Resilience and business model adaptation in turbulent times: experiences of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Germany during Covid-pandemic

ABSTRACT

Migrants starting up businesses face different challenges than local companies, this difference can represent multifaceted features during turbulent times. Migrant entrepreneurs with diaspora resources can adapt their business models with special cultural and linguistic value creation elements that target markets both physically and online using digital means. Migrant resilience has been ignored in the business model-related literature. This multiple case study contributes to that. It examines ways five Russophone migrant entrepreneurs adapt their business models and employ available cultural and linguistic features, and other business and digital solutions by doing so using a business model canvas. The cases indicate that migrant life transformations combined with international experience may foster their entrepreneurial resilience and help them to adapt to the value creation elements. Shared language is one strategic value component. The study shows that migrant entrepreneurs discover and address both domestic and international opportunities and have aspirations beyond simple survival or necessity.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• business model
• adaptation
• Russophone
• migrant entrepreneurship
• language
• strategy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Many governments and the World Bank were concerned about migrants’ economic performance during the pandemic, but in fact, migrants’ economic contributions illustrated great resilience and the remittances sent to homelands were stable or even increased in several countries, see more in https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/did-remittances-really-increase-during-pandemic retrieved 19.9.2022.

2 See more on the term NFT gallery here https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq accessed 30.4.2022.