Align research questions to the reframed problem statement.

Here's research questions:

What leadership challenges must small business owners in rural Midwest towns overcome to maintain and expand their businesses?

How do resource scarcity and limited market size affect rural business owners' leadership practices and business sustainability?

What leadership support strategies do rural small business owners perceive as most useful for business sustainability and growth?

Here is revised Problem Statement:

Rural Midwest small company owners, particularly those in rural Illinois counties thatoperate in NAICS-defined industries, face important leadership challenges that require immediate attention. The problem is that, despite their importance, leadership functions are not fully employed as a tool to get past operational obstacles including a lack of educational opportunities, poor infrastructure, and budgetary limitations (Nursaid et al., 2023; Medina, 2023). As a result, small businesses struggle to achieve long-term sustainability and financial success, despite the potential benefits of effective leadership (Kaufman et al., 2006).

Transformational leadership, which focuses on developing a compelling vision, encouraging innovation and change, and inspiring and motivating employees, will be the subject of the study. This kind of leadership is particularly important for small business owners in rural areas that are dealing with rapid technological advancements and financial difficulty (McKinnon-Russell, 2015). This study is important and relevant because, whileprevious research has often highlighted the challenges faced by small towns in the Midwest, it has rarely examined how leadership strategies could help them overcome these obstacles. This emphasizes how important it is to look closely at leadership strategies that work in rural communities. Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978).

This study is significant and pertinent because, althoughprevious research has often identified the challenges faced by small towns in the Midwest,relatively few studies have looked at how leadership practices could aid in overcoming these challenges. This emphasizes the necessity of doing a thorough investigation of leadership strategies aimed at rural environments.

An exploratory case studymethodology was used to collect qualitative data for this project, which included in-depth interviews with small business owners in rural Illinois, document reviews of business records, area economic reports, and direct observation of business activities. The goal is to understand how leadership strategies grounded inthe transformational leadership ideology affect company sustainability. The goal of this study's leadership strategy focus is toprovide useful insights that address leadership gaps and issues with resource access,ultimately giving rural business owners comprehensive support to achieve financial stability and growth.

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