Entrepreneurial exit intentions and the business-family interface

Endeavors by entrepreneurs to manage the connections between business and family can manifest in many behaviors and decisions. Entrepreneurs may curtail their family life for their business or modify their business involvement for their family. The processes at this interface between business and family may affect the entrepreneur's intention to exit or persist in the business. In this study we aim to extend the literature on entrepreneurial exit by examining the linkages between the business and family domains. Applying work-family interface theory, we examine linkages between the family and business domains (e.g., business-to-family interference, business-to-family enrichment, family-to-business interference, and family-to-business enrichment) and how these processes affect male and female entrepreneurs' intentions to exit their current business. The data were obtained from the National Study of the Changing Workforce in the United States. We utilize a subsample of 388 married entrepreneurs who considered their business a full-time endeavor. We found support for the effects of business-to-family enrichment and the two interference variables on exit intentions. Further, we found that exit intentions were stronger for female than male entrepreneurs experiencing interference between the business and family. These findings held when controlling for the effect of business performance as perceived by the entrepreneur.