Sri Lankan SMEs amidst the COVID-19 Crisis: Assessing Impact and Combating Strategies
Keywords:
Small and Medium Enterprises, COVID-19 Virus, StrategiesAbstract
The Covid-19 epidemic had an impact on all global economic activities. Aim of this study is to identify how Covid-19 affected Small Medium Enterprises (SME) in Sri Lanka, what are the actions those affected SMEs have taken to survive during pandemic and implemented strategies for the sustainable future of their businesses. To investigate how Covid-19 affected SME in Sri Lanka, a qualitative research approach was used and Eight SMEs were interviewed via phone calls and video conference calls for data collection. The study's findings revealed that the majority of SMEs in Sri Lanka were severely impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic. s. However, in order to survive, SMEs have taken many steps and they have developed and implemented methods to ensure the long-term sustainability of their enterprises. As a result, methods such as maintaining a healthy cash flow, digital transformation, and improving product and service quality have been implemented to ensure long-term sustainability. The findings of this study will pave the way for SMEs in Sri Lanka to understand how they should react in a pandemic situation, what are the actions they should implement to survive during pandemic, strategies that SMEs should develop for sustainable future.
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