Written by Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi, partner, Decker & Halabi, and member, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) UAE. A version of the following article originally appeared on Entrepreneur Middle East.

As an entrepreneur in the UAE, I have been in consumer-facing industries, such as leisure, food and beverage and fitness. As everyone knows, ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit us, most of these businesses have gone from making money to generating almost zero revenue, across the board, in a matter of weeks.

It is one thing to deal with challenging business environments, but it’s a totally different discussion when you are no longer able to operate your enterprise at all.