Scenarios will help SMEs out of corona crisis and beyond

Abstract

Small and medium size companies have to fight for their survival during the corona crisis and beyond the crisis. Long-term thinking is crucial for the renewal and the short-term survival is essential in the management in the time of crisis. In this paper we present the results of the virtual futures workshop arranged with SMEs in the beginning of April 2020. Altogether 15 companies from various business fields participated this session. They used four alternative scenarios as wind tunnels and as a quelle for new ideas to renew their business. First, they analyzed their direct needs to survive through the next weeks and months in each scenario and then, in the second phase they prepared new insights and innovations beyond the corona crisis. Scenarios and the results concerning the Innovations for services, products, distribution channels, customer relations and networks with new partners will be presented in this paper.