Conceptual framework for rural business models

Business models have been developed to contribute to rural economic development, being used to create, deliver and capture economic and social value. The aim of this paper is to conceptualize the context of developing business models in rural areas, how these have evolved over time and what is the impact on future strategies in community development based on rural entrepreneurship. The increasing focus and attention on business model innovation has been seen among researchers in the last two decades, and several studies have been conducted to define the concept of business modeling. However, variations in business model definitions are noticeable and opinions regarding its components, structure and relationships inside a business vary as well. The literature review provided significant definitions on the key concepts on business models in rural entrepreneurship. The results of the research are to contribute in developing a framework on the understanding of various terms, such as business model, rural entrepreneurship, community development, and innovative entrepreneurship, with reference to shedding some light on conceptual meaning, purpose, methodology and scope of application. Capturing the existing trends in economic development in rural areas could be performed, based on the literature reviewed in this paper, in order to analyze the potential for diversification of economic activities, by finding the business models already implemented in the rural communities and measuring the impact they had on community development. In this way, a structure for a business model and an emphasis on business opportunities for the rural areas of interest could be developed.