Mainly they are focusing on a small income that can feed their families and give a small saving. They are mainly kept indoors because of which the small businesses are suffering. We can hope that by the end of 2021 the pandemic will stop testing the world and things will be back to normal. Till then the small businesses who look forward to grow even during the pandemic will have to look out for creative ways to engage with the market.
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Many businesses have come up with creative ways to solve this problem but it doesn't solve the major market's problem of reachability to its customers.
Small Businesses & Local Lockdowns due to Second Wave of Covid-19 in India
In the wake of 2021 when we just thought things were starting to look up, the second wave of Coronavirus took over. On 12th April, India recorded a ruthless 169,000 covid infections surpassing the count in Brazil which was second in the list of worst affected countries. To gain a control of the situation in India, the states started imposing local lockdowns. The areas under lockdown or curfew are suffering heavily especially the small businesses. The main problem faced by the small businesses is access to markets during the pandemic where it can sell because people have gone inside cocoons to save themselves from the impending disaster.
Many businesses have come up with creative ways to solve this problem but it doesn’t solve the major market’s problem of reachability to its customers. To revive the small businesses, the government also tried to help but it is less significant in India owing to the GDP per capita. Higher the GDP per person, higher is the level of measures taken to save the business as a percentage of the GDP. In a nutshell, the wealthier countries are more prudently helping the small businesses than third world countries or developing countries like India.
Economy slowdowns as Small businesses are stumbling
With the curfews and lockdowns in 2021 the state of small businesses has reached a new low as compared to that in 2020. Those in the manufacturing sector of small businesses have shown facing tougher struggles. A survey by data firm Dun & Bradstreet has shown 82% of businesses have undergone a crucially negative impact during the second wave of the pandemic.
In Bihar, because of night curfew from 6pm to 6am, all shops and businesses need to be closed from 4pm onwards. In Uttarakhand, this time is even more lengthened to close the shops at 2pm. With these restrictions apart from curfew, the small businesses can hardly make a living leave aside the pleas for profit. While walking down the roads during this time of closing one can feel the terror of the second wave of the pandemic and the stark loss that most of the small businesses are suffering from due to early closure of shops and the local curfews and lockdowns.
Another problem faced by the small businesses is productivity. In this grip of Covid-19, these businesses are failing to reach out to the production companies and lacking in productivity due to a lower number of commuters who are available to work.
