This study identifies and prioritizes barriers to women’s transition from homemaking to entrepreneurship in rural cooperatives in Ilam Province, focusing on Rah-e Sefid Village. The study was conducted for this purpose and used a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires were conducted, and qualitative content analysis identified barriers and their components. The components were validated and refined through three Delphi rounds involving 24 experts in women’s entrepreneurship, cooperatives, rural development, business management, and women’s social issues. We purposively selected experts from university faculty, researchers, executive organization specialists, and managers of women’s cooperatives. In the quantitative phase, participants assessed the importance and priority of components using a Likert-scale questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. Findings indicated four categories of barriers. Economic and financial barriers ranked first (M = 4.63), followed by institutional and supportive barriers (M = 4.35), cultural and family-related barriers (M = 4.18), and individual and skill-related barriers (M = 3.98). At the component level, limited access to financial resources for starting a business was the most important barrier (M = 4.83), followed by lack of initial capital (M = 4.75) and difficulty accessing financial facilities and credit (M = 4.67). Structural and financial constraints exerted the greatest influence. Therefore, policies should prioritize financial resources, credit access, institutional support, reduced social and family constraints, and entrepreneurial skills development. These findings provide evidence for interventions to promote women’s entrepreneurship and strengthen rural women’s cooperatives.