Lockdown Economy Report: How Entrepreneurs Worldwide Navigated the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020 Think Tank AlterContacts launched the Lockdown Economy, an international non-profit grassroots social-economic and educational initiative to help small businesses and self-employed professionals overcome the challenges of the pandemic and reactivate the economy. It is registered by the United Nations as an Acceleration Action for SDG. 

From May 2020 until September 2021, we have collected insights from 350 small business owners and self-employed professionals from 42 countries in 17 languages, representing 78 business activities, to see how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their business, their life, and future. 

To make the insights gathered useful for policy-making and recommendations on entrepreneurship in the post-pandemic world, we have prepared the country reports below. This think tank report brings to light specific challenges small businesses faced due to COVID-19 and proposes ways to help them.

We are deeply grateful to entrepreneurs who shared their stories and to our 180 volunteers that made this initiative possible. 

To download PDF of this report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389737121_Lockdown_Economy_Report_How_Entrepreneurs_Worldwide_Navigated_the_COVID-19_Pandemic 

The country reports and case studies were prepared by the volunteer researchers:

Alan Patrick Cavalcante da Silveira, Brazil

Albert Cosmin Scirtoaje, Romania

Aulia Shifa Hamida, Indonesia

Afolabi Ajala, Nigeria

Cathy Wu, Australia

Dev Bahra, the United Kingdom

Dhitasree Guha Roy, India

Gayline Vuluku, Kenya

Giulia Silva, Italy

Lyutsiya Shlafman, Israel

Mellissa Paida Musonza, the United Kingdom

Minjo Cheon, South Korea

Natalia Nagree, Qatar 

Rashi Mathur, India

Rexhina Sufaj, Albania

Ryan Mitchell, Canada

Sara Bragaglia, Canada 

Whitney Santos Cabral, Brazil

Yvone Wo, the United Kingdom