A Theoretical Concept on the Strengthening Small and Medium Enterprises After the Covid-19 Pandemic Through Sustainable Sociopreneurship-Based Communities

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic harms sustainable development in Indonesia. This study aims to find innovative ideas to restore Indonesian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) during the Covid-19 pandemic by taking the substantial value or essence of Pancasila, namely cooperation, which is then applied to the concept of sociopreneurship. The study applies a qualitative analysis approach, in which the author plays a role as a participant-observer and thus a valid data source in the field. The concept of sociopreneurship implies that SMEs apply a business development strategy that utilizes a non-profit-oriented community to build a network of cooperation. This community facilitates SMEs, who are members of the community, with the support of the necessary resources, information or data, and soft skills. Sociopreneurship-based communities embody a qualified and suitable collaboration era for SMEs, which incidentally are starting to be dominated by people who are technology and information literate so that collaboration with external parties (the community) can be more effective. This study finds that although the Covid-19 pandemic has had a tangible impact on the SMEs sector, this impact can be overcome by applying a business development strategy through the sociopreneurship community, which makes SMEs players immediately adapt to environmental changes. This study also finds that sociopreneurship can be used as a long-term sustainable development model.