"It's gonna be how long?"

Like all true entrepreneurs, she would have liked her business start-up money yesterday. As an Organizational Consultant with the Rural Institute, I'm the one who tells her about all the hoops she is going to have to jump through. Here is a person who thought through a business proposition or self-employment opportunity, saw the obvious advantages—extra money, ability to do what she had dreamt of—and was ready to get started. Here I am telling her about policies and procedures of organizations and institutions that are supposed to facilitate employment of people with disabilities. Oh brother, now I'm explaining that she'll need a business plan, and where to go to get assistance with it.

"But I've got customers NOW! And all I need is the necessary money for equipment/flyers/ print advertising. So I can get into operation."

Now I'm in a panic. I've been self-employed. I know how this feels. She just wants to start the business. She wants to serve the customers and make some money, but she doesn't have any money to invest, no credit history, and no one to back her. Should I really start explaining authorization from the local Vocational Rehabilitation office for services, Social Security Work Incentives that she might access for funding, or micro-business loans? Not if I want her to get discouraged and hang up on me.

I have experienced the advantages of self-employment, and can see real benefits for people who build their own accommodations into the business. In many cases these accommodations take the form of hiring people to work with them, developing partnerships, working from home, defining their own goals for success, and adjusting hours of operation. Self-employment provides the ability to access the community on own their own terms and present themselves as competent and contributing people. It's an opportunity to build an enterprise that reflects their choices and values. All of these concepts are important to the people we serve, and reflect what we might call "Best Practices." Beyond that, self-employment is a chance to reduce the unemployment rate for people with disabilities that exceeds 20 times that of the typical population. Why isn't it easier for people to go into business for themselves? Why doesn't some system or institution step up to the plate and propose easier and faster funding for self-employment?

Then it happened. A work-first, full-choice project, the Montana/Wyoming Careers through Partnerships project, funded through the Department of Labor and operated by the Montana Job Training Partnership (Montana JTPA) and the Rural Institute Training Department. The project didn't start with the concept of providing funding for self-employment, but, by offering choice to people, and providing for an array of support services to facilitate chosen employment, it soon evolved into a source for business start-up capital. In fact, half of the people who accessed the direct service money the project supplied, used it to start their own enterprises. Jumping through hoops was minimized. Supports were supplied as necessary. Partnerships with other service agencies became more natural as funding streams were blended to the advantage of all concerned.

Some interesting concepts began to emerge. In the first year of the project, it became apparent that putting people into their own businesses cost less than getting them a job, on an average about $150 per person less. When people became responsible for the use of the government funding, they took just what they felt they needed to be successful, and then looked for ways to leverage those resources to expand their funding base and become even more successful. Could true supported choice engender individual responsibility and the will to succeed? The project proved it is so.

The trick became how could we get the money to people faster. What was the very minimum that we needed from the person in order to get a business started? Sometimes we needed a business plan, but not always. If people had investigated markets or had markets, we had the opportunity to get the money to them faster. Some business plans were more involved than others, depending on the amount of money that people requested. People demonstrated their motivation to us simply by making their vocational choices. We assumed competency. Some people built in their own accommodations and supports. Sometimes service provider supports were extensive, sometimes not. Supports were based on what was needed to make that specific business successful in that locale, and were agreed upon in partnership with the person. In business, less can be more. In business, getting the money to start quickly—while the ambition and will to succeed is still fresh—ensures lasting and profitable results. Recently Inc. magazine reported some interesting points. The first was that "despite what the experts may tell you, there is no ‘right way' to start a business," and secondly, "no particular sequence of steps from A to Z will insure your success." And the third thing was, "while no particular period of time is ‘normal' to get a company off the ground, most of those entrepreneurs who get a business going do so in about a year of concentrated effort. Those working on a start-up for much longer—apparently with less intensity—have more trouble getting their businesses going" (Reynolds, 1995). This means the sooner a person can get started in business and the easier it is to start the business, no matter the level of "supports," the greater the likelihood that the business will be successful. Putting hoops in people's way slows down the process and reduces the chance for success. Quick and easy is the best bet. And, there is no "blueprint for success." Each entrepreneur must choose his/her business and each define what success is. That, in fact, is a function of the person's choices. There appears to be no difference between a typical person and a person with a disability in that respect.

As a footnote, none of the 54 people who have become self-employed through the project have quit in the past year and a half. They are all in various phases of building their businesses.

References

Reynolds, P. (1995) Business plans. Inc. Magazine. Feb.1, 1995