Micro and small enterprises have become one of the most important sectors that contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth. In the current era of the digital economy, managing challenges is paramount to survive in the economic environment. Business owners are expected to know how to minimize the challenges by identifying operational risks that occurred in their businesses, which may impede their business survivability. This study is carried out to discover the challenges in managing potential occurrences of operational risks among micro and small enterprises in Kuala Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia. Interviews were conducted with selected business owners who operated their businesses in Kuala Selangor in order to obtain data about the challenges faced by the entrepreneurs and perceived operational risk occurrences in the current environment. The limitations and recommendations for future

research are addressed in the final section.

Highlights

• This study attempts to explore the challenges faced by MSEs in minimising the occurrences of operational risks that might affect their business survivability.