Rachel Doern, Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period (2021)

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A 2021 journal article by Rachel Doern of Goldsmiths, University of London, Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period, in Journal of Business Venturing Insights 15 (2021) e00221. The abstract says a weekly diary study followed a group of entrepreneurs in London over the first couple of months of the COVID-19 lockdown beginning March 23, 2020. It describes four sets of responses borrowed from boxing: checking vitals, blocking, deflecting, and developing tactical awareness. The article lists receipt on 21 August 2020 and acceptance on 21 December 2020, and an open access license.

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“Rachel Doern, Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period (2021).” Original at research.gold.ac.uk. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/rachel-doern-knocked-down-but-not-out-and-fighting-to-go-the-distance-d0e69bca75/, SHA-256 9d0fa2a0fa08842bbbd29f24700c9eba15ac72dc3e2b986e49a0e9b65d46b86f.

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Journal of Business Venturing Insights 15 (2021) e00221

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Venturing Insights
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbvi

Knocked down but not out and ﬁghting to go the distance: Small
business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial
impact period
Rachel Doern *
Institute of Management Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study explores in real time how small businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the initial
Entrepreneurship crisis impact period and what kinds of actions they take. A weekly diary study following a group of
Crises entrepreneurs in London over the ﬁrst couple months of the COVID-19 inspired lockdown across
COVID-19
the UK beginning March 23, 2020, found that small businesses were knocked down but not out by
Coronavirus
Lockdown
events. Small businesses were increasing their chances of survival (going the distance) by 1)
Diary study monitoring business functioning and detecting risks (checking vitals), 2) initiating quick defensive
moves to absorb damages and defend against additional risks (blocking), 3) undertaking more
skilful moves to avoid further damages (deﬂecting), and 4) planning the next move and managing
expectations (developing tactical awareness). While the unfolding crisis does not literally represent a
ﬁght, features of how boxers engage in a ﬁght were borrowed to help explain small business
responses.

1. Introduction

While research on entrepreneurship and crises has historically been limited, the advent of COVID-19 is a watershed moment that
promises to bring the ﬁeld to a new level. COVID-19 is especially important from a research perspective because it provides us as
entrepreneurship scholars with the opportunity to study a crisis as it unfolds. Until now, research has been concerned mainly with
examining pre-crisis planning and post-crisis responses to one-off crises (e.g., Linnenluecke and McKnight, 2017; Williams and Shep-
herd, 2016; Doern, 2016; Brünjes and Revilla-Diez, 2013; Runyan, 2006; Irvine and Anderson, 2004; Corey and Deitch, 2011), and the
negative and positive consequences for entrepreneurship (Doern et al., 2019). The ﬁner-grained experiences around and processes
associated with business responses to an unfolding crisis in situ have not been explored. The research question for this study is how do
small business businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the early stages of the crisis impact period and what kinds of actions do they
take?
According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is an infectious disease transmitted mainly by respiratory droplets emitted
through speaking, sneezing or coughing. The origins of the disease were traced back to China in December 2019, and by the spring of
2020, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, responsible for enormous social and economic losses. Lockdowns were imposed by
most governments around the world forcing the closure of non-essential businesses (not emergency services, hospitals, pharmacies,
supermarkets, petrol stations) and instructing the public to stay at home.

* 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, SE14 6NW, UK.
E-mail address: r.doern@gold.ac.uk.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00221
Received 21 August 2020; Received in revised form 21 December 2020; Accepted 21 December 2020
2352-6734/© 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
R. Doern Journal of Business Venturing Insights 15 (2021) e00221

Taking an inductive research approach and utilizing a qualitative diary method, this study followed a group of small business en-
trepreneurs in London over the ﬁrst two months of the lockdown. Due to similarities in the data between crisis responses and how boxers
engage in a ﬁght, I used terminology related to boxing and the metaphor of going the distance to capture how small businesses were
increasing their chances of business survival by checking vitals, blocking, deﬂecting and developing tactical awareness. This is the ﬁrst study
to capture small business responses to an unfolding crisis over the initial impact period in real time, and to create a picture of short-term
recovery.

1.1. Entrepreneurship and crises: from pre-to mid to post-crisis impact

While all stages of a crisis are signiﬁcant for organizations – the pre-crisis period, period of crisis impact, and post-crisis period
(Smith, 1990; Raphael, 1986; Cohen and Ahearn, 1980) – few studies focus on the second and most are concerned with the third (Smith,
1990). Pearson and Mitroff (1993) described three phases of the pre-crisis period as detecting vulnerabilities, crisis prepara-
tion/prevention and containment (i.e., measures to limit effects at the onset of a crisis). In entrepreneurship, a handful of studies have
looked at pre-crisis planning and preparedness (e.g., Herbane, 2019; Mu~ noz et al., 2019) but not containment. Crisis planning can
prevent or shorten the length of business interruption and a reliance on external support (Herbane, 2019), reducing negative conse-
quences. The post-crisis period is about recovery and learning (Pearson and Mitroff, 1993). Recovery is concerned with identifying
activities and operations over the long term to bring the business back to normal, while learning uncovers factors that negatively affect
ﬁrm performance in a crisis and uses that information in pre-crisis planning (Pauchant and Mitroff, 1992). Following the London 2011
riots, for example, small businesses were recovering by mobilizing external support, devising promotions (e.g., customer discounts) and
generating publicity; diminishing the negative effects of the crisis and increasing resilience (Doern, 2016). Resilience – how to bounce
back from a crisis, maintain a stable equilibrium (Lazarus, 1993; Wildavsky, 1988) or return to a new normal (Darkow, 2018) – captures
factors present in the entrepreneur or environment that buffer against adversity (Korber and McNaughton, 2018), such as entrepre-
neurial self-efﬁcacy (Bullough et al., 2014), prior experience of crises (Mu~ noz et al., 2019; Doern, 2016), training and resources
(Sim on-Moya et al., 2016).
The emphasis in prior research on post-crisis responses and one-off, relatively short-lived crises (Mu~
noz et al., 2019), has meant that
little is known about the crisis impact period. Research undertaken during a crisis while important is rare. More recently, studies on
COVID-19 have started to shed some light on this. For example, Kuckertz et al. (2020) examined the responses of start-ups to the
COVID-19 crisis by interviewing different actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Stuttgart, Germany. Entrepreneurs responded
quickly to the crisis by relying on existing internal resources and networks (e.g., the start-up community) and identifying new op-
portunities and directions (e.g., customer segments/channels). Drawing from a survey undertaken by the chamber of commerce in
Norrbotten Sweden, Thorgren and Williams (2020) showed that small businesses immediately deferred investments, reduced labor costs
and other expenses. Researchers noted that in the future more research should look at actions taken by small businesses within the ﬁrst
few months of a crisis. The current research goes further by moving away from cross-sectional data and capturing in real time how small
businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period and the actions they take using a qualitative diary study.

2. Methodology

Diary studies and other intensive longitudinal methods are well suited to investigate thoughts, emotions and behaviors in their
natural environments (Bolger and Laurenceau, 2013). Their value also lies in capturing how phenomena unfold with more immediacy,
detail and less retrospection than studies using cross-sectional designs (e.g., Poppleton et al., 2008). Weekly diary studies, while used
very little in entrepreneurship research, have both examined how nascent entrepreneurs use imagination in the venture creation process
(Frederiks et al., 2013) and characteristics associated with psychological strain in self-employed workers (Totterdell et al., 2006). As in
other ﬁelds, they have relied on structured, quantitative measures that pre-specify events/emotions (Symon, 2004). By contrast,
“qualitative diaries may not pre-specify activities, events, attitudes or feelings but allow the respondent to record subjective perceptions
of phenomena of relevance to themselves at that point in time” while the researcher “understand(s) the respondent’s reactions, de-
scriptions, and so on from the respondent’s perspective and within the context of their own worlds” (ibid – p. 99).
Entrepreneurs and their small businesses are closely intertwined. For this reason, to address the research question, weekly qualitative
diaries were collected from eight London-based entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 lockdown.1 As with other studies in entrepre-
neurship that rely on small research samples, the focus was on lived experiences (Berglund, 2007; Cope, 2011). Entrepreneurs were
identiﬁed through networks or by referral. Personal connections were important given the commitment diaries require and over a
difﬁcult period. To participate they had to be owner-managers of small established ofﬂine businesses, working in close proximity with

1
In the UK, the lockdown was declared a ‘national emergency’ by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on March 23, 2020. All shops selling non-
essential goods were ordered to close – e.g., clothing shops, hair, beauty, nail salons, gyms, pools and leisure centres, hotels, hostels and theatres;
cafes, restaurants and pubs could do takeaway or delivery service only. Those that could remain open included supermarkets, corner shops/news-
agents, pharmacies, hardware shops, bicycle shops, petrol stations and post ofﬁces. Some businesses moved to remote working. Schools were shut,
social events and gatherings with more than two people banned, and people were instructed they could leave their homes only to buy food or
medicine or exercise once a day, otherwise risk ﬁnes. Most participants were approached on March 16, 2020, just prior to lockdown; the same day the
PM announced that people within the UK should avoid all non-essential contact, certain businesses such as pubs and restaurants, and non-essential
travel. The lockdown was extended mid-April.

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employees and customers. (See Table 1).
The data presented below capture the ﬁrst eight weeks of lockdown in London. Entrepreneurs were emailed weekly and asked what
they were doing, what conversations they were having with stakeholders, what they were thinking, how they were personally feeling,
how they were managing, what, if anything, made the last week easier and what made it difﬁcult, whether they were planning for
recovery and if so what these plans were. Data analysis was inductive, covering 49 diaries (a few were absent), approximately 120 pages
of data, and relied on open coding and comparative analysis (Corbin and Strauss, 1990; Glaser, 1965). First-order concepts and
second-order themes relating to small business responses were identiﬁed from diary data, along with an aggregate theme (Gioia et al.,
2012).
That is, to understand more about how small businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period and what kinds
of actions they take, the coding process evolved in three stages. In the ﬁrst stage, I examined diary data line-by-line, creating ﬁrst-order
concepts via open coding. Analyses of the data from the ﬁrst month of lockdown revealed entrepreneurs had a strong preoccupation with
damages to businesses and defending businesses against further damages – monitoring, absorbing and avoiding damages. Due to high
uncertainty in the environment, recovery was not visible. By the second month of lockdown, entrepreneurs started entertaining thoughts
of recovery and making cautious and ﬂexible plans, shifting the focus slightly between more reactive, defensive moves, and proactive
moves. In the second stage of analysis, I moved from raw data to interpretation. This involved examining similarities and differences
between ﬁrst-order concepts and looking for relationships in the data (Corbin and Strauss, 1990). The intensity of emotions expressed by
entrepreneurs, along with the speed and agility with which they responded to the unfolding crisis, suggested they were engaged in a
ﬁght for business survival. This observation made me reﬂect on other kinds of ﬁghts, speciﬁcally boxing and its parallels with the
COVID-19 inspired lockdown; including the difﬁculties of planning when uncertainty is high and the need to stay calm in this context
and adapt quickly in either case – i.e., as a crisis unfolds during the impact period especially and in a ﬁght following a knockdown or
major punch. As Mike Tyson once famously said: “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. This resulted in grouping
entrepreneurs’ responses in to second-order, boxing-related themes, through a process of axial coding (Corbin and Strauss, 1990). These
boxing-related themes – checking vitals, blocking, deﬂecting and developing tactical awareness – represented the different kinds of strategies
entrepreneurs were using to increase their chances of small business survival and get through the crisis without being knocked out, what
I have labelled as going the distance – the main aggregate theme. Aggregate themes are those that tend to come up repeatedly and are
central to the phenomenon (Gioia et al., 2012).

2.1. Findings: responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period

As mentioned, there were notable similarities in the diary data between how small businesses were responding to the unfolding crisis
in the early stages of crisis impact and how boxers engage in a ﬁght. For this reason, I used terminology related to boxing and the
metaphor of going the distance to help explain the ﬁndings. Regarding the use of metaphors in management research, O’Malley and Tynan
(2000) have argued: “As a conceptual tool a metaphor must be literally false while simultaneously offering creative possibilities when
source and target domains interact” (p. 593). This suggests that while the COVID-19 crisis and associated lockdowns do not literally
represent a ﬁght, features of how boxers engage in a ﬁght can be borrowed to suggest how small businesses initially adjusted to the
unfolding crisis and the kinds of actions they took. (See Table 2 for small business responses and related themes). As the ﬁndings will
show, small businesses were knocked down but not out by events.

2.2. Checking vitals

Entrepreneurs were monitoring business functioning over lockdown (i.e., ﬁnancial, human and physical damages) to ascertain losses
and where things currently stood, and detecting further risks to businesses (e.g., declining sales, work, reserves). I have labelled this
response as checking vitals. Checking vitals is generally concerned with examining an individual’s pulse, breathing, temperature and so
on to determine if they are within healthy levels (as ringside doctors may do in a boxing match). Business vitals were especially weak

Table 1
Proﬁle of participants.
Participant number Participant Business Business age (years) Business size (employee numbers) Open/Closed during the lockdown
age focus

Part 1 30–35 Cafe 10–15 10–15 Closeda
Part 2 30–35 Restaurant 5–10 approx. 10 Closeda
Part 3 50–55 Wholesale 20þ approx. 10 Open
Part 4 55þ Pub 20þ 15–20 Closed
Part 5 35–40 Consultancy 10–15 approx. 200 Openb
Part 6 40–45 Restaurants 5–10 65–70 Closed
Part 7 45–50 Pub 15–20 approx. 10 Closed
Part 8 55þ Consultancy 5–10 20–25 Openb

Ranges have been provided in order to protect anonymity.
a
Closed a couple weeks in to lockdown and re-opened prior to the end of the two months (the period of investigation). The others that closed did so
just prior to lockdown and had not yet re-opened by the end of the data collection period.
b
Closed ofﬁces and switched to remote working.

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Table 2
Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period.
Aggregate Dimension: Going The Distance

Second-order First-order concepts Illustrative data extracts
themes

Checking Monitoring business functioning/ “Weekend activity was down by 50% and nearly all our customers arrived between midnight and
Vitals damages 2am. Friday and Saturday night are our busiest nights and these two nights, in a way, support the rest
of the week”. (Part 7, wk 1)
“By the ﬁrst or second week of March [sales were X] like 50–60% and by the last few days it was down
by 80 or 90 percent”. (Part 6, wk 1)
“[O]ur business is predominantly dine in … Almost all reservations have been cancelled and we face
uncertainty with walk ins only. Last week, the cancellations started coming in thick and fast and we
had to increase takeaways. Also staff are on edge with instructions on self-isolation, not wanting to
spread the virus in the business. Lots of uncertainty”. (Part 2, wk 1)
“My mood is up and down, largely ok and reﬂective, but very frustrated. It’s really strange to run
a business which is doing extremely well and then quite suddenly hits a wall where we can only do
about 25% of our work from next month because our clients simply can’t engage with us and many
have been redeployed to deal with [the crisis]”. (Part 8, wk 2)
“Felt lots of anxiety, uncertainty, adjusting to a new world. Business totally compromised”. (Part 2,
wk 2)
“Our turnover will almost be half in 2020 of that in 2019”. (Part 1, wk 6)
“Since the 20th of March the company has lost [X] in sales. Easter weekend and this weekend are big
bank holiday weekends. This allows us to build up reserves. We are having to pay out [X] a month in
costs, to cover rent and operating costs whilst remaining closed. We have received no ﬁnancial
support from the Government and [council]. Before Covid-19 we were 18% up year on year. With no
end date in sight in the lockdown being lifted it makes it very difﬁcult to look at a business
recovery plan. If Social Distancing restrictions are implemented, we will not be able to operate at
capacity and we need to operate at capacity at the weekend to meet our ﬁnancial obligations”. (Part 4,
wk 6)
Detecting future risks “My biggest concern is we don't have the capital to survive a long period of closure. I'm also worried
about myself and everyone else that works for us, how they'll be paid etc”. (Part 1, wk 1)
“[I] am concerned, ﬁrst for staff welfare. Then for work/[the]organization … Our staff are parents, so
there are now constraints on how much they can now work, especially if their children are primary
school age or younger. After that I am concerned about whether we may enter a phase as severe as
Italy is now going through, where it is difﬁcult to see how much routine economic activity can be
sustained even through home working. In which case, our work could dry up, and we would then
need to see how long our reserves could sustain us”. (Part 8, wk 1)
“The real challenge for us is that whilst we have a lot of projects that we need to work on we will see a
natural slowdown with our pipeline. This will impact us in 2021”. (Part 5, wk 2)
“Even if the lockdown is lifted, life would be different, I cannot imagine lots of people eating out”.
(Part 3, wk 5)

Blocking Employing quick and defensive moves “We have had to … ensure that all our staff can work at home and be fully operational. Then we have
to absorb damages had to set up new communications channels and check the wellbeing of staff, especially younger staff,
sometimes living on their own, or away from their home country”. (Part 8, wk 1)
“Practically we are supporting staff, we are putting home working procedures in place and giving our
clients all the support we can”. (Part 5, wk 1)
“I am working on business-related matters as in furloughed staff to ensure that they get paid and are
able to live, pay bills and eat”. (Part 4, wk 2)
“Negatively dealing with people, staff and customers alike has been unbelievably, unbearably
stressful. We've had people crying … constant questions about pay etc … [T]orn between needing to
keep my business going but then feeling like I should shut for public good” (Part 1, wk 2).
“We've paused our one debt … We won't make any payments for VAT or PAYE at present, but that's
about it. I would like to try and pay all suppliers. All our staff will be furloughed for time being”. (Part
1, wk 2)
“I immediately cancelled every payment that could go out of the account … [suppliers, rent] … we
sent a communication to everyone saying we would be stopping payments until further notice”. (Part
6, wk 2)
“I’m very proud that we have built a robust enough business that we didn’t have to make anyone
redundant. The ﬂip side is we have achieved this by deploying cash reserves, asking some to take pay
cuts, asking some to reduce hours and placing others on furlough”. (Part 5, wk 3)
“Attempting to engage with the landlords to ask for a freeze on the rent. They have not acknowledged
any emails. Rent of [X] a month still has to be paid”. (Part 4, wk 4)
Defending business against further “Last week we had a member of staff who presented with symptoms. We had to immediately close the
risks ofﬁce and have [X] people work remotely”. (Part 5, wk 1)
“We have made the decision to stop trading completely whilst the virus is rife. As a restaurant we are
allowed to continue trading takeaway/delivery to the public but we felt we had a duty to our staff and
public to stay safe and not operate to minimize risk of passing the infection on. Social distancing
practises would be hard to abide by in a busy hot kitchen. And I personally would face not seeing
family members if we continued trading. The same goes for team members, the personal impact is
huge”. (Part 2, wk 2)

(continued on next page)

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Table 2 (continued )
Aggregate Dimension: Going The Distance

Second-order First-order concepts Illustrative data extracts
themes

“We were still trading and although sales were down by about 20% ish we could have continued with
a bit of a plan/amended rota and a few furloughs. We unanimously decided to close because it didn't
feel right being open. Most of us didn't feel comfortable being open, exposing ourselves to many many
people each day (regardless of any changes to the serving structure)”. (Part 1, wk 3)

Deﬂecting Avoiding damages and protecting “Because of the decisions around staff, it was an emotional week. Actually being away from the ofﬁce
entrepreneurs/ and not seeing the people every day made the emotional aspect a touch easier”. (Part 5, wk 3)
businesses by: “Surrounding myself with positive inﬂuences and speaking to the right people at the right time is also
key. I’ve found that many of the people I’m speaking to are either up or down based upon their last
conversation. For personal energy saving and harvest reasons, planning who I speak to and when has
become an important part of the day”. (Part 5, wk 4)
Regulating emotions “Well it’s rather positive news to have it suggested that as a country we are now over the expected
worse. However buoyed this makes me feel, it comes with … late and strangely delivered information
from the Government that I can’t help feeling rather distrustful”. (Part 7, wk 6)
“I have to keep focused and hope the hospitality sector can recover. It is clear that only the
strongest of businesses without government support will survive”. (Part 4, wk 7)
“I don’t have any concerns because I reached a point of thinking that concerns are not good and we
have already touched the bottom so from now things should go better”. (Part 3, wk 8)
Mobilizing resources from networks “I have been in contact with our MP [name] … [They have] written directly to the Chancellor to
outline our position … that the rateable value approach mentioned for London is set at a higher level
rather than a national UK rate”. (Part 4, wk 4)
“I make sure every week I spend time to talking to all different stakeholders. Hearing what their
challenges and fears are enable me to position our strategies in the right position”. (Part 5, wk 4)
“Talking to my business partner that runs the other businesses I have an interest in. Speaking to the
manager of my shop. Looking at how other shops in other countries are trying to operate in the
current conditions. Talking to suppliers about starting back up again. Sorting out … grants. Talking to
other business owners about what they’re doing”. (Part 1, wk 5)
“A lot of people from the sector [have been] sharing information in a very quick manner … industry
leaders [are] shining the path forwards … it has been really reassuring”. (Part 6, wk 5)
“Knowing we’re together in all of this. That there are people campaigning for your same interests.
That has been really reassuring …”. (Part 6, wk 5)
“Our business offering is about to change … I have spent my time capturing sentiment, fear, risk and
need from our clients”. (Part 5, wk 6)
“We launched a[n] [online funding page/campaign] last Friday …. Yesterday morning, we had a
prime spot with [X] News … As of this morning we have reached [X pounds], half way of the target
aim. The secures rent for the next 2 months and is a much welcome relief”. (Part 4, wk 8)
Using the momentum and features of “Our complete operating system as a business has had to change. We have gone from being a business
the crisis that promoted the tangibility of what we do to clients and new members of staff to connecting with
them digitally”. (Part 5, wk 2)
“The whole business development function has had to be repositioned to identify opportunities once
the market returns”. (Part 5, wk 3)
“[W]e are in the process of doing this [changing our products/services]. This is one of the exciting
things to come out of this. Being a [X] business, much of what we do is about the engagement of staff
and how to create a purposeful working environment. The enforced social distancing and WFH
measures have a major impact on this, not just in the now but when people return to the ofﬁce. There
is a big opportunity for us to become the thought leaders in this space”. (Part 5, wk 3)
“It seems a little crazy on the one hand to be talking about trying to save my businesses, while on the
other hand thinking about opening more shops. But deﬁnitely I think there may be the possibility of
taking on other locations … I think in the short and medium long-term people are going to stay
localized and that could have a positive effect on business”. (Part 1, wk 4)
“We have just started with our e-commerce but we need to improve a lot; selecting the right products,
having a range of products that might attract people who can afford them”. (Part 3, wk 5)
“We will limit the amount of food we sell and maybe try and change up that offering … a relatively
simply business model”. (Part 1, wk 5)
“Getting the shop open, understand what’s happening. Adapt if we need to and then maybe look at
ways to beneﬁt from this change of peoples habits and patterns”. (Part 1, wk 7)
“I mentioned diversifying before … I’m feeling like with this team we could set up venue design
[business] relatively easily - we work together well and have a solid understanding of the licensing
trade, how a bar works and [what the] service industry needs, building regs, construction and plans.
I’m more than a little excited. You’re getting more out of me than almost anyone else ever has
…”. (Part 7, wk 7)
“What has been good is the opportunity to get creative and think about new ideas into the new
business model. If we are to survive we must adapt. [What is difﬁcult] is taking risks and seeing if our
new way of working will be proﬁtable going forward. Change will always bring a little anxiety”. (Part
2, wk 8)

Planning the next move “It is difﬁcult to know what to do with an extension announced yesterday and no end date in sight or
any sign of a strategy from the government setting out guidelines to business. It is very frustrating”.
(continued on next page)

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Table 2 (continued )
Aggregate Dimension: Going The Distance

Second-order First-order concepts Illustrative data extracts
themes

Developing (Part 4, wk 4)
Tactical “I’ve been turning over ideas considering how the return to the new normal might be … but I still
Awareness think it is too soon to plan much”. (Part 7, wk 4)
“The initial phase has felt like a reasonably successful move to home working, but we now have to
plan for a new normal that could last many months. Things we are thinking about include: how to
start new projects where we have never met the [clients], or been to their town or city (much of our
current work is the completion of projects that begun before the lockdown, so we already had an
established way of working on these); when and how to return to any ofﬁce location(s), and what we
would need from these, for the safety of our staff, and minimal services”. (Part 8, wk 5)
“We are developing our recovery approach and are trialling this”. (Part 8, wk 5)
“Now considering plans if the government suggest outside drinking allowed … Also looking at
making wipe clean booths and more contained seating at our premises. One of my team is a welder
and one is an architect so we’re working at that”. (Part 7, wk 6)
“People are always going to have an appetite for coffee - but we are at the very premium end of the
spectrum. What happens when people start to feel pinched, when the layoffs really start? The only
options we have, in my head at least, are to try and sell more stuff and increase the lines of food again
or to strip it back, even more, go down to 3 staff, or 2 staff as a last resort. I guess we will play it by ear
for the next couple of weeks. But it's hard to put together much of a coherent plan”. (Part 1, wk 8)
“I guess [I’m] quite apprehensive about what’s going to happen. The ﬁrst couple of days have been
ok. They have been less busy (monetarily) but then we have less staff and less food to buy. As I am
writing this today (Monday and it) is worryingly slow. I am happy to be open and seeing customers.
It’s good to see money coming into our account. But now we need to work out how we’re going to
adjust to this new [environment], how long that’s going to last and how we’re going to make money”.
(Part 1, wk 8)
Managing expectations “I have started wondering about what the other side will look like, what the chances are of another
lockdown being put in place when the original one lifts. Certainly, we're going to go back to a very
slow shop. We will either need to keep some people furloughed for quite some time or make them
redundant … We also don't know what will happen in the summer in regards to events. We make
quite a bit of our proﬁt through summer events and if there are none that's going to affect us. Luckily
we own nearly everything outright, so apart from storing it, we won't lose money - we just won't make
any money. I do also think there potentially might be some great opportunities out there eventually -
but it's about being in a position to act on them, and it seems unlikely we will have any cash to hand
for some time”. (Part 1, wk 3)
“Probably ﬁnding myself a little more stressed as we start thinking about re-opening. The ﬁrst few
weeks were a bit of a holiday and now the real work is going to start again. Which is slightly daunting,
knowing that the business we have built, the way we were used to operating is going to change – all
more negatively. I will be working the same, but earning less money”. (Part 1, wk 5)
“The longer the lockdown continues the more we will need to look at liquidating the business. It will
be a very sad day for all. The government has stated clearly that venues, pubs, clubs, theatres,
restaurants, cinemas, gyms will be the last out of lockdown with social distancing restriction in place.
The not knowing strategy is causing much of the hospitality industry distress”. (Part 4, wk 5)
“The company was performing well, we had just had a staff restructure - a new management team had
been formed and we were all extremely excited. I am hesitant to say but I suspect if lockdown lifts
there will be a ﬂurry of business but one has to remember debts incurred during lockdown and the
fact that a second peak/second lockdown could happen so I am not hopeful that stability is visible.
Survival will ultimately depend on my landlords I think”. (Part 7, wk 6)
“I do believe our performance will reach pre COVID-19 levels and we can exceed them. However, this
will be because we are redeﬁning our offerings and bringing new offerings to deal with the impact of
COVID-19. The business has a run way into 2021, but if the economy takes a signiﬁcant hit /
lockdown was extended for another 6 months, it would be very challenging for the cash ﬂow of the
business. We would need a loan or investment to help”. (Part 5, wk 6)

following the UK Prime Minister’s lockdown announcement on March 23, 2020. Entrepreneurs were devoting a lot of energy towards
monitoring their ﬁnancial situation in the midst of restricted sales or forced closures. They were focusing on cash ﬂow, reserves, the
extent of their lost trade and proﬁts and capacity (in terms of work/sales). Entrepreneurs were monitoring staff morale and wellbeing
which had been shaken by fears of catching or spreading the virus, threats to their ﬁnancial security, and by changing work practices.
For the ﬁrst few weeks of lockdown, concerns around ﬁnance, stafﬁng and physical risks were especially high and entrepreneurs’
emotions were correspondingly negative and intense. When an individual is seriously injured, their vitals are checked often, but less
frequently over time as they recover. Entrepreneurs were checking business vitals over the two-month period, but were especially
attentive to damages and risks in the early weeks.

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2.3. Blocking

Small businesses were adjusting to the unfolding crisis by employing quick and defensive moves to absorb the damages and defend
against further risks (e.g., closing businesses now to avoid the physical risks of working to staff and customers down the road). In boxing,
this kind of response is referred to as blocking. Blocking is about absorbing blows from opponents. During lockdown, blocking was used
to absorb the ﬁnancial shocks of the crisis and stop businesses from haemorrhaging (i.e., incurring further losses) by furloughing staff,
cutting wages, clearing stock and debt, deferring VAT payments, paying off or stopping payments to creditors such as suppliers and
landlords, and/or closing. Five of the eight small businesses closed temporarily within the ﬁrst three weeks because it was mandated by
the government, they felt it was the safest option (i.e., physical risks were deemed high) and/or learned it wasn’t viable to stay open with
restrictions in place. Two of the eight closed their ofﬁces and switched to remote working and one moved in to e-commerce. Blocking
was also used to absorb the shocks of the crisis to staff by “experimenting with new communication channels”, “checking in” on them
regularly, spending more time with them than usual, and using the government’s furlough scheme. Small businesses were not only
minimizing ﬁnancial and human risks, but associated physical risks to health and safety by establishing hygiene and social distancing
practices – e.g., hand-washing, spacing between staff and customers, remote working. Blocking behaviors were especially dominant in
the ﬁrst month.

2.4. Deﬂecting

Small businesses were adjusting to the unfolding crisis by deﬂecting further damages. In boxing deﬂection, often used in parrying and
other boxing manoeuvres, is an important tactic when opponents are strong and endurance is critical to staying in the ﬁght. Although
like blocking deﬂecting is a defensive move, it involves greater skill. That is, while blocking is concerned with absorbing blows,
deﬂecting is about avoiding blows by offering greater protection and in some cases by creating counter opportunities – e.g., using the
opponent’s energy and the openings they create to advance. Deﬂection behaviors were apparent throughout the two-month period and
included regulating emotions, mobilizing resources from networks, and using the momentum and features of the crisis to change the
business offer and create new business opportunities. All were focused on avoiding further damages and offered some protection from
the crisis. However, the ﬁrst two came from the need to conserve or build up resources, while the latter was about the need to devise new
processes and directions. Moreover, while all were responses to the crisis, those captured by the third sub-theme were shaped by the
features and pace of the crisis speciﬁcally.
Entrepreneurs were deﬂecting damages and protecting themselves from ongoing uncertainty, changing regulations and emotional
contagion, by regulating [their] emotions. For instance, by being attentive to the needs of staff as discussed, they were not only helping
staff absorb the shocks of the crisis, but were themselves absorbing the negative emotions of staff through emotional contagion: The
unconscious transfer of emotions between two individuals through the process of mimicry (Hatﬁeld et al., 1992). Emotion regulation is
when individuals “inﬂuence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions”
(Gross, 1998, p. 275). Entrepreneurs were regulating emotions by shaping conversations with staff or how often they had them, and
focusing on positive emotions like optimism and hope in a measured way. Carver and Scheier (1998) suggest that by adapting emotions,
bringing them back to a baseline, individuals are better able to adjust to a crisis. While too much negative emotion might make in-
dividuals unable to cope, too little might render them slow to respond. Negative emotions were particularly high in the ﬁrst month of the
crisis but became more subdued over time.
Entrepreneurs were deﬂecting further damages and protecting themselves and their businesses during the crisis by mobilizing re-
sources from networks. They were connecting regularly with different stakeholders (e.g., customers/clients, suppliers, employees),
listening to their concerns and factoring stakeholder views in to their recovery. They were collaborating with other businesses to share
information, lobby for support, and link up with customers. Entrepreneurs were additionally building up ﬁnancial resources. Three
mobilized government grants and two applied for a loan, but most were uncomfortable taking on debt given the uncertainty, fearing
loans would not protect them but instead make them weaker over time. A couple lobbied for Government support, including one who
started fundraising in the absence of such assistance – an action that enabled them to think more about business recovery. While the
Government made provisions for business support, not everyone was eligible.2 Loopholes and reportedly ambiguous messages/
guidelines created for some a “loss of conﬁdence” in the Government to manage the crisis. In contrast, actions taken by entrepreneurs to
mobilize resources from networks, increased their conﬁdence and helped them and their businesses adjust. The beneﬁts of conserving
and building up resources during a crisis have been widely discussed in the resilience literature (e.g., see Hobfoll, 1988).
Entrepreneurs were also deﬂecting damages and protecting their businesses by using the momentum and features of the crisis (e.g.,
lockdown, social distancing) to quickly change the business offer and create new business opportunities. This involved “refocusing” the
business offer to work in person or remotely with less capacity and lower sales (e.g., by developing/reﬁning e-commerce platforms or
digital communications, selling more to the same customers, simplifying the business model). It also involved “repurposing” the business
(e.g., by broadening/restricting the offer, researching expansion and other business opportunities). Due to social distancing, changing
consumer habits and patterns, some entrepreneurs were also actively looking at opportunities to diversify the business by focusing on
making workplaces safer, creating new products/services for a working from home (WFH) market, and/or by developing new businesses
that revolved around localization trends.

2
e.g., Including, but not limited to, small businesses with rateable values over £51,000.

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2.5. Developing tactical awareness

Finally, small businesses were adjusting to the unfolding crisis by developing tactical awareness. This need for tactical awareness
emerged in the second month from entrepreneurs’ observations around the enduring nature of the pandemic and associated restrictions
as constituting the “new normal”. In this context entrepreneurs were thinking not only about what was going on, but where things might
go and how to respond accordingly. In a ﬁght, tactical awareness is concerned with the ability to anticipate the opponent’s actions and
plan at the same time. Entrepreneurs described planning the next move, a key aspect of tactical awareness, in relation to trying to work out
how COVID-19 related regulations might change and they would respond (e.g., extending outside premises if permitted), how to
streamline business processes, provide minimal products/services, whether/when/how to return to the ofﬁce, work with clients they’ve
never met in person, and plan for recovery in the short term. This necessitated maintaining a ﬂexibility in their planning, “play[ing] it by
ear” and “trialling” plans for recovery. One entrepreneur spoke about how “hard [it was] to put together much of a coherent plan”.
Developing tactical awareness additionally involved managing expectations which, broadly speaking, is about reﬂecting on the possi-
bilities available given the circumstances and diminishing feelings of disappointment in the process. In a ﬁght, this might include
thinking through the chances of winning or losing given one’s own strength and ﬁtness and that of the opponent. In the unfolding crisis,
entrepreneurs were managing expectations of business performance and viability by acknowledging continuing uncertainty in the
external environment, the transition to less proﬁtable business models (including reduced capacity and sales) and the possibility of
another or extended lockdown.

3. Discussion and conclusions: knocked down but not out and going the distance

Collectively, I have labelled the series of actions taken by small businesses to increase their chances of survival as going the distance. In
boxing, going the distance is about making it through a match and its rounds without being knocked down. For small businesses, going
the distance starts with monitoring business functioning (checking vitals) and minimizing losses (blocking). The perceived threats to, and
ultimately ﬁght for, business survival were especially intense over the ﬁrst month of lockdown and entrepreneurs reported having little
time to plan for recovery and/or that recovery planning was premature. Findings suggest business recovery can be exceptionally difﬁcult
early on in the crisis impact period when perceived risks are high and conﬁdence in the business environment is low. During this time,
governments have an important role to play in terms of providing timely practical support and guidance (not least in this case because
the lockdown was government imposed). Policy makers should be careful not to stir up negative emotions as this can increase perceived
risks (Burns et al., 2012) and affect entrepreneurs’ conﬁdence in their ability to adjust.
In the second month of lockdown, once the immediate threats to small businesses had subsided (attributable in part to blocking and
deﬂecting behaviors) and the conﬁdence of entrepreneurs had increased, they devoted more attention and energy to recovery short term.
This involved planning their next move and managing expectations about what could be achieved (developing tactical awareness). There
was evidence of checking vitals and deﬂecting behaviors throughout the ﬁrst eight weeks of the crisis. In short, ﬁndings point to some of the
difﬁculties small businesses face in an unfolding crisis, expressly in the initial crisis impact period, and the kinds of actions they take or
can take to adjust. While entrepreneurs may be unable to choose their optimal recovery strategies in this context, they can trial plans and
experiment with those that are good enough for the time-being.
This study makes several contributions to the literature on crisis management more broadly and our understanding of entrepre-
neurship in times of crisis more precisely. To begin with, it is the ﬁrst study to document small business responses to an unfolding crisis
in real time. Findings shine new light on the world of entrepreneurs and small businesses during the initial crisis impact period, not
previously captured. The diaries of entrepreneurs’ document perceptions of and feelings about the crisis (the COVID-19 inspired
lockdown), events that have special relevance to small businesses and actions they were taking over time; and do so with more
immediacy, detail and less retrospection than prior research (e.g., Doern, 2016). Future research should continue to use more longi-
tudinal and intensive longitudinal methods to capture in detail how the experiences of entrepreneurs and small businesses evolve in an
unfolding crisis, using these insights to develop further our understanding of entrepreneurship at different stages of a crisis, revisiting
conceptualizations of crisis management (its phases) and resilience. This study has captured some of the experiences, responses and
processes involved in the early stages of the crisis impact period; previously difﬁcult to capture due to emphases in prior research on the
post-crisis period and one-off, relatively short-lived crises.
Second, this is the ﬁrst empirical study to begin to identify a potentially new phase of crisis management, short-term recovery. Before
now, it has been proposed but not investigated that short-term recovery may constitute another phase between containment and long-
term recovery that creates new processes and includes being both proactive and reactive at the same time in order to overcome a crisis
(Darkow, 2018; Kendra and Wachtendorf, 2003). Findings indicate that actions such as checking vitals and blocking were defensive and
reactive, while deﬂecting behaviors and developing tactical awareness both were defensive, reactive and proactive at the same time.
Building on this more, prior research has implied that the stages of crisis management are linear and static and has stressed that recovery
occurs in the post-crisis period after containment (Pearson and Mitroff, 1993). However, ﬁndings demonstrate that in an unfolding
crisis, businesses may move back and forth between damage containment measures such as preventing further losses and activities
associated with short-term recovery such as developing new business processes (refocusing, repurposing), identifying new business
opportunities and trialling plans. Findings further suggest actions connected to short-term recovery may have more to do with achieving
relative stability than a return to (a new) normal, which at the time of writing is, as of yet, an unknown quantity. Short-term recovery, it
seems, may be more important where crises do not have clear beginnings or endings. Relative stability should be the focus of entre-
preneurs in this context.
Third, focusing on speciﬁc themes and actions, ﬁndings show that in an unfolding crisis, [using] the momentum and features of the crisis

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itself might dictate in part how small businesses respond and the kinds of business opportunities entrepreneurs identify. This ﬁnding
appears to be novel to research on crisis management. Future research should develop this sub-theme further and investigate the kinds of
measures adopted or proposed during a crisis that endure (e.g., e-commerce). Additionally, while the theme checking vitals was con-
cerned with business vitals and monitoring business functioning to ascertain losses and detect further risks to businesses, future research
should explore this theme more, potentially broadening it to include entrepreneur vitals and personal functioning; and when, whether or
to what extent entrepreneurs monitor personal functioning in a crisis and the implications for their businesses. One entrepreneur in this
study noted the crisis had forced them to be more aware of their own “physical and mental wellbeing” and the need to look after
themselves.
Fourth, ﬁndings propose that a new mindset might be needed to help small businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis. Previous research
on unexpected events has noted the importance of developing an anticipation and containment mindset (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2007).
While the former is focused on identifying all possible problems and contingencies before a crisis occurs, the latter is about building
capabilities to cope with losses, embracing ﬂexibility and adaptation, and making a commitment to resilience at the onset of a crisis.
However, such research is based on large high-reliability organizations (HROs) that devote a lot of time and energy to risk management.
Until now research has not explored the mindset of individuals and organizations going through an unfolding crisis, particularly smaller
ones with limited pre-crisis planning experience. This might require a boxer’s mindset. Although a boxer’s mindset may share features of
the other two, it also offers something new. Speciﬁcally, while entrepreneurs were similarly concerned with anticipating what happens
next, identifying potential problems and embracing ﬂexibility, this occurred in the context of an unfolding crisis. In an unfolding crisis, a
boxer’s mindset additionally involves acting quickly while taking stock of damages and responses, assessing where things stand. It is
about reﬂecting on how a crisis is evolving and the implications for the business, thinking about where things might be going and where
one needs to be. A boxer’s mindset is further about accepting the need for short-term planning, engaging in the practice of trialling plans,
and managing expectations around what is possible given the challenges at present and ahead. Future research should investigate
whether the responses and potential mindset uncovered here are still observed after the initial impact period and across other unfolding
crises.
Finally, ﬁndings show how crisis management and resilience, often discussed separately (Williams et al., 2017), work together in
practice. That is, the actions taken to assess and minimize damages, and detect, defend against and deﬂect further risks and make steps
towards recovery, not only helped small businesses adjust to the unfolding crisis by achieving relative stability short-term, they enabled
entrepreneurs to adjust as well – i.e., to feel more positive or neutral, conﬁdent and reassured, and able to go the distance.

Author statement

I declare that the work has not been published previously.

Declaration of competing interest

There is no conﬂict of interest.

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to the Editor-in-Chief, Dimo Dimov, for his excellent and continuous support, encouragement and guidance
throughout this process. My deepest thanks also goes to the participants who shared their experiences and insights with me during a very
difﬁcult period of time.

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