DESAFIOS EMPRESARIAIS NA GESTÃO DA MICRO E PEQUENA EMPRESA EM CENÁRIO DE CRISE: IMPACTOS DO COVID-19 EM EMPRESAS DO MUNICIPIO DE PIUMHI-MG

Impactos do Covid-19 em empresas do município de Piumhi-MG

Abstract

The Coronavirus outbreak, which rapidly spread across various regions of Brazil and the world, significantly impacted socio-economic environments due to abrupt and unexpected changes, imposing significant business challenges, especially for micro and small enterprises (MSEs). This study analyzes the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on MSEs in Piumhi/MG, whose business profile is similar to most municipalities in the South/Southeast region with up to fifty thousand inhabitants. The research, conducted with 68 local entrepreneurs, aimed to identify the challenges imposed on MSEs and actions for their overcoming. The challenges arising from the pandemic scenario were perceived as an unprecedented market disruption in the three researched sectors (commerce, industry, and services), strongly affecting sales and the routine of business operations, demanding an increase in online sales, particularly in the commerce sector, customer acquisition through incentive programs, and intensified use of technological devices. There were also adaptations in the work routine, such as working from home and increased use of social networks for prospecting and interacting with customers. Many companies reduced their fixed costs and simplified, systematized, and automated their business models. However, some businesses were not viable: in four months, 4% of the ventures were discontinued. It is interesting that other studies could analyze in depth the current situation of the target population, also repeating the research in other locations, to confirm the hypothesis that the sample studied is representative of Brazilian municipalities with up to fifty thousand inhabitants.