, thematic analysis and hierarchy charts were made with the help of NVivo software. The prime barriers which affected the firms were organizational readiness, infrastructural support by government, technological inadequacy and financial crises. The main strategies emphasized by founders to overcome the barriers of organizational readiness and financial crunch were marketing, strategic networking and product and services, and for technological ineptness was digitization.