Prior research examining the consequences of crises for small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures has typically applied a macro-perspective, focussing on the impact of crises on business organisations and the strategies they adopt in times of crisis. In a new editorial in the International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, ACE director Professor Martin Obschonka together with Professor Alexander Newman and Professor Joern Block review the articles that form part of their special issue on ‘Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship in Times of Crises’, after introducing an entrepreneur-focused multi-level conceptual model. Highlighting the importance of integrating both micro- and macro-perspectives, their model facilitates our understanding as to how entrepreneurs and the organisations they run respond to unexpected crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.