Has COVID-19 devoured small businesses?

We are happy to share this edition of SMBStory Specials, a docu feature that explores stories behind the data, with you today.

Monday July 19, 2021 , 4 min Read

We are happy to share this edition of SMBStory Specials, a docu feature that explores stories behind the data, with you today.

This edition throws light on the devastation caused by COVID-19 on micro, small, and medium enterprises. It is estimated that 25 percent of the 63 million MSMEs in India face closure due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

In this special edition, we bring you a ground report, unravelling the human and economic cost of the pandemic.

Proprietor of Sri Rama Darshan eatery that served the South Indian equivalent of fast food, Narayan always had his hands full. There was no time for the proverbial fly-swatting.

Located in a busy neighbourhood in Bangalore, a hybrid of residential and commercial properties, Narayan’s Sri Rama Darshan hotel no doubt had stiff competition from other darshinis housed in the BDA Complex down the road, not to mention the unending list of similar eateries available on online food delivery apps.

And then, COVID-19 struck. Sometime this year, he pulled down the shutters for one last time never to return.

Had he gone bankrupt? What had become of him? Read more to find out.

Read all about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools to help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

You can also share a tribute to COVID-19 warriors, saviours, and survivors here.

The Interview

YourStory’s Human Beyond Resources aims to showcase extraordinary HR practices that companies are now bringing into play, as the very idea of the workspace is reimagined.

In this episode, Dunzo Co-founder and CEO Kabeer Biswas discusses how work-from-home is not simple and yet why the Bengaluru startup is likely to continue with it even post-pandemic, Dunzo being used as a verb, fostering diversity and inclusion, and much more!

Editor’s Pick: Monday Motivation

Hailing from the Batamaloo area of Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Asif was a bright student with a lot of ambitions and goals, but poverty at home forced him to abandon his education midway.

However, destiny had other plans for him, and today he is an entrepreneur who owns an IT company based in the United Kingdom. Read more.

Asif Monday Motivation — Sheikh was also nominated for one of India's highest civilian awards the Padma Shri Award in 2022.

Startup Spotlight

How SANA.Insure is helping people buy health insurance policies

While financial limitation is a big part of the reason people don’t buy a health insurance policy, a lack of trust where consumers suspect bias and self-interest on the part of agents; an inability to understand what benefits their policy provides; and a vastly inaccessible online marketplace are also big deterrents.

Solving this puzzle drove three entrepreneurs — Srinath Mukherji, Nayan Goswami, and Vivek Narain — to come together and set up SANA.Insure, an online health insurance aggregator. Read more.

News & Updates

After successfully operating in the salon, home cleaning, carpenter, and electrician services, among other categories, Urban Company is doing a pilot run of its personal chef or cook at home service in Bengaluru.

Almost 20 percent of all applications for foodtech unicorn Zomato IPO, which closed for subscription on Friday with very strong investor interest across categories, went through one more unicorn – the stockbroking firm Zerodha.

Reliance Retail made a Rs 3,497 crore offer to Just Dial to hold a controlling stake in the local information and business listings platform. This is Reliance Retail's fourth acquisition — after Future Group, Netmeds, and UrbanLadder — in the last 12 months.