Identifying the Causes of Failure of Bio-Start-Ups in Bushehr Province Based on Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping and Multi-Objective Modelling

Starting an entrepreneurial business is an economic engine, but one issue that is of great importance in addition to the formation of businesses is the sustainability of businesses over time. This study was conducted to identify the causes of failure of start-up businesses in the field of biology as one of the comparative advantages of Bushehr Province and to provide solutions for their development. The results showed that the failure factors of start-up of biological businesses could be classified under the five categories of business environment, macroeconomic indicators, firm structure, human resource-related characteristics and product-related characteristics. In the present study, after identifying the factors, fuzzy cognitive map was used to analyze the factors. The results showed that inefficient management was the main factor causing failure of these businesses. After identifying and analyzing the causes of failure, appropriate strategies were presented to deal with these factors and develop the businesses. The strategies were divided into three categories of empowerment, support and infrastructure and market strategies, and then using the combined approach of quality function development and multi-objective modeling, appropriate strategies were selected. Among the strategies related to empowerment, the strategy of developing general entrepreneurship education was selected; among the support and infrastructure strategies, the strategy of launching an investment fund and providing financial support was chosen and among the market strategies, bio-market development strategies were considered to play a greater role in the development of start-up bio-businesses and thus reduce the failure rate of these businesses.