Fostering Creative Entrepreneurship Through Self-Help Group: Post-COVID Resilience

Abstract

Creative entrepreneurship is a vital concept that revolves around setting up a business that is novel, thoughtful, lucrative, and yet compassionate. The global pandemic has made people realise the significance and importance of creative entrepreneurship. Self-help groups (SHGs) play a pivotal role in boosting the rural economy and empowering people. Rural creative entrepreneurship has witnessed a significant transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conventional concepts vanished due to the modern shift towards digitisation. Usage of the technology became the new normal and SHGs made all possible efforts to acclimatise promptly. Online virtual meetings, conference calls, and groups on WhatsApp made common people techno-savvy, facilitating work from home. The adoption of digitisation became a catalyst for the development of remote/rural areas. The present study is focused on the role of creative entrepreneurship in supporting and helping SHGs to function seamlessly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors aimed at analysing pandemic and post-pandemic creative entrepreneurship through SHGs in Himachal Pradesh (India). The authors identify that Creative Entrepreneurship initiatives have changed and supported the livelihood of rural people during the pandemic. This chapter also highlights challenges faced by the SHGs during the lockdown and their resilience strategies.

Citation

Bhardwaj, B., Balkrishan, and Sharma, D. (2023), "Fostering Creative Entrepreneurship Through Self-Help Group: Post-COVID Resilience", Hill, I., Elias, S.R.S.T.A., Dobson, S. and Jones, P. (Ed.) Creative (and Cultural) Industry Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 18A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-104. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-72462023000018A007