The Covid-19 pandemic brought about a major economic breakdown throughout the world due to the shutting down of businesses and organizations. Covid –19 took a toll on India also, the second-most populous country. In India, family-run businesses are the deep-rooted, oldest, and most widespread form of business ownership. Most family businesses, while keeping the welfare of their customers, employees, and communities in mind, have resorted to remote work and halting non-essential work. The government of India took measures mainly consisting of an increased moratorium period, corporate tax cuts, lower interest on delayed tax payments, extension in return filing deadline, and other policy decisions. This study discusses the impact of Covid-19 on family businesses and how family businesses cope with the shock to the system. In addition, it covers innovative and strategic solutions adopted by the family businesses as a shield to their business against the impact of the crisis and to grow progressively overcoming the pandemic situation.
Top1. Introduction
The ongoing outbreak of Covid-19, a respiratory infection initially diagnosed in December 2019, is the most recent threat to world health. A novel coronavirus was discovered to be responsible, with structural similarities to the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (Fauci, Lane, and Redfield, 2020). The virus initially arose in the People's Republic of China's Hubei Province, and it has since spread to a number of other countries. Based on rising case notification rates in China and around the world, the WHO Emergency Committee declared a global health emergency in January 2020 (Velavan, Thirumalaisamy, & Christian 2020). The world has paid a high price in terms of human lives lost, economic ramifications, and increased poverty since the initial pandemic.
This pandemic was so severe that it exposed vulnerabilities in worldwide healthcare systems, which were unprepared to handle a large number of patients who required respiratory assistance in a short period of time. Health officials were compelled to cease all non-urgent medical treatments and convert units into ICUs or sub-ICUs as a result of the situation. Because of the epidemic, scientists have had to band together to tackle this unusual infection (Ciotti et al., 2020).
According to the International Monetary Fund, the world economy would drop by more than 3% in 2020, the greatest decline since the 1930s Great Depression. The pandemic has pushed the global economy into a state of recession, which means that economies are shrinking rather than increasing. During the coronavirus pandemic, some governments throughout the world adopted lockdowns to “level the curve” of the infection. As a result of the lockdowns, millions of individuals were confined to their homes, businesses were closed, and virtually all economic activity was suspended (Indian Express 2020).
The pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy and society, causing tens of millions of people at risk of falling into abject poverty (Chriscaden, 2020). However, governments had no choice but to impose restrictions on the movement of people to enable social distancing, which resulted in national economies and businesses counting the consequences such as millions of jobs lost, hospitalizations, and hospitalizations, among other things (Chriscaden, 2020: Jones, Palumbo, & Brown, 2021). Governments all throughout the world are working hard to ensure that people are vaccinated. With all of the work that has gone into developing new vaccines. There is still no guarantee that the pandemic situation will improve. The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed many lives around the world, and it poses an unprecedented threat to public health, food systems, workplaces, enterprises, and the global economy.