Resilience and Survival Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Within the Legal Sector of Durban, South Africa

Abstract

The existence of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the legal sector has been confronted by political, economic, social, and technological factors. This has necessitated fostering resilience and survival strategies for such SMEs in South Africa. This study's main objective was to determine resilience and survival strategies of small to medium-sized legal firms in Durban, South Africa. Researchers used the interpretivist philosophy, where a qualitative research approach was applied with an explanatory research design. Theoretically, the key theories that explained the present study were the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory and the Dynamic Capabilities Theory. Researchers conducted 13 interviews with owners and managers of Small and medium-sized legal firms in Durban. After reaching saturation level at the 13th interviewee, with the participants purposively selected, the main themes were generated.  Word cloud analysis was used in the production of themes. The study obtained partnerships and collaborations, community engagements, niche markets, client engagement, and market change agility are the key resilient and survival strategies for SMEs in the legal sector of Durban. The study makes recommendation that SMEs give priority in the building of partnerships and have collaborations with other companies and professional organizations to enable them to access new markets, share knowledge and improve their overall competitiveness.