Financial Problems

The initial wave of unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic was huge. (Karpman et al., 2020)
stated that the coronavirus outbreak has had a profound economic impact on the elderly and their
families. The outbreak of the coronavirus suddenly changed the development of the economy because
the fear of the spread of the disease forced people to reduce their economic activities. As (Islam et al.,
2020) stated, the pandemic has brought tremendous economic pressure to families. Most families have
difficult to manage debts, their incomes have fallen, and family members are in trouble. University
students, who used to earn and contribute to their families before lockdown, has difficulty in helping
their parents at this time of crisis.

Online Business

Covid-19 disrupted and reshaped the business landscape, as reduced personal contact forced business
owners to deliver online. Advances in Internet technology have enabled e-commerce platforms to
change retail and logistics operations and provide more economic benefits such as cost savings and
delays. This allows Uses and gratification theory (UGT) to explain why, stated by (Luo et al., 2011). E-
commerce literature fully proves that advances in Internet technology enable companies to sell
products directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms (Fan et al., 2020). In order to reduce the
spread of the virus, consumer practice needs to pay attention to e-commerce platforms, because this
can improve shopping efficiency, realize new purchases, and promote information acquisition and online
communication between consumers and sellers, as (Guillen-Royo, 2019) stated.

Benefits of Online Business to Students

(Rosli et al. 2020) stated that because marketers need a lot of cash as capital, it is difficult for college
students who lack funds to start a business. It is not easy to turn skills into money and make the
business successful after the successful start. In addition, online business can help students with tight
budgets improve their business skills, because online business provides a unique platform for businesses
to thrive. In online business, we don't need banners, flyers, etc. to let our customers buy our products.
So this will save thousands of costs. These online business functions are really helpful for young
students, especially when running their own businesses. The researchers stated as well that today’s
college students have access to social media, and most of them have their own personal social media
accounts for contacting family and acquaintances. They can also open and create their own business
account through social media without having to rent an account to sell their products.

Sampling technique
The random sampling technique was used for collecting information from students. An informed
consent form was attached to the e-questionnaire, and each participant consented to participate in the
survey after reading the consent form. The participants were asked to share the e-questionnaire with
their friends using their personal and institutional Facebook and Messenger.

Ethical issues

This study was formally approved by the Ethical Clearance Committee of Khulna University, Bangladesh.
The participants responded anonymously to the online survey by filling up an informed consent letter in
the first section of the e-questionnaire. In the consent form, all the participants were provided with
information concerning the research purpose, confidentiality of information, and right to revoke the
participation without prior justification.