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Business Ideas For People With Disabilities

According to the United States Census Bureau, roughly 15 percent of people with disabilities have started their own businesses, and that number is growing. In fact, the percentage of disabled business owners overshadows the 10 percent of non-disabled business owners in the United States. Many people with disabilities are launching successful businesses from home, franchises, and even niche startups. With such a wide range of business opportunities open to people with disabilities, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which one is best.

Starting A Business For People With Disabilities

For people with disabilities, starting a business can seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, the Small Business Administration (SBA), local chambers of commerce, state vocational agencies, veteran business organizations, and more provide guidelines, seminars, and assistance for launching a business.

Resources:
https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/how-start-business/business-types/people-disabilities
https://yourtickettowork.ssa.gov/
https://disabilitychamber.org/
https://www.vetbiz.gov/

Government Incentives For People With Disabilities

There are a number of government incentives and programs for people with disabilities who are looking to start their own businesses. For example, Ticket To Work exists in conjunction with the Social Security Administration to not only help people with disabilities live self-sufficient lives, but it also provides assistance to those people with disabilities who want to start their own businesses. Additionally, the SBA keeps an online resource library full of financial programs and guidelines for entrepreneurs with disabilities. Certain states offer incentives for new business owners with disabilities, so it is essential to check out your state’s Department of Labor or Commerce before launching your own enterprise. There are also a number of resources and organizations for veterans with disabilities who are preparing to start new careers as business owners.

Resources:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/tax-benefits-for-businesses-who-have-employees-with-disabilities
https://www.disability-grants.org/business-grants-for-the-disabled.html
https://www.ability-mission.org/disability-grants.html
https://www.kabbage.com/blog/starting-a-small-business-with-a-disability-2/
https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/finance/government-grants.php
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/grants-disabled-small-business-owners-17496.html

Business Ideas For People Who Have a Disability

The marketplace has really diversified over the past few years. People with disabilities are embracing new technology and launching businesses to help others, make life more convenient, or strike out on a new path to generate substantial income while doing something enriching and satisfying. From franchises to niche start-ups, people with disabilities make up a good portion of the growing number of entrepreneurs in the United States. We have put together an overview of what is requires for some of the best business opportunities available for people with disabilities.

Start-Ups

Many people with disabilities have launched start-ups to break the mold of conventional business organizations. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, for example, has turned into a huge success. The coffee shop is run entirely by people with varying IDDs, and has been featured in Southern Living And Entrepreneur Magazine. Organizations like Boots To Business have helped disabled veterans transition from their military careers to their new lives as business owners, and improving their communities in the process. Start-ups involve looking for something your immediate area, or the world at large, is missing, and then filling that niche. Many times, people with disabilities launch businesses to provide for others with similar life experiences and make life easier for everyone. Other times, the best way to go is to find an established company, like a franchise, and turn it into a lucrative business of your own.

Resources:
https://www.va.gov/osdbu/
https://sbavets.force.com/s/
https://themighty.com/2016/02/coffee-shop-run-by-staffers-with-disabilities/

Starting a Business When You Have a Disability

When starting a business from scratch, there are a number aspects to consider. The first step is to draw up a business plan. There are many free resources online to help people with disabilities compile a business plan and choose a corporate structure, which will determine how your business pays taxes. A business plan should have all of your starting costs, projections, and goals. It should also contain things like your immediate competitors, customer base, and growth forecasts. Lenders and alternative financing professional use a business plan to determine the amount of funding they will give business owners to launch their ideas. The more detailed the business plan, the more likely it is that entrepreneurs will get approved for loans and other forms of financing.

Resources:
https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/write-your-business-plan
https://www.bplans.com/
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/business-structures
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238928

Franchise Opportunities For People With Disabilities

More people with disabilities are launching franchises these days. Franchise opportunities have come a long way over the past decade, offering a much broader selection to cover a variety of interests. Franchises offer people with with disabilities to own their own brick and mortar establishments or even work from home and online. In fact, some franchises such as Tim Horton’s has franchises staffed and run entirely by people with disabilities. Franchises offer a number of advantages over starting a business from scratch. Franchises offer built-in branding, marketing, training, and support for entrepreneurs with disabilities. Franchises are classified as “turn key” business opportunities for people with disabilities because the franchisor provides support along the way to ensure success. Since there are so many franchises to choose from, there are a few things to consider before choosing one.

Resources:
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ruralinst_employment
https://www.sourceamerica.org/franchise
https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/employment/home/franchises.php

Location

Franchise opportunities for people with disabilities offer a number of location possibilities. There are franchise businesses which people with disabilities can run from a standalone location. These typically require financial assistance from the franchisor, or some form of real estate financing for building out the establishment to fit the specifications of the parent company. On the other end of the spectrum, many people with disabilities are choosing to launch franchises which can be run from home, which greatly reduces startup costs.

The Size Of The Business

When people with disabilities are launching a business, they should keep in mind the logistics involved with the scope they want to achieve. Some people with disabilities have had great success starting out with a single franchise and then growing that business to include multiple establishments, giving themselves a small kingdom and a very healthy stream of revenue. Others have realized that by launching a small franchise out of a home office, they can cut a number of overhead expenses and make a proportionally larger income. Still, there are some very successful franchises where people with disabilities have have married the two previous concepts. In these situations, people with disabilities grow a small franchise which can include multiple locations, and then hire people to fill all of the on-site positions. This allows the franchise owners to work from home, handling the ordering and accounting side of things.

Financing A Franchise For People With Disabilities

Like any other business opportunity, starting a franchise requires an initial investment. The franchisor will go over the specifics of the amount needed to start, with an additional recommended amount to cover unexpected costs, should they arise. Of course, brick and mortal franchises have their own financial requirements. Some franchises can use any existing structure, which would entail SBA loans working in conjunction with simple commercial real estate financing to acquire a building or store front. Other franchises require owners to build the establishment from the ground up. This requires special construction financing, a portion of which is sometimes supplied by the franchisor.

Equipment For Franchises

The need for equipment varies from franchise to franchise. In some cases, the franchisor uses proprietary equipment, which must be leased or purchased from specific dealers. Others require branded vehicles, special supplies, and even licensed software. It is best do do some in-depth research to find out exactly what you will need and how much it will cost on the equipment side of any franchise. On the other side of the coin, there are franchise opportunities for people with disabilities that only require a phone or a computer with internet access.

In The End, Play To Your Strengths And Interests

Ultimately, people with disabilities should consider launching businesses that play to their interests or strengths. If you have a hobby or a special skill, there are business opportunities out there that will let you turn your interests into a lucrative career. Whether it is a franchise, or you want to break the mold with a niche start-up, the resources are available for you to become the next big success story among a growing population of business owners with disabilities.

Further Reading:

https://askjan.org/entre/index.htm
https://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/misc/entrepre.htm
https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/small-business-learning-guide-entrepreneurs-disability
https://ebv.vets.syr.edu/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/34730
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sbo.html
https://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/blt/2010-05-06/kemp-dussault.shtml
https://www.dol.gov/odep/pdf/2014StartUp.pdf
https://www.askearn.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/stateprocurement.pdf
https://www.military.com/veterans-day/helping-veterans-start-businesses.html