THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SMALL BUSINESS’S SURVIVABILITY

Abstract

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact not only on public health but also on the economy. The implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by the government are heavily impacting small business enterprises. In Malaysia, 9,675 of small businesses shut down operations during the first phase of the MCO throughout the year 2020 and the impact much worsen as the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit back the world in the early quarter of 2021. The objective of this article is to explore the impact of Movement Control Order (MCO) on small business owners. Ninety (90) small business owners registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) around Melaka responded to the questionnaires. This study found that there was a consensus pattern among the respondents in which more than 51% of the respondents were unable to maintain high profit margin from the sales, lesser capacity to provide employment opportunities, barely to remain competitive and creative in marketing their products and a lesser involvement of middleman in distributing product to the customer. However, more than 88% of the business owners believed that their business and products are sufficient enough to meet the needs and demand of customers around Melaka. This result indicates that even though their profitability is greatly affected, they are still able to survive during this critical period. Furthermore, small business owners require further supports and incentives from various government agencies for long term business resilience.