“…Economic recovery must be earned. And it will be earned by entrepreneurs and it will be earned by small businesses.”

—John Huntsman Jr

By mid-April, as India entered its fourth week of a protracted lockdown forced by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the conversation had started shifting from the enforcement of curfew to the revival of economy. What John Huntsman Jr, accomplished American businessman, diplomat and politician, has said in the context of USA, holds good for India as well. Economic recovery in the weeks and months to follow will largely be driven by millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses alike.

Such a thing, however, will be anything but easy. Plenty of small businesses are teetering on the edge. Large companies are also finding the going tough. Around 52 percent of top corporate bosses in India anticipate wide spread job losses in the aftermath of the lockdown according to a CII-CEO snap poll in April. About 47 percent of the firms expect up to 15 percent job losses while another 32 percent expect 15-30 percent such cuts. Conducted electronically, the survey saw participation from about 200 CEOs, across sectors, in India.