When Family Strain Meets Market Hostility: How Exhaustion Limits Women’s Business Success

What is it about?

This study examines how work-to-family conflict undermines firm performance among women entrepreneurs, particularly in environments marked by market hostility. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, it argues that the struggle to balance work and family roles drains emotional energy, leading to emotional exhaustion—a psychological state that erodes motivation, focus, and persistence. As emotional resources are depleted, entrepreneurs find it harder to sustain strategic thinking or innovation, resulting in weaker business outcomes. Using data from women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia, the study shows that market hostility—marked by fierce competition and uncertainty—intensifies resource depletion. When female business owners face both work-induced family strain and market instability, their emotional and cognitive resources are overextended. These dual pressures heighten exhaustion and hinder the resilience and creativity needed for growth, creating spirals of resource loss that leave them vulnerable to disengagement and performance decline. By integrating personal and environmental stressors into one framework, the study highlights that the intersection of family and market pressures is particularly harmful for women entrepreneurs. It emphasizes the importance of interventions that help women protect and replenish their emotional resources—through better support systems, self-care, and community networks—to sustain long-term business success.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in linking work-to-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and market hostility within a unified COR-based model of women’s entrepreneurial performance. It shows that exhaustion functions as the key mechanism through which personal and market stressors jointly erode business success. The research advances understanding of how competing demands from home and market environments interact to drain emotional resources critical for strategic and innovative action. It is also timely, as women entrepreneurs across developing economies—such as Ethiopia—face growing tensions between work and family responsibilities in increasingly competitive markets. By clarifying how resource depletion constrains women’s entrepreneurial capacity, the study provides valuable insights for policymakers and support organizations seeking to strengthen women-led businesses. It calls for fostering resilience through social, emotional, and institutional support to help women sustain performance amid dual pressures.