Table 3.

Coding and themes.

Compiled responses	Codes	Themes
•I was quite shocked due to the announcement of lockdown because we had to shut down the business. There was no way of income.	Less buying Saving money	Change in customer Behavior
•COVID-19 affected us financially. Everything shut down. Several businesses closed down in our industrial zone and customers are not buying products anymore.
•I observed a drastic reduction in sales.
•I feel customer behavior has changed and they have stopped buying our products.
•COVID-19 pandemic makes people think before they buy any product.
•I feel it's time to save money, this is apparent from customer behavior.
•COVID-19 affected my business very badly as people are so scared about the financial situation, they are placing very limited orders.
•COVID-19 has affected the entire world. In Pakistan, the business market is also influenced critically. Customers were so frightened initially that they were not ready to talk or place an order. Furthermore, the supply chain was affected due to social distancing.
•People think they will be bankrupt. That's why they are buying only in cash. No advance payments are made these days.
•I have reduced the number of employees working with me. I don't have money to pay salaries to employees, therefore, I have fired them.	Reduction in employees Reduction in finance	Reduction in resources
•I have sold some office equipment to pay the salaries to employees but now it's not possible anymore to keep an employee for the long run.
•I am worried about how to pay bills, and how to pay salaries to employees. I think I need to start downsizing my company.
•Government allow us to reopen business but follow SOPs. The nature of my business is to directly communicate with clients. But now, clients don't avail of any of my services due to fear of COVID-19. That's why I ask my employees to be quit.
•I think the main issue is the financial crisis because we have no clients and there is no way of income. Day by day, everything is getting too expensive which is hard for us to afford.
•During COVID we experienced a severe downfall in business. We were not in a position to pay our staff members. Eventually, we had to fire them. To sort out the crisis, we had to sell the furniture in our offices.
•I feel if the situation remains the same, I will not be able to survive, it depresses me. The economy is getting worse and the rising inflation has caused huge damage to my business. It seems impossible to survive. I am in depression.	Hopeless Depression Anxiety	Mental health
•1st wave of COVID-19 affected us so badly that we have lost customers and money. It has affected me mentally and physically.
•No, I don't think, that I will survive because of a lack of resources now. I am trying my best to run my business. However, I feel that I will shut off all my hard work one day.
•I got sacred when the government declared the lockdown due to COVID-19. But, we had not thought that the lockdown would last for so long. It engulfed the whole year. Isolation and restriction disturb me mentally.
•Every night I think about what will happen tomorrow. Which stresses me so much.
hline •The sudden announcement of a lockdown does not give us a chance to shift our business to digitalized platforms.	Technology acceptance Technology implementation	Transformation in business model
•I did not work online during the lockdown and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as my business is concerned with physical appearance. I cannot perform online tasks.
•Doing business on digital platforms was quite difficult because I don't possess the knowledge of social media and other digital platforms to do business. But now, I have learned the business techniques and related social media apps usage. It becomes easy.
•COVID-19 affected businesses on a large scale. We were unable to pay wages to the workers. The material was not available for production. Prices soared high in a lump sum and it was a great loss for us.
•I was familiarized with the technology. With time, I tried to improve my business and updated it. I developed my website and a Facebook page. I was highly active on Instagram, used WhatsApp and also digital marketing to upscale my business and track customers.
•I recently started a business and made a plan to shift business to a digital platform within 3 years. However, COVID-19 allowed me to shift business before my forecasted time.
•Most businesses joined online platforms and became digitalized because people were restricted to staying at home. For the last 2 months, I am working with my team to digitalize my business completely.
•I practice religious activities regularly to relax my mind.	Follow religion Exercise	Coping mechanism for mental and physical health.
•Nothing is better than following the preaching of Islam. It changes my mind.
•I think five times prayers in a day are enough for me to cope with a difficult situation.
•I do mediation and exercises to calm my nerves.
•I think about the positive aspects of life.
•I do yoga on regular basis to cope with mental and physical health.
•Family is my stress relief. I spend time with them.
•I have supportive family and friends, they help me in a difficult times.