Small and medium businesses play a significant role in social and economic development. There are several mechanisms of such influence. Modern economic growth is impossible without the renewal of corporate forms, technologies, business practices, and the elimination of inflexible and obsolete ones. The creation of barriers to "creative destruction" may reduce social risks, but it also reduces the economy's growth rate in the future. Entrepreneurship is considered as one of the commercialization mechanisms of scientific research and development. And regions with high scientific research and development potential may have a low level of economic development due to poor entrepreneurship development and low density of startups. In other words, this refers to entrepreneurial capital concentrated in a country or region. In a large investment project execution, the return on investment will be higher in the region where the density of SMEs is higher. Small businesses provide additional services and related products. In addition, small businesses often exempt large enterprises from incidental functions, which allows them to improve their efficiency through outsourcing. The study's purpose was to form a range of proposals to reduce the negative consequences and opportunities associated with the Covid-19 pandemic consequences for business. The research identifies the risks, opportunities, and analyzed measures to support business and employment, implemented by regional executive authorities of all subjects of the Russian Federation in response to the limitations and challenges posed by the spread of new Covid-19 infection.