Entrepreneurial Resilience in the COVID-19 Crisis: A Qualitative Study of Micro and Small Entrepreneurs in Poland

During global crises, small businesses suffer the most damage. At the same time, they are not sufficiently represented in the literature on entrepreneurship. At the outbreak of the pandemic, and then three months later, we conducted in-depth interviews with micro and small business owners operating in different industries in Poland. We focused on three levels of resilience: the owner, the company, and the environment. We found, among other matters, that the entrepreneurs differed in regard to the strategies they adopted in connection with the crisis and that the role of prior conceptualization in introducing new strategies was crucial. Our study contributes to the literature by providing insight into a crisis considered as an event and as a process. We also provide proposals for further research into entrepreneurial resilience. The results of this study could have practical implications for policymakers and those planning aid for entrepreneurs in a state of crisis.