The CHALLENGE

As we look ahead to post-COVID recovery, we cannot lose sight of the impact the last 15 months have had on small businesses. The abrupt pivot in early 2020 to an almost exclusively digital economy exposed crucial vulnerabilities for many small businesses. Small scale restaurants, salons, gift shops — retailers of every type– had to reinvent themselves again and again. As a result, small businesses of every variety have adopted new business models, platforms, products and services.

Ascend invites innovative, socially conscious students and professionals from any school or industry to compete in this year’s Impact Challenge. Help us put resilience into concrete action by formulating a solution to the following challenge:

Learning from the pandemic, how can small businesses increase their resilience to withstand, adapt, and thrive in the face of future shocks?

• Moving beyond curbside pickup and online orders, what aspects of doing business during the pandemic should a small business retain post-pandemic?
• How can small businesses leverage aspects of the pandemic economy to turn this disruption into opportunity?
• What efforts could large companies undertake to help small businesses become more resilient?
• Develop an idea to create/improve support networks for small business owners.
• How might a business that failed during the pandemic re-start or re-make itself post pandemic?
• How can we alter the in-person experience to promote consumerism at small businesses?
• How can a small business effectively combine both in-person and digital experiences that can withstand future disruptions?