Entrepreneurship Resilience: Female-Led Small Businesses Facing Diverse Crises

Abstract

This study examines the resilience of women entrepreneurs in Lebanon amid compounding crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic collapse, and the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, focusing on their interactions within family, community, and society to uncover the factors driving their capacity to recover and adapt. Using 45 semi-structured interviews guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 2000), the research explores the experiences of female entrepreneurs leading small businesses in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Thematic analysis reveals patterns across four EST levels: at the microsystem level, adaptability, proactive resourcefulness, and managed vulnerability characterize resilience; at the mesosystem level, empathy-driven customer relationships, teamwork, and family ties provide critical support; at the exosystem and macrosystem levels, community resilience initiatives, local sourcing, shifting gender norms, and ethical business practices collectively shape broader ecosystem adaptation. Crucially, the study also documents failure cases, identifying four structural vulnerability factors that distinguish discontinued businesses from survivors. By moving beyond trait-based views, this study advances a model of “embedded resilience,” demonstrating that entrepreneurial survival in poly-crisis environments is structurally dictated by localized resource substitutions across ecological layers rather than individual endurance alone.