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This study examines the challenges faced by entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on their learning processes, the strategies they implemented, and the insights they earned. The research employs Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to provide insights into entrepreneurs’ experiences during the crisis. We used purposeful sampling to select small and medium-sized business owners on Java Island who survived the pandemic. We conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed the data using NVIVO 12 software. This study introduces the Survival Learning Framework (SLF), a structured approach enabling entrepreneurs to navigate crises like COVID-19. SLF consists of three phases—knowing, understanding, and execution—emphasizing resilience, strategic awareness, and holistic transformation to foster adaptability and long-term sustainability. The Survival Learning Framework (SLF) offers a structured, multidisciplinary approach to entrepreneurial resilience, prioritizing transformation and long-term growth over mere recovery. By integrating adaptive resilience, experiential learning, and effectuation theories, it fills a critical literature gap, providing both theoretical advancements and practical strategies for navigating crises like COVID-19.

Getting through tough times: a survival learning framework for changing businesses during Indonesia’s COVID-19 crisis

This study examines how businesses navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, including their learning, strategies, and knowledge. The study uses interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to provide more information about how businesses felt during the crisis. We used purposeful sampling to find small and medium-sized business owners on Java Island who had made it through the outbreak. We used NVIVO 12 software to look at the data from semi-structured interviews that we did. This study introduces the Survival Learning Framework (SLF), a structured method that helps business owners deal with crises like COVID-19. SLF is made up of three steps: knowing, understanding, and putting it into action. It focuses on resilience, strategic awareness, and whole-system change to encourage adaptation and long-term sustainability. Uniqueness: The Survival Learning Framework (SLF) is a methodical, cross-disciplinary approach to building business resilience that puts more emphasis on change and long-term growth than on recovery. It fills in a major gap in the research by blending theories of adaptive resilience, experiential learning, and effectuation. It provides new theoretical insights and useful methods for dealing with disasters like COVID-19.

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Thriving Through Adversity: A Survival Learning Framework for Entrepreneurial Transformation During the COVID-19 Crisis in Indonesia