ICT, social media and COVID-19: evidence from informal home-based business community in Kuwait City

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media for the development of informal home-based business (HBBs) community in Kuwait City. Design/methodology/approach This research is used as a qualitative methodology, which helps the researcher to come to original and direct quotations about the HBBs owners’ thoughts and experiences. In this paper, a multi case-based approach was used, respectively, we have used 14 cases, where 7 operate in the food sector and 7 in the entertainment/game sector. All these informal HBBs are located in Kuwait City. Findings The results of the research showed that the respondents use Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, email and websites to communicate with customers and cooperate with business partners. Banks’ applications, such as “Edfali”, are used for doing the payments related to the business. Home-based owners are usually motivated by passion and love for the business, independence, additional source of income, succeeding in a family business, hobby or not finding an appropriate job in other companies. Research limitations/implications Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had the opportunity to interview only 14 HBBs and only from two sectors, the food and entertainment/game sector. Further research can be done with more cases and more sectors to see how ICTs and social media help these businesses to develop their activity and spread the business in different places. Practical implications This paper provides useful information on the role of ICTs and social media for the informal HBBs, especially during the crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It might help business owners to prepare adequate strategies to cope with difficult situations and create better conditions for their businesses. Originality/value This paper is the first research that treats the informal HBB community in Kuwait City. It could serve as a good base for further studies related to the impact of ICTs and social media on the business performance.

Creative reconstruction: a structured literature review of the early empirical research on the COVID-19 crisis and entrepreneurship

“…Generally speaking, uncertainty in any crisis follows from novel problems that characterize the crisis and the consequence of such an exogenous shock is that novel and innovative solutions become necessary and possible (Ebersberger and Kuckertz 2021 ). Empirical studies conducted in the context of the COVID-19 crisis indicate that sectors such as food shrink, whereas entertainment and the gaming industry might benefit (Saleh 2020 ) along with digitization services for business and bureaucracy (Dumitrasciuc and Turnea 2020 ; Gheorghiu 2020 ). In this particular crisis, many entrepreneurial opportunities related to health but Ebersberger and Kuckertz ( 2021 ) analyzed a sample of COVID-19 induced innovations, identifying at least nine additional external drivers of relevant structural changes indicating that opportunities extend beyond the health related.…”

“… Uncertainty Primary quantitative Spain 558 students (324 pre-pandemic, 234 in-pandemic) Partial least squares Crisis significantly decreases social entrepreneurship intention Salamzadeh and Dana ( 2020 ) What are the challenges of startups in the COVID-19 crisis? Uncertainty Primary qualitative Iran 15 startups Interviews; focus groups Suggests six primary categories of challenges in the crisis Saleh ( 2020 ) What effect does the COVID-19 crisis have on the revenues of entrepreneurs? Uncertainty Primary qualitative Kuwait 14 entrepreneurs Interviews Changing consumer demand toward entrepreneurial businesses Santellano ( 2021 ) Do barriers to institutional support also apply to minority entrepreneurs in the crisis?…”

Exploring social media usage as a communication channel among independent food retailer SMEs in South Africa

“…Several respondents indicated that they did not have a budget and relied on word of mouth generated from their posts, whereas other respondents used their Facebook pages as a means to promote instore specials without incurring cost. Available literature suggests that small businesses lack resources, including financial capacity to promote themselves (Dlodlo & Dhurup, 2010;Ainin et al, 2015;He et al, 2017;Crammond et al, 2018;Ndiege, 2019;Chatterjee & Kumar Kar, 2020;Ntshingila, 2020;Saleh, 2021), and therefore seek more cost-effective methods.…”

“…It highlights the transition from merely collecting information and consuming it to creating and adding to the information available on platforms that allow it (He et al, 2017;Kemp, 2018. Social media is technically easy to use, cost effective and accessible to a large variety of customers, which presents an opportunity to small and medium companies who might not have financial and technical resources for traditional marketing programs (Gujral et al, 2016;He et al, 2017;Bae & Zamrudi, 2018;, Ntshingila, 2020Qalati et al, 2021;Qalati et al, 2020;Saleh, 2021). Major South African retailer groups have multifaceted marketing strategies, which include a presence in the different social network sites and use social media as a communication channel (Shoprite Holdings, 2020;Pick n Pay, 2020;Woolworths, 2020).…”

Covid-19 Pandemisinin Girişimcilik Yazınına Yansıması

“…Bütün söz konusu temalara ek olarak Covid-19 pandemi sürecinin kırsal sağlık girişimciliği (Apostolopoulos vd., 2020), akademik girişimcilik (Greene ve Rosiello, 2020), ev eksenli üretim/gayri resmi girişimcilik (Saleh, 2020), iç girişimcilik (Carnevale ve Hatak, 2020), spor girişimciliği (Ratten, 2020e), girişimci üniversite (Blackmore, 2020), girişimcilik niyeti (Hernandez-Sanchez vd., 2020), dijital girişimcilik (Zemtsov, 2020) ve teknik girişimcilik (Wilson ve Halverson, 2020) gibi niş temalarında da çalışmaların gerçekleştirildiği Tablo 10'da görülmektedir.…”