Analysis of the factors affecting probable failure of local entrepreneurs Forecasting approach of greenhouses in rural areas of Jiroft, Iran Hamdollah Sojasi Qeidari Department of Geography, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Mahdi Salehi Department of Accounting, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, and Hamid Shayan, Seyed Reza Hosseini Kahnooj and Tahereh Sadeghloo Department of Geography, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Abstract 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. Keywords Jiroft, Local entrepreneurs, Probable failure, Greenhouse businesses, Forecasting Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction The impact of entrepreneurship on the socioeconomic development of rural regions is so transparent that several scholars call this era the age of entrepreneurship (Eschker et al., 2017). According to modern development theories, entrepreneurship could be viewed from Factors affecting failure of local entrepreneurs 93 Received 3 March 2018 Revised 9 December 2019 Accepted 10 February 2020 International Journal of Law and Management Vol. 62 No. 1, 2020 pp. 93-115 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1754-243X DOI 10.1108/IJLMA-03-2018-0044 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1754-243X.htm