Current resources and demands of self-employed women entrepreneurs 

Self-employment has increased in America since the Great Recession in 2008, totaling 16.8 million workers in 2022, approximately 10.2% of the total workforce in the U.S. (Dart, 2022). Nowadays, becoming self-employed can be possible by using online platforms to quickly access “gigs” or sell products using social media, a common practice among the gig economy and entrepreneurs (Van Doorn, 2023). Within this population, some women entrepreneurs have started online businesses selling makeup, handicrafts, and innovative products, using self-employment as a survival strategy to meet financial ends, a desire to be one's boss, or an activity that will generate a second income (OECD, 2023). Currently, womenentrepreneurs who make money from selling their handmade products worldwide are challenging the traditional views that consider women's crafting as an unseen or leisure activity (Luckman, 2013). For example, a movement of women entrepreneurs in Mexico called “NENIS,” an acronym in Spanish for Nuevas Emprendedoras de Negocios por Internet (New Internet Business Entrepreneurs), successfully started promoting and selling their products in social media after experiencing a reduction in work hours due to the pandemic.

Within this community, one can readily find a strong emphasis on creativity and feminism, inspiring other women to launch their businesses, create new self-employment sources, be their bosses, and provide fortheir families as single mothers living in a country with unequal work opportunities (Quezada Diaz, 2022). Inthe U.S., self-employed women entrepreneurs who started an online business have also reported a higher sense of purpose, more enjoyment in their day-to-day work, and general pleasure in controlling the timeand place where to work (Gallup, 2019). However, besides the numerous resources associated with self-employment, women entrepreneurs also lack financial stability, must manage job insecurity, and have to reinvent themselves to match the market and clients' demands. These factors can decrease life satisfaction and well-being (Tetrick et al., 2000; Lek Venig, 2020). This translational paper describes six primary psychosocial resources and demands self-employed women entrepreneurs face today. Key recommendations are mentioned at the bottom of this paper, as we expect to promote a better quality of life and well-being among self-employed women.

Resources and Demands in Self-Employed Women Entrepreneurs

According to Brush (2006), people start their businesses based on the level of economic development in their country, cultural factors, resources, and industrial base. For example, in developed countries,entrepreneurial ventures usually produce innovations to create wealth, while in transitioning economies,such ventures often aim to build market institutions like Etsy or Wish. However, independent of transculturaland economic status differences, the increasing opportunity to sell products online has triggered differentand new challenges for self-employed persons, such as managing their online business using socialmedia, interacting with online customers, and experiencing poor psychological detachment, which canincrease depletion of psychological resources and energy (Hobfoll, 1989).

For solo enterprises, reputational threats are also everyday stressors, as clients tend to spread the wordabout their discontent with friends and the internet (Schonfeld & Mazzola, 2015). The reputational threat can sometimes come from the mismanagement of unrealistic clients or customer expectations. Lek Venig (2020) found while interviewing a wholesaler's food entrepreneur in the U.S., “As a relatively small food wholesaler, it is tough negotiating with big clients. You have to deal with unrealistic expectations and demands, p.9.”

Finally, a common stressor among women entrepreneurs is the low possibility of detaching from work since online platforms are open 24 hours a day, and most women must balance home and work demands from home since they typically do not have the initial capital to start their businesses with a physical location (Luckman, 2015). Alongside, longer working hours can reduce the quality of family lives, produce work-family conflict, and less time to socialize and relax (Hamilton Skurak, 2021). “My family needs to fit my time. So I tell (her kids) them: you know I have to work many hours, you have always been independent…so when you see me working, then I am working, and when I finish, then I can take care of you” (Azucena, FacebookMarket entrepreneur). Poor work detachment and constant worries about balancing work-nonwork domains have been associated with negative affect, exhaustion, and fatigue (Steed et al., 2019; Karabinski,2021). These consequences in workers' health can increase with high after-hours availability expectations, high frequency of work-related smartphone use, and low boundary control (Mellner, 2016).

There are clearly many demands that women entrepreneurs confront daily. It is also necessary, however, to acknowledge some resources or protective factors associated with these types of jobs. For example, mastery experiences, including learning and challenging experiences, can provide new opportunities to gainnew resources to cope with work demands, such as self-efficacy (Hahn Binnewies et al., 2011). In addition, handcrafted women entrepreneurs can witness the beauty of their work, finding task significance as a crucial factor in experiencing meaning at work and a stronger sense of accomplishment (Warr, 2018). As an Esty woman entrepreneur in the U.S. describes, “We are not rolling in it; I am never going to get rich doing this. However, I am happier than I have ever been in my life, so it is worth it” (Luckman, 2013, p. *). Finally, building self-efficacy can empower self- employed women entrepreneurs to act against social inequalities. For example, in Mexico, self- employment is perceived as a female empowerment tool that could helpreduce the unequal pay gap between men and women, as well as an opportunity to build support groups that can effectively address feminicide (see Figure 2).

As more research needs to explore the phenomenon of women entrepreneurship in developing countries, among classes, industries, and nations (Yadav, 2016), the repercussion on the global economy after the pandemic has led workers to embrace their resources and to make the best out of it. As a NENI in Mexicoexplains,“There is a phrase that says, ‘In times of crisis, some people sit down and start crying, while others sell handkerchiefs’; I prefer to sell handkerchiefs to those who sit down and cry.”

According to the Conservation of Resources Model (Hobfoll, 1989), once a person engages in a losing spiral of resources, the likelihood to continue losing resources is higher. In contrast, if a person has a large pool of resources, it will be easier to recover from losing resources and continue earning more. Resourcesfor self-employed women entrepreneurs can be objects (materials to create products, transportation), conditions (socioeconomic status, social support), personal characteristics (mindset, personality), or energy(money, energy to produce more products). According to this framework, we can assume that women entrepreneurs with mastery experiences, task significance, and agency building will be at less risk than women who are unable to cope with job demands, such as meeting the expectations of the clients, constantly reframing sales techniques, and having poor work detachment.

Why and how is it essential to take care of self-employed women entrepreneurs?

As previously stated, self-employment can have both positive and negative consequences on individuals'lives. Therefore, any person or business that hires the services of self-employed individuals should be mindful of the advantages and drawbacks of this type of employment, as it can impact the general welfare of the employee and their families. Furthermore, by continuing to protect these workers' health and human dignity, we can reinforce broader community and societal norms to protect well-being beyond the boundaries of a single organization (Cunningham & Black, 2021).

If I were a customer, how could I care for self-employed women entrepreneurs?

Providing good feedback and reviews from the services can assist in lowering the reputational threat forentrepreneurs. Customer reviews greatly influence future purchases of new customers, making the customers feel that the product is useful and valuable (Cheng & Ho, 2015). Sharing positive comments can also increase the brand's popularity among customers, helping small business owners to increase their brand awareness (Vries et al., 2012) and cope better with the demands of online clients and the always-changing online market. At an interpersonal level, praising creative efforts to create products, create innovative social media content, and find distribution solutions can increase self-efficacy and task significance. Praising can increase motivation to continue enjoying creativity- related activities, initiate creative action, and maintain creativity levels (Bandura, 1997; Tierney & Farmer, 2004).

Finally, engaging in ethical consumption or “buying local” can provide self-employees with a secure pool of clients and revenue. This may decrease the strain of meeting the expectations of demanding clients andease longer working hours, trying to retain clients and expand networking. Buying local products can have other community benefits, such as securing public goods, creating good jobs, andembracing safe streets (Schoolman, 2020).

How can I care for myself if I am a self-employed women entrepreneur?

Connecting with other women entrepreneurs who have experience working in solo enterprises and  the online busisocial media marness. The NENIS keting will be ain Mexico, for e starting point example, has begufor continuing tn supportive groo developups where they learn how to close sales with demanding clients, edit media content to post at the correct time, and even learn safety procedures and places in the city to deliver their products (Quezada-Diaz, 2022). In addition, building community capacity has been proven to improve self-efficacy and empower workehazards, and crers to make fundaate coping stratmental changes tegies (Cuervo eto their work con al., 2021).

Fditions, addressinally, differen t techniques can be used to disengage with work stressors to address the need for at least periodic detachment from work. For example, transitioning rituals (Ashford et al., 2000) such as walking, meeting with your family in the living room, playing music, or taking a shower can separate work non-work hours when working from home. Likewise, having designated work and home spaces can help to cognitively separate these two areas, such as having a particular table or chair to work on or using a specific room to work only. Finally, according to Hahn et al. (2011), setting your phone to stop receiving notifications from posts or clients can help disengage with work duties, creating the boundaries that you and your family need to spend better quality time together to recover from work.

In conclusion, women entrepreneurs may experience many challenges to sustain their self- employment.Nevertheless, overcoming these challenges of self-employment can help create resources such as mastery experiences, task significance, and agency building. Encouraging support for them as clients can also help them gain more resources and sustain more families who depend on this type of employment.

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