Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research

Identifying Key Criteria Influencing the Evaluation of Rural Entrepreneurial Ideas for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Using the Fuzzy-Delphi Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mona Gholami 1
Maryam Ashrafi 1
Dawoud Fadaei 2
1 Amirkabir University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, Tehran, Iran.
2 Amirkabir University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/eir.2025.495962.1146
Abstract
Objective: In recent years, sustainable rural entrepreneurship has emerged as a key strategy for job creation, income generation, environmental conservation, and improving the quality of life for rural populations, by comprehensively addressing economic, socio-cultural, and ecological dimensions. However, the high failure rate of these activities in Iran has weakened the entrepreneurial spirit and deterred further investments in these regions. Excessive optimism about entrepreneurial ideas in the pre-startup phase is the main reason for the failure of many such businesses. By accurately identifying the factors influencing an idea and those affected by its implementation, entrepreneurs can effectively recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their ideas and adopt appropriate measures to increase their chances of success.
Method: This study presents a comprehensive framework of criteria influencing the evaluation of rural entrepreneurial ideas through literature analysis and the fuzzy Delphi method.
Findings: Based on the results of the two-stage fuzzy Delphi method, 29 key criteria were identified and prioritized out of 38 extracted criteria across four dimensions: idea characteristics, feasibility (from market and resource perspectives), sustainability, and innovator/team characteristics.
Conclusion: The findings indicate the high importance of idea characteristics in the process of evaluating rural entrepreneurial ideas. The utility of the idea was identified as the most important criterion, meaning that ideas must directly address the problems and needs of the rural community.
Keywords
Evaluation Criteria
Entrepreneurial Ideas
Fuzzy Delphi
Idea Evaluation
Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship

Subjects

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