Collaboration and financial sustainability of business in rural areas

Evgeni Stanimirov, Mariya Stanimirova

Abstract: Тhe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of collaboration with customers and business partners on the financial resilience of rural companies in the context of the impact of the pandemic (Co-19) and war in Ukraine. A key finding of the research is that the companies included in the study have gaps in terms of managing relationships with customers and business partners, with a significant proportion of businesses negatively impacted by the crises being highly dependent on a limited number of their customers. The study shows that companies› efforts to achieve financial stability should be linked to effective collaboration and diversification of the customer portfolio. The latter is related to CRM, which is perceived as a key tool for networking with customers and in this sense is part of companies’ overall business model. In that context attention should focus both specifically on the role of collaboration and on the complex design and redesign of the business model.

Keywords: cooperation; financial sustainability; relationship management; rural regions

Citation: Stanimirov, E. & Stanimirova, M. (2023). Collaboration and financial sustainability of business in rural areas. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 29 (Supplement 1), 147–151.

Date published: 2023-12-18