Purpose The purpose of the current study is to investigate the public and private financing obstacles to medium- and small-scale entrepreneurs in rural areas in Iran. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive analytic research method is used for collecting field data among 5,770 owners of entrepreneurial businesses located in rural areas of Mashhad in 2015. Findings The results showed that there are numerous public and private obstacles in rural entrepreneurship financing in Iran, which are the main factors for short-term loan repayment in public sector, and in the private sector, they result in entrepreneurs’ lack of access to the source of financing. Moreover, there are a variety of financing methods for entrepreneurship in rural areas, among which personal resources and borrowings are the most important ones. Thus, lack of serious and persistent governmental support from local entrepreneurs causes many entrepreneurial failures at the early stages of entrepreneurial activity in villages of Iran. Originality/value So far, few studies have been conducted on the subject of the study; hence, the results of the current study may be helpful to the developing nations.

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Purpose This study aims to investigate and analyze the factors affecting the probable failure of rural entrepreneurs so that the most important factors responsible for failure in the business of small and local entrepreneurs are identified. Design/methodology/approach The present survey was conducted through the descriptive-analytical method by using a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population of the study included 1,641 greenhouse owner entrepreneurs in five rural communities. To clarify the key criteria affecting probable failure of greenhouse businesses, LISREL 8.8 computer software was used and the effects of selected indices on the process of probable failure of entrepreneurs were assessed using stepwise regression in the SPSS computer application environment. Findings According to the results, individual and managerial skills factors, deterrent financial and legal issues, social barriers and infrastructural issues investigated in this study were of the first to the fourth priorities in clarifying factors affecting probable failure of greenhouse businesses. Considering the intragroup relations in these factors, it could be said that individual and managerial skills factors and infrastructural issues had the highest correlation coefficient which could be attributed to individual and management weaknesses of entrepreneurs in understanding infrastructural issues as the most important parameters to be considered in starting businesses. Originality/value So far, few studies analyzed the failure of rural entrepreneurs and evaluated the probable factors affecting it. Thus, the present study is among the earliest instances in the field and its results could be of great benefit to domestic entrepreneurs and similar cases in other countries.

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