Survival of Small and Medium Enterprises in Bulawayo Metropolitan Post Covid-19

Abstract

Small businesses are always confronted by a plethora of challenges even when the operating ‘landscape’ is normal. The advent of Covid-19 posed an additional and unconventional difficulty to the already constrained SMEs. The governments used various method to assist SMEs to pull through the pandemic. Post Covid-19 the SMEs are still struggling to generate revenue and reduce operating costs. The paper sought to establish challenges and measures put in place to address the challenges either by SMEs or the government. A qualitative research approach aligned with interpretivism research philosophy was adopted in this paper. The research subjects were selected using a convenient sampling technique. A total of 12 interviews were conducted with the managers and business owners of SMEs. The pertinent challenges faced by SMEs in the Bulawayo metropolitan are high cost of doing business, uncertainty, failure to settle international debits, and anti-business government policies. The SMEs reduce cost through operating from home, virtual meetings, renegotiating contracts with suppliers, staff retrenchment, processes automation, streamlining operation as well as inventory management. The findings also revealed that SMEs increased their revenue through sales promotions and bulky purchases discount, increasing the range of products or services as well as increasing brand awareness. This paper recommends that SMEs’ business should be engineered such that they are highly flexible to adapt and change both the nature of operations and the methods of operating. Business continuity through both succession planning and operational continuity should be at the apex of the priority list of business leaders.