THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON SMALL BUSINESS IN POLAND

Abstract

Poland has suffered less economic damage from COVID-19 than many other countries, primarily due to the rapid response aimed at supporting enterprises and population. The Polish government has adopted a set of laws – the Anti-Crisis Shield, which, in particular, provides a number of specific tools to support entrepreneurs due to the spread of coronavirus. About 90% of Polish enterprises are micro and small enterprises, of which more than half are service sector enterprises. The article analyzes selected results of a survey of Polish enterprises on the impact of coronavirus on their activities. Particular attention is paid to assessing the impact of coronavirus on micro and small enterprises (depending on the number of employees), their ability to survive in the existing restrictions applied to control coronavirus by the Polish government, currently in effect. According to the study, the thesis that small business is characterized by technological, production, management flexibility, which allows to respond quickly and in a timely manner to external influences, is not entirely true. The tendencies of stronger negative influence of the specified restrictions on small business, especially in the field of construction and retail trade, are revealed. In particular, micro and small enterprises are less likely to work remotely than medium and large enterprises; if the current restrictions imposed by public authorities to control the coronavirus continue, there is a threat to small enterprises’ survival; the largest decline in product orders is forecasted for the current month (compared to the situation if there was no pandemic).