External professional assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises to solving the challenges of the pandemic

Crises are always a milestone in the life of economies, including economic actors. New situations call for new solutions, which in many cases individuals and organizations can only overcome at the cost of sacrifices and major changes. The most vulnerable in this respect is the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises. Crises are not new in world history and we have experienced their consequences before. We paid most of our school fees during the 2008 crisis, so the pandemic crisis that will hit us in 2020 was no surprise to us. The aim of this study is to present the response of SMEs to the crisis situation, pointing out the areas most in need of support by type of business. Our aim is to identify key areas where businesses need to pay particular attention in order to become more resilient and flexible to current and future challenges.