Building Resilience: Lessons from Syrian-Owned Businesses After Türkiye’s Earthquakes

March 6, 2025 | Burcin Hatipoglu, Eren Akkan, Kerem Gurses, and Bengi Ertuna

In February 2023, catastrophic earthquakes shook Türkiye and Syria, profoundly impacting lives, communities, and businesses, including Syrian refugee-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—key contributors to the local economy—living and working in the areas of the country affected by the disaster. In the immediate aftermath, Building Markets conducted a rapid needs assessment of these SMEs, revealing a significant impact on business operations and assets.

Eighteen months after the earthquakes, Building Markets, in partnership with Boğaziçi University’s Applied Tourism Administration and Research Center (TUYGAR), found that despite these challenges, the businesses displayed resilience, resourcefulness, and adaptability. Our new report offers a detailed analysis of how Syrian-owned SMEs in five earthquake-affected cities—Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mersin, and Şanlıurfa—navigated the disaster's aftermath.

Key Findings

Surveying 486 businesses and conducting qualitative research, we uncovered the factors that bolstered organizational resilience in these SMEs:

Importance of Community Collaboration: Strong networks between Syrian refugees, their businesses, and community support played a vital role. These connections facilitated resource mobilization and offered emotional and logistical support.
Personal Adaptability and Innovation: Entrepreneurs who tailored products and services to meet changing demands thrived. Their willingness to pivot quickly was a game-changer.
Individual and Organizational Growth: The learning experiences of business owners and their teams underpinned resilience. Whether through prior crises or day-to-day operations, this adaptability was key to survival.

Our findings emphasize that resilience isn't limited to a single aspect—it's a multifaceted concept spanning individuals, teams, and businesses.

Recommendations for Building Resilient SMEs

Our report led to key recommendations for Syrian SME owners, supporting public agencies, and non-governmental and civil society organizations (NGOs/CSOs). Implementing these strategies can significantly bolster the resilience of SMEs in the wake of disasters.

For SME Owners:

Prepare for Risks: Integrate realistic risk assessments and mitigation strategies into business planning. Diversify inventory and manufacturing locations to prepare for natural disasters. These risk assessments guide business continuity and enhance applications for loans, grants, tenders, and partnerships.
Broaden Markets: Avoid relying solely on local customers, as demand, purchasing power, and availability can drastically shift post-disaster. Geographically diversifying customer and supplier bases can buffer against these impacts.
Strengthen Communications: Reinforce customer trust by assuring continuity post-disaster. Increase communication through online meetings, active social media presence, industry fairs, and customer visits. For those unable to travel, consider pooling resources with other SMEs to hire sales representatives.
Go Digital: Invest in digital marketing, sales, and operations. Leveraging AI tools can reduce costs, save time, and enhance marketing and operational efficiency impact.
Think Beyond Cost: Businesses focused solely on low costs may struggle as input prices rise. Explore hybrid competitive strategies that blend cost leadership with differentiation, emphasizing unique services, innovation, and branding.
Attract and Retain Employees: To address labor shortages in a region that has lost appeal due to cost and safety concerns, consider non-financial incentives. Flexible hours, remote work, shared housing, internships with vocational schools, and inclusive hiring (e.g., for women and people with disabilities) can help attract and retain skilled employees.

For Public Agencies:

Provide Emergency Training: Provide localized training for SMEs on disaster preparedness, including sheltering, evacuation routes, and tenant rights. This prepares owners to protect themselves, their employees, and their assets during disasters.
Collaborate with NGOs and CSOs: Continued collaboration with civil society actors Syrians who have worked in humanitarian NGOs after they arrived in Türkiye have benefited from this experience as 1) they met future business partners, 2) they learned how to assess forced migrant needs and mobilize resources to assist them, 3) they developed their social capital that supports their business, and 4) they became aware of social issues in the community. In a way, the NGOs and civil society organizations acted as incubators for future entrepreneurs. We suggest policymakers continue to allow these NGOs to work along with public agencies to support forced migrants.
Engage community leaders: Recognize Syrian business owners who actively mobilize resources in crises. It is easier and faster for local social networks and community-based organizations to organize emergency support during natural disasters in their communities. As our research suggested, there are those Syrian business owners who can mobilize resources swiftly during a crisis. Government and emergency services can collaborate with these community-based leaders to enhance emergency preparedness and response efforts.

For NGOs and Civil Society:

Adapt and Improve Training: Information is not enough to deal with the uncertainty in the disaster environment; business leaders need an adaptive posture and display flexibility in dealing with changes in the external environment. The assumption that Syrians will be adaptable and survive through any change because they have gone through several crises (the war and the pandemic), would be oversimplifying the severity of the situation. Go beyond basic disaster preparedness and business planning. Introduce training in change management skills such as agility, proactive thinking, and scenario planning to strengthen adaptability.
Build Insurance Awareness: Mentor SMEs on the importance of insurance for risk coverage. Advocating for collective insurance arrangements can make premiums more affordable while also providing guarantees to risk-averse customers.
Assist Vocational Partnerships: Many NGOs aim to match Syrian workers with local employers, yet candidates often lack the required skills. Partner with vocational schools to better prepare candidates for skilled positions in SMEs.
Provide Financial Assistance: Microgrants from NGOs have significantly helped SMEs rebound. Continuing and scaling these grants, combined with technical training, will further support SME resilience.
Support Social Entrepreneurship: As some SMEs are acting similarly to social entrepreneurs and pursuing hybrid goals (commercial and social), it will be in the best interest of the owner to be recognized as such and receive further mentoring for scaling up their operations.

The Road Ahead

The February 2023 earthquakes tested the limits of many businesses, but they also revealed the power of resilience and innovation. With their ability to adapt and thrive amidst adversity, Syrian-owned SMEs offer valuable lessons for policymakers, NGOs, and the global business community.

By building stronger networks, fostering adaptability, and enhancing collaboration between the private sector and public agencies, we can create a more resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem—one that not only recovers from disasters but emerges stronger.

For more insights, read the full report here.

Building Resilience: Lessons from Syrian-Owned Businesses After Türkiye’s Earthquakes