Resumo:
Between 2020 and 2025, managing microenterprises became increasingly complex, especially
in emerging niches such as the vegan market, where economic, cultural, and ethical
challenges intersect. This study examines the psychosocial impacts on the management of
vegan microenterprises, investigating how factors such as stress, anxiety, emotional
well‑being, social support networks, and working conditions influence business performance
and sustainability. A mixed‑methods design was adopted, using an online questionnaire
answered by 20 entrepreneurs, combining closed‑ended questions (analyzed through
descriptive statistics) and open‑ended questions (examined through thematic coding). The
findings show that 55% of respondents experience frequent or constant stress, 80%
acknowledge that their emotional well‑being directly affects business performance, and
around half have had to pause their activities at some point, often due to extreme exhaustion,
health problems, or financial infeasibility in times of crisis. At the same time, 95% state that
caring for mental health is part of business management, but only 40% report having a
structured support network, and 26% declare not using any strategy to balance work and
personal life. In dialogue with the literature on work psychodynamics, entrepreneurship, and
mental health, the results indicate that psychosocial factors affect not only decision‑making
and leadership, but also the concrete continuity of vegan businesses, revealing a paradox
between high awareness of the importance of mental health and limited ability to translate this
awareness into consistent self‑care practices. The study concludes that integrating
psychosocial care into management strategies is essential to strengthen entrepreneurs’
resilience and to support the sustainability of microenterprises committed to ethical causes
such as veganism.
