Building Business Resilience Through Strategic Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Culinary Micro-Enterprises in Bandung During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted micro-enterprises, key drivers of developing economies, by causing financial instability, market uncertainty, and operational disruptions. These challenges highlight the urgent need for strategic adaptability and resilience. This study explores Strategic Entrepreneurship by integrating environmental, organizational, and individual dimensions into a framework that captures opportunity-seeking and profit-seeking behaviors. Specifically, this research examines the effects of Knowledge Management Capability (KMC) on Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Entrepreneurial Finance (EF), Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM), and Business Resilience (BR), as well as the impact of EO, EF, and EM on BR. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 125 culinary micro-enterprises in Bandung, and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study findings revealed that KMC significantly influences EO, EF, EM, and BR. Furthermore, EO, EF, and EM contribute to strengthening BR, with EF emerging as the most influential factor, underscoring the critical role of financial strategy in sustaining micro-enterprises during the crisis. This study refines the Strategic Entrepreneurship model, bridging entrepreneurship and strategic management, and providing empirical insights from an emerging economy. From a policy perspective, the findings advocate for inclusive financial policies, digital knowledge-sharing infrastructures, and capacity-building initiatives to support micro-enterprises in navigating future disruptions.