Strategies and Challenges in Surviving amid COVID-19: The

Case of Small Restaurants in Sta. Ana Pampanga,

Philippines

INTRODUCTION
The business world is marked by a dynamic and unpredictable business risk with the
potential to affect the productivity of the organization as well as its sustainability. During this
time of pandemic, many businesses were startled because of unpreparedness, they did not expect
the great impact of it in their business. Some were forced to close their establishments and others
were having their difficulty in operating because of the protocol of the government regarding the
social distancing and limited customers are allowed to accommodate. Some businesses created
different strategies to easily adapt the current situation. The strategy is the other way around of
the business and to maintain its advantage to other business and also to improve the
organizations operation during the pandemic.

The outbreaks have prompted many countries to introduce travel bans and movement
limits. Due to the closing of many supportive industries such as retail and transportation,
entrepreneurs suffer company cancellation or closure and decreased sales. (NF Fabeil, KH
Pazim, J Langgat 2020). In less than two months, COVID-19 has sent shockwaves around the
globe. In this case, countries in South East Asia are not spared. As the disease can be transmitted
from human to human, virtually every country where the disease has been identified has pursued
comprehensive control and prevention efforts. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), or Southeast Asian Countries, as one of the nearest regions to China, various steps
have been taken to slow down and control the spread of the pandemic virus. (Muhammad Ashraf
Fauzi, Norazha Paiman 2020).

As the COVID-19 continues its disruption, the livelihood of many entrepreneurs and
small business owners has been threatened. According to a Goldman Sachs Survey, 50% of
business owners that were surveyed said they did not think they could continue business
operations for more than three months. Our current situation is deeply unsetting. Entrepreneur
are facing many obstacles, including ensuring the businesses they have put their blood, sweat and
tears into continue to stay afloat. The impact of the COVID-19 on small businesses around the
world is likely to be severe, because businesses are finding it difficult to adapt, and many are
struggling to protect workers from losing their jobs.

There is no doubt that small businesses face different challenges in running their business
during the pandemic. This challenge includes money management wherein the owner has to
make sure that there is enough cash flow to pay the bills and salaries of their employees that is
why most of the small businesses decreased the number of their personnel. In order to continue
their business, they must comply with the government health protocols such as applying new
social distancing methods, contact tracing, temperature monitoring and sanitation. Also, these
small businesses were having a hard time to reach out their customers because they are not
allowed to go out. Local businesses have had to shut their doors for a period of time and adapt
work from home orders until further notice. Many of these closures may be permanent because
of the inability of owners to pay ongoing expenses and survive the shutdown.

In the Philippines, the government announced the entire country will be placed under a
state of calamity for a period of six months. The declaration of total lockdown was also
implemented in Pampanga, wherein a lot of small businesses has to suspend their operation to
comply with the government protocols. Because of the corona virus, widespread closure of
numerous firms around the world is unprecedented (Fairlie, 2020). It is timely and relevant to
come up with an undertaking, that tackles the strategies and challenges of small restaurants on
how they cope up in this pandemic.

Research Framework and Hypotheses

For the past years Strategies and Challenges of a small business has been the priority
topic of various researchers (DL Gandy – 2015; AE Deborah, S Wilhelmina, AA Oyelana-2015;
S Turner, A Endres-2017; K Gibbons – 2015; H Karadag – 2015; D Ardjouman, B Asma-2015)
The sudden decline in demand has the biggest effect on certain small businesses. Before the
pandemic, organizations had a structured crisis plan and policy, and these companies appear to
have longer history, crisis management experience, and activities in more controlled sectors (JC
Alves, TC Lok, YB Luo, W Hao - 2020)

The context of Strategies and Challenges in Surviving amid COVID-19 lies primarily on
how to survive the pandemic on economic fallout of small businesses (McKinsey 2020).
Entrepreneurs have to face various obstacles, in particular with respect to access to finance. At
some point, all entrepreneurs would feel exhausted with multiple tasks landing on their
shoulders. The consequences of the Pandemic on their companies are the common problems
facing entrepreneurs today. (RS Kanchana, JV Divya, AA Beegom 2020).

A new literature reviews structured crisis management studies according to time and
stakeholders (MD Pfarrer, CE Short, WT Coombs 2017). The strategy is the other way around of
the business to maintain its advantage to other businesses and also to improve the organizations
operation to satisfied its customers. There is no systematic system that integrates different forms
of uncertainty, their contexts and effects, and the numerous coping mechanisms used by
managers and their results, considering the constant need to consider and handle uncertainty in
industry. This makes it difficult for business managers, especially at periods such as the current
COVID-19 pandemic, to consider the types of instability in their industries and build suitable
plans to deal with it effectively (P Sharma, TY Leung, RPJ Kingshott, NS Davcik 2020).

There is a severe impact on small businesses due to the sudden change caused by the
spread of COVID-19. Although preparing for a transformative occurrence such as Covid-19 is
almost difficult, it is now more necessary than ever to preserve the spirit of willingness and
strength that pushes entrepreneurs. The financial and psychological consequences of these abrupt
shifts are definitely not to be minimized; Instead, we will inspire small business owners to
improve collective activities and participate in the creative mentality that, in the first place,
brought them into business. Efficient marketers and small business managers, after all, are
competitive rationalists, artists, and resource profiteers. They are flexible, fast to eradicate what
does not add value, and do not fear making brave choices or even cutting corners (EW Liguori,
TG Pittz 2020). Maybe having a priority on the needs and choices of their clients is the biggest
component of success for entrepreneurs and small business owners. This viewpoint is much more
important in times of significant shift, when traditional business structures will be broken and
new opportunities will be generated.

In the opposite, immediate emergency relief after a crisis has been said to have a huge
influence on company survival. (Haynes, Danes, Schrank, & Lee, 2019). In another
development, Casillas, Moreno-Menendez, Barbero, and Clinton (2019) a positive relationship
between modernization strategies and the engagement of families in company survival was
documented. Therefore, with the patterns of things today on how corporations shut down on the
coronavirus floor across the globe. The effect of such a pandemic on the efficiency and
sustainability of many corporations needs to be studied.

This paper examines how small enterprises reacted in the immediate months after the
outbreak and focuses only around Sta.Ana Pampanga. The researchers will focus on a ten (10)
small business firms covering the food industry which are small restaurants. Strategies and
Challenges in surviving amid Covid-19 in small businesses is one of the important studies
nowadays. The literature on the problems concerning the relationship or effects of coronavirus
on the survival of affected small restaurants, because there are businesses who grow well and
other fails. A few businesses made diverse methodologies to effectively adjust the current
circumstances and these methodologies can help other small business owner who are struggling
in handling their business, by providing an effective strategy that they may use when they start to
operate their business again.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Specifically, this study will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What are the challenges they experience in the time of pandemic?

2. What are the strategies they obtained to survive their business in crisis?
3. What are the impacts of the co-vid 19 to the small restaurant around Sta. Ana,
Pampanga?
Name of Business: _________________________________________________

We are currently collecting data necessary to complete our research work, which is entitled
“Strategies and Challenges of Small Restaurant in Sta. Ana, Pampanga: Thriving and
Surviving amid Covid-19” during the Academic Year 2020-2021. This is in relation to the
requirement set forth for the completion in our subject: Accounting for Research Methods.

1. When you hear the rumor about the possible lockdown how did you react as a business
owner?
___________________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________________
2. What measures that you force to take during COVID-19?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. How would you be able to make it through?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4. Why did you decide to continue your business despite of COVID-19?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
5. In opening your business again, have you taken any loans or any deferral payment for
rent and why?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
6. How did you adapt the protocol of the government?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
7. What are the effects of this adjustments to the operation of your business?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
8. What are the challenges that you encountered in operating your business in the new
normal?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
9. What are the strategies that you apply in order to overcome the challenges that you
encountered in time of crisis?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
10. As a business owner, is it worth it to continue your business even though you are exposed
in virus?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
REFFERENCE:

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