Small businesses and their challenges during COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries: in the case of Ethiopia

Mainly this study was aimed at demonstrating the challenges of small businesses during the corona virus pandemic in developing countries, specifically in Ethiopia. Methodologically, the study deployed secondary data analysis following a descriptive research design. Furthermore, this study was conducted through both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The secondary data analysis result shows that many small and large businesses are suffering challenges and this unprecedented coronavirus crisis has caused destruction for many businesses in the globe and it is challenging to survive with reduced revenue, jobs lost and life slowing down and weak marketing performance even difficult to keep a calm head and their business alive. To support these businesses, the government should use different mechanisms by cooperating with wealthy peoples and other non-governmental organizations. Besides, small business owners should manage expectations and communicate with staff, suppliers, banks, and customers throughout this coronavirus frightening. Reduce expenses be open to their employees about their finances and keep marketing, use different alternatives to deliver their product, and recover from the crisis.

Main street business owners: aging in plain sight

PurposeAging is the most important social-demographic issue worldwide, supported by the initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) in its global strategy and action plan for aging and health (Rudnicka et al., 2020). The average age of business owners in most industrialized countries is on the rise. In the United States, fifty-one percent of small private businesses are owned by someone age fifty-plus (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2018).Design/methodology/approachThe authors shed light on small business owners, who age in place. The authors suggest that their importance as long-term actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems nor the issue of “Main Street churn” have not been meaningfully explored. They become embedded in their community and possibly stuck there in retirement. Understanding the risks they face offers an opportunity for academics and practitioners to provide insights for business owners, the next generation of the acquirer and advisors. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has elevated the status of many of these businesses from invisible (and perhaps taken for granted) to “essential” and amplified the co-dependence of business and the local economy.Findings The anticipated “silver tsunami” caused by the retirements of Main Street business owners is not a national and homogeneous wave. Rather, each wave will land on beaches locally. Small business owners age in place, and their importance as long-term actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems nor the issue of “Main Street churn” have not been meaningfully explored. They become embedded in their community and possibly stuck there in retirement.Originality/value The embeddedness of these owners – who likely have social connections, community identification and feelings of responsibility to the community directly impacts the places that they care deeply about – is often unquestioned. However, their retirements call for increased visibility within entrepreneurial ecosystems and translations of scholarly work from several kinds of literature into policy and practice.

Empowering Small Businesses with Financial Technology: The Road Less Travelled

Financial services remain untapped by most of the small business owners in Bangladesh. This limited access to mobile financial services and FinTech presents a business opportunity for the FinTech startups in the market. TallyKhata and Upayare digital financial services platforms visualizing to capture the untapped sector by becoming one of the first movers in the industry. This article has studied the cases of TallyKhata and Upay in empowering small businesses in Bangladesh through the services that have made business transactions and credit management hassle-free.

Effects of parental entrepreneurial performance on the mode of entrepreneurial entry by the next-generation family members: evidence from an emerging economy

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the effects of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards, or PPERs (i.e. the offspring's perception of the degree of parental success in entrepreneurship), on the corporate venturing (CV) mode of entrepreneurial entry and the interaction effects of family business involvement (FBI) and formal employment on the association between PPER and CV by the next-generation family members.Design/methodology/approachA survey was administered to a sample of 738 small business owners in Kenya; of which, 440 small business owners were selected because they grew up in a family business context. A probit model was used to examine the main and interaction effects.FindingsPPERs significantly influenced CV. FBI improves the positive relationship whereas formal employment reduces the effects of PPER on CV.Practical implicationsFamilies in business need to improve conversations with their children to include discussions concerning the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards of running a family business, which may shape not only the entrepreneurial entry path of their offspring but also the willingness to establish businesses that may grow and lead to continuity of the family business of origin.Originality/valueThe study investigates the effect of being embedded in a business family in shaping the CV mode of entrepreneurial entry by the next-generation family members who may not, on the one hand, find independent own founding an attractive option and for whom, on the other hand, the succession mode of entry may not be an option.

Tax compliance in an EFD-enabled environment: Evidence from a developing economy

The focus of this study was to assess the contribution of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) to ensuring tax compliance among small business owners in the Arusha Region in Tanzania. The study was motivated by the fact that the government of Tanzania has invested effort and funds to ensure that revenue adequately supports development projects. Regardless of effort, there is continued reliance on external sources of funds to support development projects. This poses a question on how the introduction of EFDs would increase tax compliance and eventually impact the government income for development projects. The main objective of the study was to determine whether the rate of using EFDs, the level of transparency, fairness in tax procedures, and the perceived audit effectiveness affect the level of tax compliance. Data was analyzed using descriptive procedures, One Way ANOVA, Chi-Square, and ordinal regression. Findings of the study are as follows: First, fairness in tax procedures, the perceived level of transparency and the rate of EFD use had no impact on the level of tax compliance; second, business and EFD use experience, audit effectiveness, and the use of EFDs in tax audits have impacted tax compliance. The study recommends other government departments to consider adopting relevant technology in operational areas where transparency, fairness and compliance are required. The inclusion of other sectors not currently captured by EFD use will be a step in the right direction.

Routines as a conceptual tool for studying resources management in SMEs: evidence from Brazilian bakeries

Purpose This study aims to investigate routines as a conceptual tool to analyze resources management in small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) productive processes. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a qualitative multiple case study with Brazilian companies in the bakery industry. Data were collected through interviews, on-site observation and documentary analysis. Plus, the authors used business process modeling (BPM) techniques to map the observed routines. Findings The restrictions of SMEs accentuate the improvisation of routines. However, contrary to expected, many of these deviations expand the possibilities of organizational action as they become successful in terms of operational efficiency, which allows these companies to extract performance from ordinary resources and imitable management practices. Practical implications The BPM shows its value to track the allocation of resources in SMEs by recording the evolution of its routines and helping to preserve an operational memory. This finding could be useful to help public agencies to develop accessible management tools to assist small business owners. Originality/value Most of the conceptual tools developed to analyze the resources management are based on the study of large organizations, which may limit the analysis and lead to restricted or mistaken results if used in another context without proper adaptation. The authors apply an objective and representational epistemological lens to organizational routines to adapt it to the pragmatic context of operations management. Also, the authors suggest that better than a resource-based view, the practice-based view is a theoretical approach more compatible with the resource constraints context of SMEs.