Jens Kaus

Small Business Economics Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01181-z

Sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) is particularly important in rural economies, yet SBMI research has largely ignored rural contexts and lacked a holistic treatment of drivers. Rural entrepreneurs face heightened vulnerability due to their reliance on natural amenities sensitive to disruption, and their limited access to resources, networks, and institutional support. SBMI provides a critical pathway for enhancing the economic and socio-ecological resilience of firms and local communities, enabling diversification while integrating sustainability into business strategies. In rural contexts, SBMI likely unfolds differently compared to better-studied urban settings, and enabling mechanisms are underexplored. To advance the field, we develop a holistic conceptual framework of SBMI that is salient to these oft-ignored rural contexts and offer propositions on how these mechanisms may operate to drive rural SBMI. We incorporate four interrelated factors—entrepreneurial networks (ENs), rootedness in place (RIP), dynamic capabilities (DCs), and sustainability orientation (SO)—that together shape how rural entrepreneurial organizations adapt practices to environmental and market shifts and integrate sustainability into their business models. By emphasizing the interplay between rural ventures, their networks, and their embeddedness within rural places, the framework underscores the centrality of place and entrepreneurial ecosystems in fostering rural SBMI. It offers theoretical and practical insights for designing interventions that strengthen resilience, promote sustainability, and support the long-term vitality of rural entrepreneurial ecosystems