Self Employment
Self employment is another option people with disabilities can explore. This information provides the benefits of exploring self-employment and offers a guideline on how to get started.
Self Employment for Women
Women with disabilities are discovering ways to add flexibility to their careers and break down barriers of traditional employment by striking out on their own. Self-employment offers opportunities for people with disabilities to tailor working conditions to meet their needs.
Despite popular belief, the success rate of small businesses is surprisingly high. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that more than 79 percent of small businesses are still operating after the initial five years.
One way to significantly reduce some of the anxiety resulting from starting a small business is to develop a business plan. A business plan is a document that lays out a course for opening, managing or growing an enterprise. For those with disabilities, a business plan serves an even more important function: it helps convince Vocational Rehabilitation offices, Workforce Investment Act Agencies, and the Social Security Administration that the business is feasible.
Most conventional business plans contain the following elements (in order)
- Executive summary or cover letter
- Short business description
- Brief discussion of the enterprise's management
- Section on employees that describes recruitment, remuneration, and critical job descriptions
- Section on operations and suppliers
- Explanation of the marketing mix and sales strategy
- Section on finances
Nebraska Women's Business Center
Nebraska Women's Business Center utilizes the Rural Enterprise Assistance Program (REAP) to deliver services to existing and start-up self-employed women across rural Nebraska, and is a project of the Center for Rural Affairs. For more information, go to
www.cfra.org/reap/womens_business_center.htm.
Find out about some of the most common characteristics of an entrepreneur and how proficient you can be running your own business. Take
a self-assessment survey to determine your entrepreneur skills.
Rural Enterprise Assistance Program
REAP offers small business owners or potential star-up entrepreneurs:
- Networking with other small business owners and managers.
- Peer and direct business micro loans.
- Business planning and management workshops and discussion topics at association meetings.
- One-on-one technical assistance provided by REAP at no additional charge.
- Women's Business Center activities, including eCommerce training.
- REAP Business Update newsletter and other special services and activities provided for members.
For more information, go to
www.cfra.org/reap.
