Small and Medium-sized Business Growth in Agricultural Sector (Case Study: Guilan Province)

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the pillars of economics whose development requires a particular attention to all production factors. This paper aims to provide a systematic and conceptual model that is based on a conceptualization of the field. For this purpose, the theory and methodology were extracted on the basis of data derived from field observations and interviews drawn from a systematic conceptual model of key informants. The current model shows that original category of the agriculture business, i.e. business growth, is originated from causal conditions including personal features, supportive roles, and production factors and, based on evaluation strategies and the exploitation of opportunities, leads to a new value based on business growth as a result of the process. Underlying conditions, such as individual factors, and geographical conditions, as well as environmental conditions, including the government, the legislature, and banks, are effective in this process. Understanding the aspects of business growth is effective in developing policies to support and promote entrepreneurship. Moreover, it is essential to design a growth model to help business owners select a definition for firm growth. It is noteworthy that so far, the majority of the proposed models have been ineffective in some aspects and more attention should be paid to future growth modeling in the research context.

Keywords

• agricultural sector
• Entrepreneurship
• SME