The past two decades were among the most prosperous in history, with over a billion people lifted out of extreme poverty. Then 2020 hit, and, along with it, the coronavirus pandemic. The effect on economies will be extreme. What can small businesses do to survive the Covid-19 crisis? Business coach and author Douglas Kruger provides actionable answers, with a list of 50 practical ways your business can survive – and even thrive – during this time of uncertainty.

Business survival entails a simple formula. You must achieve and maintain profits over costs. There are a remarkable number of creative things you can do to stay on the right side of this equation, provided you don’t lose your head. Do these things well and you’ll be able to keep your staff employed, continue to serve your customers, grow awareness of your brand, and even come out of this difficult period positioned for growth.

Right now, owners of small businesses need every smart-cut they can find. Virus-proof Your Small Business provides no fewer than 50, including how to manage and safeguard your cash flow; get your head around the size of the challenge and begin thinking in productive ways; cut costs without cutting employment; use different channels to deliver the same offering; ensure that those who supply you, and those you serve, stay open too.

An absolutely essential read for any small business owner in this challenging time.

'A must read for all entrepreneurship scholars because it helps us to understand and appreciate the real and many roles of women entrepreneurs, their relevance and importance to societies across the World, as well as the challenges and issues women entrepreneurs can face. An exciting and interesting read which presents us with critical questions for the future - thank you.' - Sarah Jack, Lancaster University Management School, UK Taking a fresh look at how performance is defined by examining the institutional power structures and policies, eminent scholars herein explore ways to overcome constrained performance and encourage women?s entrepreneurial activities through a variety of methodological approaches and geographical contexts. Significantly, this book adds a critical perspective to defining ?success? and ?performance?, shattering misconceptions of underperformance in women-owned enterprises. The contributing authors raise questions on the limiting concept of the ?entrepreneur? and have valuable insights into policies to facilitate female entrepreneurs. Instead of taking a one-sided and narrow approach with regards to understanding the entrepreneurship performance phenomenon, this book argues that future researchers should take a fresh look at business performance, considering structural constraints, definitions of success and other socio-political factors. Scholars in the fields of entrepreneurship, gender studies, and institutional theory, as well as those who have a general interest in critical research, will benefit from this progressive step in entrepreneurship research. Contributors include: R. Aidis, A. Akdeniz, H. Baiya, M. Boddington, D. Brozik, J.O. De Castro, L. Delgado-Marquez, S. Dewitt, W. Farraj, A. Fayolle, A.T. Hailemariam, C. Henry, C. Hoyte, B. Irene, J. Johansson, N. Jurik, R. Justo, A. Kamau, P. Kamau, G. Khoury, B. Kroon, A. Lindgreen, J. Lockyer, M. Malmstroem, M. Milliance, D. Muia, R. Narendran, J. Ndung'u, S. Saeed, N. Sappleton, S. Sheikh, F. Sist, S. Sultan, A. Voitkane, J. Wincent, S. Yousafzai, A. Zapalska

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Within the span of a generation, innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as two of the most vital forces in the economy and in society. This Research Agenda highlights new insights and approaches to guide future thinking, research and policy in the area. To accomplish this, the editors have brought together a group of accomplished scholars spanning economics, management, public policy and finance. Drawing on the experiences and insights of leading scholars this Research Agenda covers a broad array of rich and promising topics, including entrepreneurial ecosystems, finance and the role of universities. Focusing on the intersection and overlap between the two disciplines, the Research Agenda begins by establishing the theoretical basis between the two topics, before exploring impact, context, academic entrepreneurship, start-ups, policy and corporate governance. The book concludes with three provocative chapters: Friederike Welter highlighting the power of words and images, Sameeksha Desai discussing the role of artificial intelligence and Mark Casson presenting a case for radical change to how entrepreneurship is studied. Presenting the most salient findings and themes in current literature, A Research Agenda for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is essential for researchers in innovation, as well as policy makers at both the local and national levels influenced by the increasing importance of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Lean Product Lifecycle is a playbook that provides frameworks, methods and tools to develop innovative new products and business models, while managing your core portfolio.

Follow the 6 key phases of a product’s life - idea, explore, validate, grow, sustain and retire – and discover how to develop products according to their life stage and ensure the right investment for each. For each stage there is a step-by-step guide of product development best practices using examples and case studies from several companies and start-ups.

Using the tools and templates in this book, you’ll be able to:

- Take a new product from idea to scale within a market.

- Understand the difference between executing on products that are already successful in the market and searching for profitable business models for new products.

- Use the right tools and methods for validating new products ideas and business models.

- Understand how to manage mature products and retire old products using lean innovation principles.

Discover how lessons from lean start-ups can transform your business.

The construction of a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem is critical for every country in the world, with Silicon Valley an example of a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem that determines the level of national innovation capability and sustainable global competitiveness for the United States. However, at present, the research on entrepreneurial ecosystems in academia is still in its primary stage with few scholars studying the characteristics, composition, and sustainability of the ecosystem. Sustainability in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Operating Mechanisms and Enterprise Growth is a collection of innovative research that systematically explores the operation mechanism of sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem from macro and micro aspects so as to provide value for promoting economic vitality and regional economic development. Covering a broad range of topics including sustainability, economic development, and stakeholder management, this book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, managers, investors, analysts, academicians, researchers, and students.

In this timely book, Evan Douglas examines the limitations of the current models of entrepreneurial motivation. He proposes an expanded general model of entrepreneurial intention, which integrates both commercial and social entrepreneurs, and explicitly examines the motivation to innovate. In this new, integrated model of entrepreneurial intention, he explores the asymmetric data relationships and interdependencies of these four motivations that operate to result in multiple equally-valid pathways to entrepreneurial action. To discover the alternative configurations that culminate in entrepreneurial intention, Douglas advocates fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, which complements traditional correlational methods and exposes additional information about individual motivation that is suppressed in sample-level correlational analysis. Innovative and insightful, this book is an excellent primer for higher-degree and academic researchers interested in what drives entrepreneurial actions. Public sector researchers developing entrepreneurial infrastructure, incubators and support services will also benefit from Douglas's exciting new model.

The rapid and formative rise in research on social innovation and entrepreneurship means that theoretical frameworks are still being created, while traditional notions of economic efficiency and social welfare are tested. The field is progressing fastest in the measurement and measuring of social entrepreneurial effectiveness. Social innovators, who draw from philanthropy, as well as capital markets, for financial resources, have adopted the lean start up as a paradigm for their organization logics. This collection showcases the myriad emerging philosophical, methodological, and theoretical approaches, many of which are led by practitioners. It is organized into five sections. The first section reports on theoretical approaches to researching sustainable entrepreneurship that are less familiar. The second section reports on research focusing on the entrepreneurial responses to problems of climate change. The third and fourth sections report on research investigating social entrepreneurial processes, and how opportunities are formed and exploited. The fifth section reports on the ethical dimensions of social innovation. Researchers, scholars, educators and policymakers will find this book a useful reference, with novel ideas for future research and discourse. Contributors include: S.G.S. Abdelgawad, P. Bruner, R. Cortina-Cruz, M. Cortina-Mercado, R. Defiebre-Muller, P.F. Diochon, A.G. Earle, H.D. Fountaine, R. Harrison, R.T. Herko, K. Joensuu, K. Kaesehage, L. Katz, M. Leyshon, S. Lopez-Palau, M. Makela, S.D. Ocampo, T. Onkila, M. Pasquini, B. Rivera-Cruz, M.A. Tietz, Y.W. Turell, D. van der Horst, F.I. Viola, D. Windsor, M. Zhang