Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for Building a Sustainable Ecosystem in Rural Entrepreneurship

Purpose: Addressing the pervasive issue of unemployment necessitates a focus on entrepreneurship as a catalyst for employment generation. In the context of rural areas, entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role for fostering inclusive and sustainable development. This study seeks to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) influencing rural entrepreneurship and to explore their interrelationships to give a comprehensive framework for enhancing entrepreneurial outcomes in rural areas. Design/methodology/approach: The study employs a literature review and expert consultations to identify 13 CSFs of rural entrepreneurship. Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) is utilised to analyse the hierarchical relationships among these factors, while Matrix of Cross-Impact Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) analysis is applied to classify and assess the significance and influence of the identified CSFs. Findings: The result shows that Policies & Regulatory Environment and Cultural & Social norms were the most influential factors of rural entrepreneurship in the Indian context while Persistence & Resilience and Market Reachability were the least influential factors. Research limitations/implications: The study's limitations lie in the selection of only 13 CSFs for investigation and model development. Originality/value: This study enhances the current literature on rural entrepreneurship by identifying and analysing the CSFs that support the establishment of a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in rural regions. This study contextualises CSFs specifically in rural India, emphasising their hierarchical significance and interdependencies, in contrast to prior research that analyses entrepreneurial ecosystems at a broader national or sectoral level.