Abstract

Economic development and the inequalities generated by it, have fostered new forms of entrepreneurship, such as solidarity economic enterprises (EES), where cooperatives stand out, with agricultural and peasant making up 28% of participants in Chile and 52% of participants in the XIV Region, most of these, in general, small entities. In this sense, this study aimed to analyze how small agricultural cooperatives in the Los Rios region design and establish business strategies. To this end, the methodological approach is qualitative, using document review and interviews for data collection and analysis. The results show that business strategies are constructed by managers with no previous experience or training in the topic of cooperatives or administration. Another relevant conclusion is how a cooperative's business strategies relate to the type of services that the cooperative. This research indicates the need of strengthening human and social capital in cooperatives; knowledge of the network of opportunities in government projects, in addition to the combination of both strategies, and maturing then to promote the development of small agricultural activities and sustainability in the rural areas.