Question.

How has COVID-19 pandemic affected the Filipino entrepreneurs especially the
newbies in the business?

COVID – 19 pandemic has negatively impacted the Filipino entrepreneurs especially the newbies
in the business. As a result of the negative outlook, young entrepreneurs have had to lay off staff
or reduce staff hours, had to cancel orders from suppliers, had to postpone investments, and to
reduce wages.
Some young entrepreneurs reported a decrease in financial turnover and had to borrow or reach
into savings. Looking at impacts across different sectors, enterprises in the consumer products,
tourism, arts, events and hospitality sectors report the most negative impacts. Unsurprisingly,
enterprises in the technology, telecommunications and education sectors report the least negative
impacts.
The importance and difficulty of challenges facing entrepreneurs can vary based on where they
are in their entrepreneurial journey. The effect of COVID-19 on businesses has been large and
overwhelmingly negative, and effects can vary related to business characteristics, like industry,
and business owner characteristics, like race.
Across business ages, entrepreneurs were most concerned with finding new customers. Among
entrepreneurs with a new business, finding new customers surpassed funding to start the business
as the top reported challenge during COVID-19. Accessing startup and growth financing during
COVID-19 conditions was a bigger challenge for entrepreneurs with a new business less than 1
year old, compared to entrepreneurs with a young or mature business.
For entrepreneurs of all business ages, finding new customers was the most common challenge
reported. Among those with a new business less than 1 year old, 4 in 5 reported this as a challenge,
compared to about 7 in 10 owners of businesses that were 5 years or older.
In this pandemic, if the world has quickly shifted under our eyes, the different scenarios and
realities are not the same depending on where you are running your business today. Those
entrepreneurs in COVID-impacted sectors should be ready to lose.