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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YS, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

The COVID-19 crisis has pushed SMBs to promote and grow their businesses online and now with inflationary headwinds, SMBs continue to show remarkable resilience. – Mitika Kulshreshtha, Newfold Digital

Building a worldwide supply chain was unthinkable just a decade ago. Fast forward to times when the world saw its biggest pandemic in a century, and yet the flow of goods and services didn’t completely stop; it only halted until restrictions were eased. – Pushkar Mukewar, Drip Capital

COVID-19 has made people realise that some of the deficiencies can only be removed by these [nutraceutical] tablets. – Pallav Bihani, BoldFit

The pandemic pushed new-to-online shoppers and existing shoppers to increase their online purchasing, as physical shopping channels closed or became difficult to access. – Nimisha Jain, BCG India

The first phase of the pandemic did hamper our business. But there is always a way to look at things differently and positively. – Manish Agarwal, Lugsto

I wanted to invest and expand more, raise money, open an office, hire employees, etc, but the pandemic and lockdowns forced me to think differently. – Ruchi Verma, Aaruvi Ruchi Verma

I installed BharatPe UPI QR in March 2020 which proved to be a boon for me and my business, especially during COVID. – Tukaram, Balaji Pan Shop

As a diplomat, my job is to meet and get to know people and make friends. It’s very difficult to do this on Zoom. – Rony Yedidia-Clein, Embassy of Israel in India

During COVID, we did our first asset delivery for Rs 750, and it became one of the profitable models during lockdowns with the least amount of damage, which was 0.04 percent. – Sainadh Duvvuru, HappyLocate

Garment manufacturers generally do not entertain a startup but we went with a cash-and-carry model where I gave them work commitment every month. – Sreejith Sreekumar, Giacca and Abito Sartorial Fashion

For artists, it was a very tough period as there were no physical exhibitions and most of them usually depends on the offline market. – Dushyant Dangi, Tribal Art India

Artists who could not reach buyers outside of their small shops simply left the industry. – Senthil Vel, IIFAG

The number of art events and exhibitions went down significantly because of the pandemic. But audiences should now step up and visit these events. – Krishna Setty CS, ‘Resilience’

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected women – partly because of existing gender inequalities in society. – Harsh Lambah, IWG

The pandemic has shown that remote work is viable, and I believe that will help in attracting more women to enter the tech industry where in many roles remote work is doable. – Sarita Digumarti, UNext

YS has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).