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Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship
ISSN: 0827-6331 (Print) 2169-2610 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsbe20
Coronavirus (covid-19) and entrepreneurship:
changing life and work landscape
Vanessa Ratten
To cite this article: Vanessa Ratten (2020) Coronavirus (covid-19) and entrepreneurship: changing
life and work landscape, Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 32:5, 503-516, DOI:
10.1080/08276331.2020.1790167
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2020.1790167
Published online: 21 Jul 2020.
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Coronavirus (covid-19) and entrepreneurship: changing
life and work landscape
Vanessa Ratten
Department of Management, Sport and Tourism, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University,
Melbourne, Australia
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this commentary article is to focus on how the
covid-19 crisis has affected cultural, lifestyle, and social entrepre-
neurship. In doing so, I address the current lack of integration
between crisis management, entrepreneurship, and covid-19 lit-
erature. This commentary article systematically synthesizes the
current literature by linking key concepts within crisis manage-
ment and entrepreneurship. Covid-19 has had an enormous effect
on global society, so this article is amongst the first from an aca-
demic standpoint to examine it from a cultural, social, and life-
style entrepreneurship perspective. This enables micro, macro,
and meso environmental effects originating from the covid-19 cri-
sis to be better understood in terms of the entrepreneurship lit-
erature. Currently, the effects of covid-19 on entrepreneurship
remain unexplored so this article provides a more inclusive and
integrative framework.
RÉSUMÉ
L’objectif de cet article-commentaire est de se concentrer sur la
mani
ere dont la crise li
ee
a la Covid-19 a affect
el’entrepreneuriat
culturel, de style de vie et social. Ce faisant, j’aborde l’absence
actuelle d’int
egration entre la gestion de crise, l’entrepreneuriat et
la litt
erature sur la Covid-19. L’article synth
etise, de fac¸on
syst
ematique, la litt
erature actuelle en liant les concepts-cl
es dans
le cadre de la gestion de crise et de l’entrepreneuriat. La Covid-19
a eu un impact
enorme sur la soci
et
e mondiale. Aussi cet article
est-il parmi les premiers
a examiner cet impact, d’un point de vue
acad
emique, selon une perspective d’entrepreneuriat culturel,
social et de style de vie. Cet examen permet de mieux compren-
dre les effets environnementaux de la crise li
ee
a la Covid-19 -
aux plans micro, macro et meso –en termes de litt
erature sur
l’entrepreneuriat.
A ce jour, les effets de la Covid-19 sur l’entre-
preneuriat restent inexplor
es, de sorte que cet article fournit un
cadre plus inclusif et ax
e sur l’int
egration.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 29 June 2020
Accepted 30 June 2020
KEYWORDS
coronavirus; covid-19; crisis
management; entrepreneur-
ship; lifestyle
entrepreneurship
MOTS-CLÉS
coronavirus; Covid-19;
gestion de crise;
entrepreneuriat;
entrepreneuriat de style
de vie
CONTACT Vanessa Ratten v.ratten@latrobe.edu.au Department of Management, Sport and Tourism, La Trobe
Business School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
ß2020 Journal of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship/Conseil de la PME et de l’entrepreneuriat
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
2020, VOL. 32, NO. 5, 503–516
https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2020.1790167
1. Introduction
This article proposes in addition to a crisis management view of covid-19, an entre-
preneurial understanding is needed as there has been a substantial change in individ-
ual’s lifestyle, culture, and social interactions. Rapidly evolving medical technologies
and new ways of handling the covid-19 crisis will ultimately lead to more entrepre-
neurship (Kuckertz et al. 2020). Therefore, entrepreneurs with their ability to respond
to crises by being adaptive will have an increasing global influence (Liguori and
Winkler 2020). Due to the general gap in the understanding about the effects of
covid-19 on entrepreneurship, this article posits that it is essential to incorporate
more entrepreneurial thinking into the research on covid-19. This is due to societal
factors such as living and working conditions being fundamentally changed.
Moreover, cultural change has resulted in more need for entrepreneurship and add-
itional ways of thinking to adapt to the new way of living. It is known that entrepre-
neurs are more risk-taking, innovative, and proactive than non-entrepreneurs due to
their ability to respond to market needs. This means that entrepreneurs will have cer-
tain traits and abilities that enable them to respond to covid-19 needs. Currently,
there is a focus on how entrepreneurs are responding to the covid-19 crisis and what
constitutes success in terms of entrepreneurship. Thus, I argue that an entrepreneurial
work environment needs to be understood with respect to the covid-19 crisis as it
provides unique ways to respond to challenges.
The covid-19 crisis is a new and ongoing situation with an unknown time period
(He and Harris 2020). This makes it hard to anticipate and plan for the future.
Unlike other crises that have a specific duration, there is much uncertainty associated
with covid-19 (World Health Organisation 2020). This disruption to society has cre-
ated many different problems depending on the geographic location. There has been
a negative reaction to the crisis due to the financial effects it has caused. This repre-
sents both an opportunity and danger to society depending on how businesses
respond (Alon, Farrell, and Li 2020). There is also a need for cooperation to deal
with the covid-19 crisis particularly in terms of sharing knowledge (Kirk and Rifkin
2020). This means research and scientific institutions need to collaborate in order to
help society. Despite the need for collaboration, there has been competition amongst
regions for health supplies. Therefore, an entrepreneurial approach is required to alle-
viate and help end the covid-19 crisis. The nature of entrepreneurship involves trying
new things and this mindset is required with the current crisis. Part of having an
entrepreneurial mindset involves experimenting with new processes in order to obtain
better results. This can be useful in repurposing existing processes to cater more for
covid-19 needs. To do this, entrepreneurs need to share and analyze current business
conditions in order to anticipate change. This can enable business to adapt quickly in
order to focus on new trends. Covid-19 has unleashed a need for entrepreneurship in
terms of how things are currently done. The ‘new normal’refers to a lifestyle in
which social distancing and hand hygiene is practiced. The agility apparent in entre-
preneurs makes them more able to adjust to new needs. This helps them to pivot or
change direction based on market response.
It is the contention of this article that the global impact of the covid-19 crisis
needs to be understood in light of digital transformation and new work
504 V. RATTEN
arrangements. To date, very little academic research has been done on what covid-19
means for entrepreneurship scholarship and what it takes for entrepreneurs to
develop new enterprises. This article responds to the need to connect crisis manage-
ment and entrepreneurship literature in terms of the covid-19 crisis. This article is
organized as follows. First, the literature on covid-19, crisis management, and entre-
preneurship is discussed. Next, the article proceeds to discuss the cultural, social, and
lifestyle aspects of entrepreneurship in terms of the covid-19 crisis. This means con-
textualizing the effect of covid-19 for entrepreneurs and how the global landscape has
changed. Thereby a more integrative discussion is developed that emerges from the
intersection of crisis management and entrepreneurship literature. This enables a bet-
ter understanding of the ‘covid-19 entrepreneur’.
2. Impact of coronavirus
The novel coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19 appeared in early 2020 and
has significantly changed global society (Parnell et al. 2020). The new normal refers
to a society in which physical and social distancing is needed in order to help stop
the spread of the disease. This has resulted in major cultural changes in terms of how
individuals interact and behave in society. Entrepreneurs are the recipients of much
of these changes as they act as opportunity agents in society. Whilst entrepreneurs
are often looked at in terms of fixing problems or providing benefits to society, they
can also be under pressure to deliver certain results (Williams et al. 2017). This
means that they do not necessarily gain from change such as that occurring from the
coronavirus health pandemic but may have to significantly change business direction.
This results in a dilemma for policy makers who want to foster entrepreneurship to
help solve society problems but at the same time safeguard existing investments.
In December 2019, individuals in Wuhan, China were found to be infected with a
new coronavirus that was found to be highly contagious (Cortez and Johnston 2020).
Originally the virus was thought to evolve from the live animal markets in Wuhan
but there has since been some controversy about the exact origins of the disease. As a
result of the spread of the virus, the Chinese government locked down Wuhan and
prevented individuals living in the area from leaving their house unless for essential
services. Over five million Wuhan residents fled the city on 23 January 2020 after the
Chinese government announced they were closing the city (Alon, Farrell, and Li
2020). The effects of the virus have social and economic effects. Much of the social
effects are the result of a change in the living and working conditions. This has led to
a need to socially distance from others and an increased reliance on digital forms of
communication. Before the virus started there was already a trend toward digitaliza-
tion that was accelerated when the transmission mode of the virus became known.
Due to the effects of the virus, many healthcare systems collapsed, which had flow-on
effects to other sectors of the economy. Countries such as Spain were heavily affected
by the virus with healthcare systems overwhelmed. Much of the casualties from the
virus were elderly in care homes and this further affected the social inequalities
apparent in society. In the UK, as a response to the need for healthcare systems to
treat virus patients, initiatives such as the ‘Clap for Carers’campaign was announced
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP 505
that involved individuals each night clapping as a way to show their support. These
initiatives created a sense of solidarity amongst individuals in a certain geographic
region. At the same time, due to the increased numbers of individuals unemployed
economic initiatives including topping up welfare payments and home loan repay-
ment paused periods were initiated. Due to the economic policies put in place to deal
with the virus much of the economic effects are still not known. This means there is
a great fear of a severe economic recession or depression occurring in the global
economy. This policy was followed by other countries when the virus rapidly spread
globally. Its effects have been most severe in parts of Europe specifically Spain, the
UK, and Italy. In addition, the USA has had a high number of cases.
As there was no known pharmaceutical cure or treatment for the disease, non-
pharmaceutical strategies including social distancing, hand washing, and personal
hygiene were promoted. This helped to stop the spread of the disease but also
resulted in severe social restrictions including mobility restrictions, closures of play-
grounds, schools, and universities. Some sectors of the global economy were most
affected by the restrictions particularly the tourism and hospitality industries which
are reliant on close contact between individuals as part of their business model. The
rapid and continual growth in international travel stopped due to travel restrictions
put in place and borders closing. This de-globalization strategy resulted in individual
countries closing their borders, in an unprecedented move. This contrasted signifi-
cantly to past promotions of open borders and free global movement. Due to an
increased reliance on international travel with many individuals living between coun-
tries, this has had a tremendous effect.
The sports industry was also heavily affected with outside sport events banned and
live games stopped. Due to the reliance on in-person participation for many sports,
this had a big flow-on effect particularly for those working in the sector. Never before
had a health pandemic had such an effect on sport in terms of how it was conducted,
played, and watched. For athletes, many sport training facilities were closed, which
resulted in a change in training methods. In addition, industries are facing supply
chain challenges due to the number of workers confined to their homes (Kraus et al.
2020). This has resulted in supply chain disruptions caused by the curtailing of cer-
tain industries. At the same time, essential businesses that have continued to operate
face a need to introduce new health policies such as personal protection equipment,
physical distancing, and constant cleaning. Therefore, entrepreneurship provides a
way for individuals, businesses, and governments to cope with the covid-19 crisis.
3. Crisis management
Ansell and Boin (2019, 1079) states ‘modern societies are increasingly faced with
“unknown unknown”, Black Swans, and mega-crises’. This means that there are
unforeseen crises including the current covid-19 pandemic that has big effects on
society. Given the uncertainty associated with these crises existing approaches often
do not work and require a new entrepreneurial approach. The covid-19 crisis origi-
nated in China but there is still much uncertainty as to how the animal to human
transference of the virus occurred. This has meant a need for science, government,
506 V. RATTEN
and society leaders to organize a timely response. Under the current conditions of
deep uncertainty, there is a need for entrepreneurs to recognize risks and opportuni-
ties, which will enable them to make sense of the crisis by grasping the social and
market needs of society. The need for fast-thinking with the crisis means short- and
long-term consequences of inaction can be assessed later. A rational approach to a
crisis involves taking a logical and rational approach (Liu, Shankar, and Yun 2017).
However, with health crisis that can develop quickly this kind of approach is not rea-
sonable. Rather intuition and gut feeling is required to deal with the expected conse-
quences. This means it is more plausible to coordinate a rapid response based on
other effects to society. Therefore, rather than a bureaucratic approach a more fast-
acting reaction is required due to the dynamic nature of the crisis. In order to tame
the uncertainty that accompanies a crisis a more direct approach is required (Weick
and Sutcliffe 2011). This means working with the given statistics and events as they
unfold rather than taking a wait and see approach. To do this, decisions need to be
made with available information and analysis. This means thinking in a pragmatic
way about the situation and potential effects of inaction.
Crisis can be considered as normal events as there will always be surprises in the
environment that were unexpected (Perrow 1984). Organizations can respond to a
crisis in different ways from a restructuring of business practices to a reduction in
output. The way that an organization responds will determine their ability to have a
sustainable business model that survives in the marketplace. This is important in
building resilience but also trying to circumvent environmental barriers.
Organizations need to be resilient in terms of dealing with environmental uncertainty.
This involves thinking about potential risks and building up capital to try and deal
with the coronavirus situation. To do this requires organizations to adapt to changes
in the market before, during, and after a crisis. By being resilient it can enable an
organization to recover more quickly and adapt to change. This means that an indi-
vidual has the discretion about when, why, and how to use the knowledge. This can
create uncertainty as to the best time to share the knowledge. Thus, some individuals
may stay silent in discussions by withholding relevant information. This means they
do not share an opinion and can stay neutral in discussions about the relevance of
certain information. Additionally, predictive analyses and data-driven decision-mak-
ing can help managers pursue a better approach to utilizing knowledge spillovers
about coronavirus.
Crisis management focuses both on preventing and responding to major changes
(Doern 2016). In a crisis, it is important to be responsive and communicate the situ-
ation as it occurs. This means managing a crisis can be a complex process due to the
need to find solutions to current problems whilst predicting new ones. Thus, there is
no consistent or right way to respond to a crisis as it depends on the circumstances
(Buchanan and Denyer 2013). Some parts of society especially government and big
business can respond to crises more effectively due to the resources at their disposal.
However, there is some debate about this as small businesses can adapt quickly to cri-
ses due to their size. Therefore, to manage a crisis properly there needs to be a dedi-
cated team monitoring its progress. This enables a more effective and coordinated
approach to emerge.
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP 507
Shrivastava (1993) suggests that there are four C’s of crisis management: causes,
consequences, caution, and copying. Causes can sometimes be attributed to specific
factors that can occur in a sporadic or continual manner. The particular cause can
relate to an event or an unpredicted consequence of a specific action. Consequences
can refer to the effects of the crisis on the environment. These can range from small
or no effect to substantial change in society. Caution means a sense of uncertainty
and risk with proceeding in a certain way. This means there can be some trepidation
with a particular cause of action. Coping means how individuals, businesses, and gov-
ernments deal with the event. This can include certain strategies to handle the
changes that have occurred that utilize an entrepreneurial approach.
4. Entrepreneurship and coronavirus
In order to deal with the crisis from covid-19 an entrepreneurial orientation to deal-
ing with the problem and environmental change is needed. Entrepreneurial orienta-
tion refers to ‘firm-level behavioral characteristics of engaging in product-market
innovation, promoting innovative behavior within the firm, undertaking somewhat
risky ventures and being the first to come up with proactive innovations’(Wang and
Altinay 2012, 4). This means that the main elements of entrepreneurship required to
handle the covid-19 crisis include innovation, risk-taking, and being practice in the
marketplace. Increasingly, more individuals and enterprises are wanting to be seen as
being entrepreneurial but also engaged in cultural and social pursuits. This means a
more contemporary view of entrepreneurial orientation needs to incorporate cultural,
social, and lifestyle elements. Entrepreneurship is a socially embedded activity as it
revolves around social interactions. This means that entrepreneurs recognize opportu-
nities based on their ability to utilize social networks. Social ties refer to the extent to
which entrepreneurs have networks based on social interactions. This includes bonds
or ties based on in-group solidarity. Social ties enable a wide range of social resources
to be used for entrepreneurial purposes. This means social network members provide
free business advice and suggestions. This is a feature of social entrepreneurship and
contributes to the development of ways to handle the covid-19 crisis.
Perceptions of the environment involve assessing the likelihood of certain events
occurring. Some environments may be more stable than others due to a long period
of continual activity. This can make it easier to judge how a business will be impacted
by environmental events. Other environmental contexts might be more dynamic and
change based on political events. This means some degree of cautiousness is required
in terms of assessing potential business avenues. In turbulent environments, the
changes can be more profound based on uncertainty. This means multiple suggested
avenues can be derived in terms of scenario planning about how to deal with covid-
19. This enables a more cautious approach to emerge about potential ramifications in
terms of courses of action.
Entrepreneurship has an implied functional purpose due to the way it requires
some form of action. This means entrepreneurship involves the conscious decision to
pursue an opportunity in the marketplace. This means that the decision is based on
an evaluation of opportunities and recognition of the need to find gaps in the market.
508 V. RATTEN
Embedded in decisions regarding entrepreneurship is a need to do something in an
innovative way. Lerner, Hunt, and Dimov (2018, 52) state that ‘central to the study
of entrepreneurship is the essentiality of entrepreneurial action’. This means the
causal structure of entrepreneurial behavior results from an intention to be a change
maker. Thus, entrepreneurial action can be defined as ‘behaviour in response to a
judgemental decision under uncertainty about a possible opportunity for profit’
(McMullen and Shepherd 2006, 134). Thinking about entrepreneurship from an
action perspective enables a focus on the idea of intention resulting in spe-
cific behavior.
An entrepreneur is defined as an individual who exploits a business opportunity
through some form of innovation. This means they foresee a gap in the market that
can be filled by a new business idea. To do this requires creating some form of prod-
uct, process, or service that will lead to financial gain. By effectively seeking new
opportunities the entrepreneur focuses on how they can be involved both in innov-
ation-focused and profit-seeking activities. In addition, context has a powerful influ-
ence on entrepreneurial behavior due to societal and environmental factors. This
means in some situations there will be societal pressures on family businesses to per-
form specific actions. For entrepreneurs, the environment can help or hinder them in
terms of their family business pursuits. This means there needs to be a focus on how
the environment can be an enabler of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship involves
understanding how opportunities and new ideas are recognized. This often involves a
degree of creativity as different ways of thinking allow new ideas to emerge.
Creativity is defined as ‘the production of novel and useful ideas by an individual or
small group of individuals working together’(Amabile 1996, 1155). Creativity is
important for dealing with the covid-19 crisis as it can offer a way of providing a
competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
Business ideas derived from creativity involve relative thinking in terms of how
they come to fruition. In order for ideas to enter the market, there needs to be some
form of action by businesses affected by covid-19. This involves ideas undergoing an
iterative process when they are refined and developed further. To do this requires
shaping the idea into business solutions that can gain acceptance by stakeholders
when they enter the marketplace. Ideas need the input and suggestions of others, so
it is important that stakeholders provide their input. Initial ideas can be changed
based on how others perceive them. This means it is important to elaborate upon
ideas in order to facilitate their development by businesses. This involves engaging
with others through a process of discussion. By discussing ideas, it can help further
innovations to take shape. Although some ideas may need to be discarded depending
on feedback from the effects of covid-19.
5. Changing lifestyle and work landscape
The changing workplace is a development that needs to be considered as influencing
an entrepreneurial response to covid-19. The increase in the gig economy and casual-
ization of the workforce has disrupted current work practices. In addition, techno-
logical innovations such as increased computerization and automation have decreased
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP 509
the need for manual labor. This has led to more interest in artificial intelligence due
to its transformational effect on entrepreneurship. There are now more self-employed
and globally mobile entrepreneurs that can re-locate quickly based on demand. This
has given rise to more location-independent entrepreneurs and digital nomads that
can work from any location. This has changed traditional employment structures to
make them more flexible and based on need. However, the extent of this diversifica-
tion has been affected by the need to stay in one location due to covid-19. This
means it is still unknown how global entrepreneurship has been affected by covid-19.
In addition, the sharing economy has resulted in a change to the service industries.
Ahsan (2020) refers to new type of entrepreneur that relies on the gig economy and
can be considered a micro-entrepreneur. This is due to the flexibility these types of
entrepreneurs have in taking on small projects.
The new work environment needs to develop coping strategies by focusing on
opportunity recognition. Opportunities can be described as ‘a stream of continuously
developed ideas, driven and shaped by one’s social interactions creative insights and
action at each stage’(Dimov 2007, 714). For businesses to succeed in the dynamic
global business environment they need to take advantage of opportunities. This
means focusing on new societal needs that can be facilitated by creative individuals
that are trying to deal with the covid-19 crisis. Individual creativity can be under-
stood on the basis of these main factors: (1) personality, (2) intrinsic motivation, (3)
knowledge and cognitive abilities (Dimov 2007). Personality refers to the general dis-
position of a person. Normally more creative people have a personality associated
with being open to new ideas. This enables them to focus on new ways of thinking
and being more tolerant than others in terms of ambiguity. In addition, having an
inquisitive nature helps creative individuals delve deeper into emerging areas. This
enables them to have more of an innovation propensity and risk-seeking nature.
Intrinsic motivation refers to the reasons why some individuals might recognize cer-
tain opportunities more than others. The need for achievement can be a motivational
factor pushing individuals into creative pursuits. This means that individuals who rec-
ognize new modes of operation will be more likely to be considered as being creative.
Knowledge and cognitive abilities refer to the information embedded in an individual
and their ability to utilize it. In a business, knowledge is an important way innovative
products and services emerge in the marketplace particularly that relating to cultural
change from covid-19.
6. Cultural entrepreneurship
Cultural entrepreneurship refers to innovative business activities that take into
account cultural considerations, which is important in the new normal resulting from
covid-19. Culture refers to the norms and value systems that exist in a society, which
can change over time depending on advances in society (Lounsbury and Glynn 2019).
The generalized way of behaving in society is evident in expectations about conduct.
This means it is important to understand how culture is internalized into entrepre-
neurial activities. Culture influences the behavior of individuals and how they act in a
collective manner. Increasingly culture is viewed as a way to understand shared
510 V. RATTEN
meaning systems in terms of how they enable entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is
often culturally constructed in terms of how innovative activity is viewed in society.
This means that a functionalist way to understand culture is to focus on how entre-
preneurs perceive their role in society. To do this requires the use of cultural identi-
ties in terms of how entrepreneurship is embedded in business.
As entrepreneurship is culturally constructed it makes sense that culture plays an
important role in its development. A relational approach to entrepreneurship views
culture as being the determinist of business behavior. This means that entrepreneurs
construct their identity based on cultural conditions. Cultural entrepreneurship high-
lights the need to take a more interpretative approach to entrepreneurship (Gehman
and Soubliere 2017). This is due to culture pervading entrepreneurship as it shapes
the way business develops in society. Traditional entrepreneurship theory has stressed
the economic and self-interest of entrepreneurs whilst neglecting other important
societal factors. As economic theory has incorporated more social considerations a
new way of thinking about entrepreneurship is required. This helps to redirect the
attention away from a pure economic rationale to consider alternative motivations
such as cultural reasons.
Cultural entrepreneurs are driven by push and pull factors (Sun and Xu 2017).
Push factors relate to the entrepreneurs’need to escape current circumstances and
have a better lifestyle. The reasons for this can be personal-, work-, or health-related.
Pull factors relate to a need for a change in lifestyle, environmental reasons, inde-
pendence, and social networks. Lifestyle reasons can include a desire to live in a cer-
tain area where there is a need for the individual to make a living. Some geographical
areas might be remote or quiet and classified as tourism areas. This means some
degree of commercialization can occur in terms of developing business ventures. In
addition, some geographic areas might have a large number of certain kinds of people
such as artists or surfers that lead to businesses being developed around these topics.
Enjoying the local environment means having clean air and a slower pace, which
results in a need for work activities to reflect the same kind of characteristics.
Climate in terms of weather is another factor impacting where people live. Climates
might be more suitable for certain kinds of business activities that are similar to an
entrepreneur’s hobbies. Maintaining independence is a reason for cultural entrepre-
neurs as they have more ability to engage in leisure activities. This means they have
more freedom to choose the type of business venture they manage by utilizing social
networks and/or relocating to an area or engaging in activities based on relationships.
7. Lifestyle entrepreneurship
Lifestyle entrepreneurship has been studied mostly from a tourism perspective but
less from a social entrepreneurship point of view. Lifestyle entrepreneurs are charac-
terized by the desire to start a business in line with lifestyle values, which is import-
ant in the new normal resulting from covid-19. This means that they emphasize
social goals more than financial benefits. The desire to mix lifestyle choices with
entrepreneurship is increasingly a trend in society due to more emphasis on quality
of life. The stereotype of many lifestyle entrepreneurs is of a social-oriented individual
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP 511
wanting to contribute to society in a more holistic way. This has led to them being
referred to as non-entrepreneurs due to a focus on social instead of purely financial
reasons. In addition, lifestyle entrepreneurs can be considered as amateur entrepre-
neurs as some are not interested in large scale corporate ventures. These perspectives
of lifestyle entrepreneurs are similar to those existing for social entrepreneurs due to
the way non-financial goals are emphasized (Fadda 2020).
Lifestyle entrepreneurs are sometimes identified by their interest in culture, which
is useful in the new normal environment shaped by covid-19 changes. Lifestyle entre-
preneurs are defined as individuals ‘who are likely to be concerned with survival and
maintaining sufficient income to ensure that the business provides them and their
family with a satisfactory level of funds to enable enjoyment of their chosen lifestyle’
(Rimmington, Morrisson, and Williams 1999, 13). The motivation for lifestyle entre-
preneurs is around quality of life whilst making a living. This means lifestyle rather
than profit is their key driver for being an entrepreneur (Mottiar 2007). Lifestyle
entrepreneurs play an important role in the economic growth of an area due to the
way they encourage business activity (Ateljevic and Doome 2001). Once lifestyle
entrepreneurs establish themselves in a region, they can motivate others to reside in
the same area. This enables a snowball effect to occur as more entrepreneurs see
identifiable market opportunities. There are clear positive benefits associated with life-
style entrepreneurship in terms of economic growth but there can also be negative
effects in terms of too much development in an area. This means that lifestyle entre-
preneurs need to act in a sustainable manner in order to balance economic and social
growth (Dewhurst and Horobin 1998). Lifestyle entrepreneurs are typically associated
with the arts and crafts industries (Getz and Petersen 2005).
Lifestyle reasons play a crucial part in evaluating potential business opportunities
that have resulted from covid-19. This is due to socio-economic ideology closely cor-
responding to the type of business venture started by an entrepreneur. Some entre-
preneurs are interested in more social reasons for starting a business rather than
large scale growth. This means lifestyle entrepreneurs desire to contribute to society
whilst maintaining a certain lifestyle. Lifestyle proprietors are defined as ‘an individ-
ual who has a multiple set of goals associated with their business’(Morrison et al.
2001, 17). This means that lifestyle entrepreneurs establish their business around their
preferred lifestyle that if influenced by covid-19 factors. This enables them to utilize
entrepreneurship as a way of maintaining a certain way of living. Personal circum-
stances mean that some individuals are required to start a business in order to fund
their lifestyles. Entrepreneurs are placing more importance on lifestyle interests
because of want to increase their quality of life.
Lifestyle entrepreneurs are characterized by having dual motivations of leisure and
work (Sun and Xu 2017). They want a better work-life balance than typical entrepre-
neurs. Lifestyle entrepreneurs tend to have a special mobility pattern as they relocate
to specific areas based on personal preferences shaped by the covid-19 environment.
Most mobility is toward smaller cities or areas with unique cultural attributes. This
move is not always permanent as they move back or to another area depending on
the success of their business. Lifestyle mobility can be for consumption or production
reasons (Sun and Xu 2017). Consumption reasons refer to the need to consume
512 V. RATTEN
certain resources within an area. For example, natural parks or beaches can be uti-
lized for lifestyle purposes. Production reasons refer to labor usage or specific resour-
ces being located in a region. Thus, lifestyle mobility is characterized by moves based
on achieving more balance between work and home. It can be a one-off occurrence
or can be an ongoing activity that will depend on how covid-19 progresses in society.
Production oriented movement is characterized by ‘movement for the purpose of
obtaining an economic opportunity at the destination’(Sun and Xu 2017, 65). This
means the place an entrepreneur moves to will have special characteristics that make
it amenable for covid-19 related business activities. Lifestyle entrepreneurs will be
able to fill a market opportunity by relocating to the area. This makes it important to
consider the degree of competition likely to result from being in the same area as
other lifestyle entrepreneurs. Economies of scale mean that a large amount of lifestyle
entrepreneurs in the same area can lead to resource sharing about covid-19 opportu-
nities, but it may lower potential profits. This means that there needs to be careful
consideration about the pros and cons of relocating to an area based on potential
market gain. Consumption oriented lifestyle movement refers to accessing amenities,
goods, or services in an area (Sun and Xu 2017). Amenities can be in the form of
leisure facilities or buildings that can house business activities. The amenities can be
human-made or natural attractions depending on the geography and government pol-
icies regarding covid-19. Goods in the form of tangible products are another reason
entrepreneurs will move to a region.
8. Conclusion
The health pandemic caused by covid-19 has dramatically changed society and altered
current business practices. This means new approaches are needed that rely on entre-
preneurial thinking in order to succeed in the global marketplace. The aim of this art-
icle has been to discuss the crisis caused by covid-19 and the resulting impact on
entrepreneurship. In particular, the role of cultural, lifestyle, and social entrepreneurs
was highlighted as a way of responding to current cultural changes. This meant deriv-
ing research propositions that can be further explored in future research. To do this,
the existing literature on crisis management and entrepreneurship was examined that
highlighted the need for more research integration. This enabled a number of
research propositions to be derived that need to be explored in future research. As
the covid-19 crisis is still in existence there is great deal of uncertainty about future
economic and social conditions. This means that more research is needed on how
entrepreneurship is used as a coping strategy in time of crisis. Whilst previous
research has studied financial crisis and environmental crisis, the covid-19 crisis is a
different kind with no set start and end date. This means cultural entrepreneurship
can be used as theoretical framework to understand in more depth how and why cul-
ture is changing as a result of the crisis. This will be useful in order to understand
way individuals, consumers, and businesses are responding to covid-19 and what
kind of new products or services are being introduced into the marketplace as a result
of this change. This will enable a focus on culture and how the new normal that
includes social distancing and working from home has impacted entrepreneurship.
JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP 513
Whilst most of the literature on cultural entrepreneurship has tended to focus on the
arts area, a new research line is focusing on how a health crisis impacts cultural activ-
ities. This is important in understanding how the arts, sport, and cultural institutions
have evolved and changed as a result of the covid-19 crisis.
Lifestyle entrepreneurship was also discussed in this article as a way of integrating
cultural change resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. This means the new norm will
require more lifestyle forms of entrepreneurship in order to cope with the uncertainty
in this market climate. Future research and policy will require a closer link at lifestyle
factors and what changes are needed in order to cope with the new normal. This
may mean conducting business in different ways in order to comply with health pol-
icy. To do this, entrepreneurs will need to consider policy implications resulting from
the covid-19 pandemic but also think about new business opportunities.
As stated in this article, there are many possibilities for entrepreneurship that inte-
grate cultural and lifestyle factors. This means new ways of thinking are required that
integrate societal changes made apparent by the covid-19 crisis. Due to ongoing and
uncertainty surrounding the future, it is important that more research and policy
focus on deriving new thought processes. This will encourage a more positive and
proactive approach to managing the covid-19 crisis that integrates and entrepreneur-
ial perspective.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Vanessa Ratten is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at La Trobe
University in Melbourne, Australia. She is a recognised expert on entrepreneurship and innov-
ation with a specific focus on sport entrepreneurship and technology innovation. She has auth-
ored a number of books, including Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Smart Cities (2017),
and Frugal Innovation (2019). In addition, she has edited more than 20 books, including
Knowledge Spillover-based Strategic Entrepreneurship (2017), Sport Entrepreneurship and
Innovation (2016) and Transformational Entrepreneurship (2018).
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