Business start‐up survival challenges and strategies of agribusiness and non‐agribusiness entrepreneurs

The increasing demand for highly differentiated products in today’s enterprise economies has emphasized the small firms’ comparative advantage over larger firms. Business mortality rates, however, remained very high among more vulnerable start‐up businesses still in their earliest stage of business development. The challenges experienced by agribusiness entrepreneurs and their counterparts from other industries in their start‐up years are analyzed using case‐study research techniques. Results indicate that highly differentiated start‐up conditions between industries and among firms usually resulted in varied survival strategies. Notable differences include pricing policies dependent on market structures, more consultative management styles, inadequate start‐up resources, and preferences for brand new equipment.