Helping Adults with a Disability Start a Business

As the parent of an adult child with a disability, you doubtlessly know how hard it can be for your child to find gainful employment. Statistics from the UN show that 50-70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed in developed countries (the figure is higher in the developing world). And even when employed, they’re frequently discriminated against.

With the way things are, you may be worried about your child’s future. You want them to be financially secure, happy, and, if possible, independent (what if you’re not around?). Arguably, the best way to secure their future, without you having to touch your retirement money, would be to help them start a successful business. That would solve their employment issue permanently and put them in the driver’s seat of their own life.

Below, Ability Tree First Coast gives you some suggestions on how you could help your adult child (or children) with a disability start a successful business:  

Consider personality and aptitude tests

First, it may be a good idea to understand what your child is good at (if you don’t know already). Ideally, you want to help them start a business that would align with any talents or skills they already possess ( not to mention they’d be happier if it’s something they’re good at doing). You can consider asking them to do an online personality or career test for help with figuring out their talents.  

Consider their special needs

Besides the aptitude angle, you also want to ensure the work they do doesn’t harm their health. For instance, your child may be unsuited to running a business that requires them to be constantly out and about, meaning a home-based business might be better than a traditional one. Also, you may want to pick something with a flexible schedule – something that doesn’t need them to man the desk 24/7. Finally, you may want to set up a comfortable home office for them. 

Brainstorm business ideas together

Your child may already have contemplated becoming an entrepreneur and have aspirations for their future. You could sit down with them and come up with a solid business idea together. If thinking up something suitable is hard, 99BusinessIdeas offers a suitable list of ideas that you could draw inspiration from. Some good examples are freelance web development, photo editing, and online teaching. 

You can find grants and funding opportunities

Starting a business and running it takes money – you will likely need at least a few thousand to set up shop, and experts recommend you have about 3 to 6 months of operating expenses on hand at any given time. Fortunately, there’s a lot of help available for budding entrepreneurs that have disabilities. You can find grants and funding opportunities at the SBA, Grants.gov, GrantsNet, and FedBizOpps.gov. Furthermore, you can also approach the local chamber of commerce, disability groups, investors, and financial institutions (for loans).

Write a business plan

Starting a business can be overwhelming. There’s a lot to think about and get right. Writing a business plan can help in this regard. It will help you nail down the specifics of your child’s company, from the business model and product (or service) to the financial projections and customer care. A good business plan gives you concrete short-term and long-term goals that help you create a successful business.

Address the legalities and choose a business structure

You will need to register your child’s new business with the town or city, get an EIN, acquire insurance, get licenses or permits, and more. Having a formal business structure – such as an LLC – may be a good idea as well. It limits their personal liability and offers some other benefits like easier paperwork, more flexibility, and some tax advantages.

Help them set up functional work processes

A business is a collection of work processes, from product development to sales. There are also several obligations to consider – like bookkeeping, administration, and HR (if you’re hiring employees). You can help your child create well-balanced work processes and troubleshoot problems, initially. You can use business software and apps to automate key tasks. The goal is to have a business that runs itself. Having a trial run – where you help your child serve a client – can help them get off the ground.  

Market the business

Marketing is possibly the most important business process there is and deserves special mention. Marketing will raise the business’ profile, make it memorable, keep bringing in clients, and help you create lasting connections with said clients. As such, you should also look into getting the marketing basics sorted – getting online, creating a website, being on social media, and creating business listings. Also, you want to create targeted offline and online marketing campaigns.

A simple but effective way to market is to create a promotional, downloadable PDF brochure or similar that showcases the products or services that you offer (with high-quality pictures for added impact). You can put it up on your website, social media, or elsewhere, and have potential customers download it as necessary. Use a PDF editor by clicking here to make changes to any documents and drawings, without you having to print anything out. Simply upload the file online to make changes and then download it and share.

Conclusion

It could take a while for your child to get comfortable with running a business – it’s important that you support them on their journey, whether that’s by motivating them or by other means. It will take a while for any new business to get established, so don’t give up! After it does, your child will have a secure, stable foundation – potentially for the rest of their life.