Achieving work–life balance for Korean entrepreneurs in the USA

PurposeThe purpose of our study was to explore and identify the type of work and life domain strategies that Korean small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in the USA implemented to mitigate challenges for achieving a work–life balance (WLB).Design/methodology/approachA total of 17 Korean entrepreneurs volunteered to participate in our qualitative exploratory case study, who shared successful strategies they developed to mitigate work–life challenges. A thematic analysis supported the data collected from interviews and a focus group meeting.FindingsA total of four themes emerged from the data analysis. The findings revealed that successful entrepreneurs achieved work–life balance by (1) having sufficient money, preparation, experience and family, (2) having delegated quality time for recreational activities and hiring more employees and (3) prioritizing and scheduling quality time for culture, family, health and faith. The fourth theme revealed challenges to acquiring business knowledge, health, money, skills and sufficient time.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations indicated potential research weaknesses outside the researchers’ control (Theofanidis and Fountouki, 2018). The most significant limitation was the identification of participants from the Western region of Korean Association for the research. Originally, 20 participants were planned: ten for interviews and ten for a focus group meeting. Maybe due to the reserved personality of Koreans, very few participants volunteered. From these seed volunteers, additional participants were recruited through a snowball sampling method. Due to this limited recruiting process, participants were not selected in a random fashion. Thus, the research results might not be generalizable.Practical implicationsThe findings may help policymakers, Korean community leaders and other minority group leaders train ambitious future SME entrepreneurs to maintain WLB from the onset of their businesses.Social implicationsThe findings may shed light on how Korean minority entrepreneurs coped with WLB, which may answer research needs for minority groups. The findings may contribute to the scarce Western literature and provide intervention tools to practitioners. By discovering behaviors and the leadership skills of the struggling Korean SME entrepreneurs in achieving WLB, this study may provide some intervention strategies to practitioners helping future entrepreneurs.Originality/valueWhile there is an abundance of WLB research about American SME entrepreneurs, studies on Korean SME entrepreneurs in the Western region of the USA were exiguous. Our study contributes to expanding the knowledge and understanding of WLB among Korean SME entrepreneurs.