Volume 18 Number 1• 2005

A Customized Employment Option

By Cary Griffin, David Hammis, & Tammara Geary of Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC

Self-employment for individuals with disabilities represents another Customized Employment option that involves matching a person's dreams and talents to economic activity and designing support strategies that promote a successful outcome. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small business ownership represents the largest market segment of new and expanding employment options in the United States. The self-employment rate is growing at more than 20% annually, and microenterprises (companies comprising one to five workers) generated over 40% of all new jobs in the past decade. Currently, small business in this country creates more jobs than the Fortune 500.

Anyone can own a small business. Individuals with significant disabilities, including traumatic brain injury, own and operate businesses. The keys to self-employment success are 1) proper support, 2) adequate financing, and 3) paying customers.

Self-employment is a basic concept founded on the idea of enterprise ownership by the individual or individuals involved. People may wish to consider owning a full-time or part-time business because it potentially provides the scheduling flexibility necessary to accommodate a disability, it circumvents the often disappointing competitive employment process, it creates financial equity options that wage employment cannot always provide, and it allows individuals to express their talents in the open market. Self-employment is certainly not for everyone, but it is another career option with unique considerations.

Self-employment is person-centered. That is, a small business owned by a person with a disability is typically formed around the person's interests and developed based on the cultivation of a market. The existence of a market does not in itself drive the process. Rather, the person's career aspirations and talents take precedence in designing an enterprise. This employment option seeks a fit between the individual and the marketplace. Many people benefit from a business design team, selected by the person, that helps sculpt the individual ideas into a profitable enterprise. These teams vary in membership, but typically include an employment specialist, a Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Counselor, a resource coordinator, family members, and various consultants such as Small Business Development Center (SBDC) staff and personnel skilled in benefits analysis.
Staff competencies in the rehabilitation field are being addressed through numerous small business and microenterprise projects, but the knowledge base remains significantly under-developed. Even though many community resources exist to advise on business plans, few individuals exist who actually write the plans. This support can be critical for anyone seeking public funding and who receives Social Security (SSA) and other benefits. Small business specialists in rehabilitation will need to learn to write and critique business plans, understand basic financial statements, create marketing and sales strategies, test business ideas, and coordinate or perform support services and benefits analyses if they are serving individuals who are unlikely to know or learn these aspects of business. Of course, self-employment is viable for people representing a broad spectrum of disabilities, many of whom are already well versed in these skill areas.

Training for prospective business owners can also be critical. This includes training to refine a skill required for the production of goods and services in the business, such as attaining a welding certificate, or earning a Chef=s diploma. Training also includes attending classes in business ownership, many of which are available at no cost or low cost through local SBDCs. Folks who do not read or write might also benefit from such classes because they provide networking opportunities; a chance to meet potential suppliers, customers, and mentors. Professional staff can also attend and benefit. (One caution is that such classes should not be used as a prerequisite to receiving support for a small business; customized employment is based on individual need and capacity, not on test scores or evaluations of academic potential).

Self-employment represents one of the few options to grow wealth for people receiving Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits. For instance, the resource limit for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients is $2000. A business owner on SSI can have unlimited resources in their business account, however. This makes it possible to harvest the profit later for major business and personal purchases.

Funding for small businesses is available from numerous sources. SSA provides work incentives, such as Plans for Achieving Self Support (PASS) that can provide cash for business development and operations. A PASS leverages an individual’s Social Security payments for use in pursuing a career goal, and is one of the few financial options providing actual operating cash to businesses. Although the development and approval process can be cumbersome, PASS remains a critical compliment to other financial resources.

Family support is traditional in small business and should be cultivated whenever possible (Doyel, 2000). Family involvement takes the form of loans and cash gifts, transportation, assistance with production, networking, housing the operations, bookkeeping, etc.

Self-employment is a rehabilitative option under the Vocational Rehabilitation system and the Workforce Investment Acts (WIA). Both systems can help a person with a disability purchase equipment, supplies, and services for starting a business. At present, however, WIA programs may be reluctant to fund microenterprises due to the current misalignment of national performance measures. Thoughtful case-by-case negotiation is encouraged.

Many microloan programs exist nationwide for those who can qualify for and afford the payments. The disability services system also provides numerous opportunities for financing that do not load the individual down with debt. The PASS Plan from SSA is certainly a critical ingredient for anyone qualifying. VR can and does fund small business and can purchase skill training, capital equipment, vehicle repairs and insurance, tools, work clothes, adaptive equipment, computers, provide job/business coaching, etc. Many community rehabilitation programs (e.g., Developmental Disability & Mental Health) can use general fund dollars to purchase a wide range of business necessities. A collaborative funding approach is best, with each partner providing expertise and a portion of the financial assistance.

Businesses do benefit from a formal business plan. (It should be noted, however, that over 80% of small businesses are successful in the U.S., and since the majority of those do not have business plans, some flexibility in planning is recommended). The process of planning is as important as the plan itself, and of course, a plan is an absolute requirement of both the VR system and the SSA.

Support may be necessary in developing the plan for someone who cannot read or write, or has little understanding of the impact of self-employment income on their benefits. Not being able to write the plan is no indication that business ownership is a bad idea. Do not forget that most small businesses in the United States were started by artisans who knew their craft, not by entrepreneurs who knew bookkeeping! Assistance can be found at Small Business Development Centers, Tribal Business Information Centers (TBIC), and the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), among others (www.sba.gov). Many Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRP) are developing small business capacity and offering assistance as a billable service.

Very few products or services sell themselves. As the old saying goes, nothing happens until someone sells something. One of the first steps a prospective business owner, or rehabilitation staff offering support, must take is to identify their customers. Identifying customers and developing a marketing plan are two essential aspects of any good business plan.

Small businesses grow or die. Profitability is determined by reaching customers, satisfying them, and then attracting more customers. The Pareto Principle that 80 percent of a company's business comes from 20 percent of its customers is true, but it's also obvious that the other 80 percent is important, too. After assisting well over 400 small businesses owned and operated by individuals with disabilities, the authors realize that marketing and sales is one of the most difficult concepts to teach and support.

Typically, a business has both primary and secondary users of their product or service. For instance, most coin-operated carwash patrons use the facility to clean the family sedan. Advertising and promotion is most likely geared to this crowd, with typical approaches being discount coupons, signs on the building or placed along the major routes nearby, and perhaps some local television or radio ads. Once a customer base is established and growth slows, new advertising pushes are needed to battle a new competitor in the market, or to attract those new to car ownership.

Another potential income producer often overlooked by business owners is the secondary customer. A secondary customer is someone who has a different need or use for the product/service being offered. In the case of the carwash, for instance, secondary customers may be tractor-trailer drivers who need to clean their big rigs. Another secondary user is fleet managers for the local school bus concession, or the police and fire departments, the local cable TV company that owns 30 pickups, the phone or public utility companies that keep a hundred trucks and vans in service around the clock, or even the local cattle ranchers who need to clean out trailers with the high pressure equipment found in car washes. Perhaps boat owners need to wash down their units after a day of fishing on the local lake.

Advertising campaigns as simple as the direct mailing of discount coupons to these user-groups is enough to attract new customers. And certainly a lot of business can be done by putting fliers under windshield wipers in the parking lots at cattle auctions and truck stops. A personal visit or a letter of introduction to the local phone company manager or the Chief of Police might also bear fruit.

Marketing is not generally a passive activity. It must be planned and budgeted for and made an essential function of the business operation. A business that is not adding new customers is at risk of dying.

Over the past several years, consultants from the Rural Institute and our own company, Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC., have worked with hundreds of people with disabilities and helped them start their own small businesses. Some examples of products and services include:

• construction equipment rentals,


• accounting and bookkeeping,


• pet gift baskets,


• chicken and egg production,


• technical and popular writing,


• gourmet dog biscuits,


• apparel manufacture and retail,


• property inspection,


• landscaping,


• restaurant and catering,


• jewelry making,


• truck driving,


• computer assembly,


• small engine repair,


• power-washing service,


• firewood delivery,


• flower arranging,


• greeting card design, and


• farming.

James grew up in a family of upholsterers. He knew the trade and performed the work with great attention to detail. Medications he took for auditory hallucinations caused by schizophrenia, however, interfered with his concentration and job retention. He needed numerous breaks throughout the day and the flexibility to work long hours in the evening. James started his own upholstery shop using funding through a U.S Dept. of Labor Disability project, equipment purchased by the local VR office, and with on-going rehabilitation support from the community mental health center.

Molly shared her interests in technology with her VR Counselor, who then paid for a series of Microsoft certification classes. Molly began working as a part-time computer instructor at the local community college, but panic attacks resulting from her psychiatric disability and exhaustion stemming from her fibromyalgia caused her to lose that job. With assistance from the local VR office and a business design team including a local SBDC advisor, she began her mobile computer repair business specializing in assisting the growing community of retirees interested in learning basic computer and internet skills. The business soon branched out to include desktop publishing specializing in formatting and printing local church and civic club newsletters.

Kevin spent many years in a sheltered workshop where his developmental disability and his reputation for combative behavior were used as justifications for restricting his access to community employment. Kevin was enrolled in a state Developmental Disability Council funded project focused on community employment for individuals with challenging behaviors. Kevin=s interest in being a mechanic became obvious, but no jobs were available for a young man without experience. After many attempts, a local small engine repair shop agreed to have Kevin disassemble and clean a few motors every week. Because the single-owner did not want employees, a business-within-a-business was created that involved Kevin doing disassembly and parts cleaning. In return for the space to operate this complimentary service, and for mentoring in mechanics from the host business owner, Kevin paid a small percentage of his earnings to the shop. VR support, general fund expenditures from the local Developmental Disability agency, and a PASS Plan through SSA provided Kevin with hand tools, work benches, a part washer, and work clothes. Today, over seven years later, Kevin works 20 to 30 hours a week and charges approximately $30 per hour for his services.

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Doyel, A.W. (2000). No More Job Interviews: Self-Employment Strategies for People with Disabilities. St. Augustine, FL: TRN, Inc.
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U.S. Bureau of the Census (2001). Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001. On-line edition. www.census.gov

Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC www.griffinhammis.com
FirstGov www.firstgov.com
U.S. Small Business Administration www.sba.gov
Association of Small Business Development Centers
www.asbdc.net
Entrepreneur.com www.entrepreneur.com
Inc Magazine www.inc.com
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture www.usda.gov
Senior Corps of Retired Executives www.score.org
The Rural Institute at the University of Montana
http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/training
http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition
Rural Institute Pass Plans on-line www.passplan.org
U.S. Dept of Labor www.dol.gov
U.S. Dept. of Education www.ed.gov