Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)  are an integral part of world’s economy.  At this time of Covid -19 crisis like any other sector ,SMEs are going to be hit badly  in every aspect. As we all know SME is one of the major component for the economic growth of any nation. Small and medium enterprises also generate employment  in large scale and this is going to be affected severely due to the coronavirus spread throughout the world.
As the coronavirus pandemic shuts down whole sectors of the economy and cuts equity valuations by trillions of dollars, startups are racing to set up contingency plans, shore up their balance sheets with fresh funds, even appealing to customers to just keep buying.

Will startups be able to survive in such extreme conditions? Here are many start-ups in a similar situation or even worse as the Corona crisis deepens in the country. As most of them live by the day, absence of financial support by the concerned governments could put a question mark on their survival. Many could fold up sooner than later as B2B and B2C transactions plummet as a result of lockdown and shutdown across the world.

Tough times are ahead  for start-ups which are in their budding stage . Many fintech start-ups have seen business going down by nearly half as the coronavirus started taking its toll. Many small scale entrepreneurs have suddenly seen a downfall in their business and an immediate intervention to rescue them can be the only solution. The growing COVID-19 crisis threatens to disproportionately hit developing countries, not only as a health crisis in the short term but as a devastating social and economic crisis over the months and years to come. 

Income losses are expected to exceed $220 billion in developing countries. With an estimated 55 per cent of the global population having no access to social protection, these losses will reverberate across societies, impacting education, human rights and, in the most severe cases, basic food security and nutrition.

In the days of pandemic  the entire  global economy has come to a standstill and the start ups are looking forward to major bail out packages to come out of this crisis. While businesses across sectors are finding it a challenge to stay up and running, it has been a particularly distressing time for small businesses and SMEs who gloomily stare at an uncertain future.

By OMNES editor