All Posts by Dave Folding Mobility

6 Business Ideas For Disabled People Working from Home

In this article we are going to be looking at six reasonably simple business ideas for disabled people. The majority can be performed from home, with little to no upfront investment and some have the potential to make a good income.

According to facts and figures published by Scope, 19% of working age adults in the UK are suffering with a disability. Unfortunately, disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed. This means that more and more people in this position have considered starting their own home based business. However, this can be a daunting task. Where do you start?

business ideas for disabled people

Advantage of considering business ideas for disabled people

Firstly, it’s important to note that there are many advantages to starting your own business, for example you can see a few below:

  • You can choose something that can be done from home.
  • You can work on your own terms, set your own hours.
  • Personal fulfilment. You can choose something you enjoy doing.

Due to the internet, there are a variety of new options when it comes to business ideas for disabled people. In the list below, you will find a selection of internet based business ideas, as well as some more traditional ideas.

Online Surveys

This is listed first because it is by far the easiest way to earn money from home. It costs nothing to get started and doesnt require any special skills.

You can simply sign up and start taking surveys. Payments are either payed in cash, or online vouchers (Amazon for example).

Survey lengths will vary from a couple of minutes to 15 minutes plus and the payout will usually depend on the length. Payments for surveys can be as little as $0.50 and we have seen some as high as $20 (although these are less common). The average survey will be in the $2-$5 range.

There are many free services online that provide access to surveys. As well as some payed options.

Become a virtual assistant

Being a virtual assistant (VA), also sometimes called an online personal assistant, can be a great business idea for somebody with a disability. This job will allow you to work from home and set your own hours. The job can vary quite a bit, but generally you will be working for somebody else completing tasks. Common tasks a VA might perform include:

  • Performing basic data entry.
  • Responding to emails and/or phone calls, this could involve an element of customer support.
  • Managing someone’s diary, keeping them up to date with daily tasks such as meetings and appointments.
  • Booking travel arrangements
  • Doing personal tasks, such as buying gifts and managing someone’s personal to-do list

There are many jobs a VA can perform. Basically, it will usually involve simple daily tasks that can be outsourced. Previously working in an office environment could help with getting work as a VA, but it is not essential.

A good place to get started if you want to learn more about becoming a virtual assistant you can get some of the best low cost training by Clicking Here

Freelance writing

Freelance writing is one of the most popular business ideas for disabled people. This is mainly because it is easy to start, and it is in high demand.

Across the country, businesses realise the importance of creating regular content. This is great news for freelance writers, as it means there is lots of writing work out there.

There are several different types of common writing jobs, such as:

  • Article writing and blog content. This is probably the most common type of work for freelance writers.
  • Editing and proofreading content.
  • Writing short books and eBooks on various topics.
  • Creating email newsletters.
  • Writing product descriptions.
  • Social media content creation.
  • Copywriting.

As you can see, there are lots of different options. Also, freelancing isn’t just limited to writing. There are all kinds of other jobs you can provide as a freelancer. From voiceover work, to logo design, to language translation. Basically, any job that people will regularly outsource. This is what makes freelancing one of our favourite business ideas for disabled people.

So where can you get started? Well there are quite a few freelancing websites out there and there are a few things you will need to get started. To learn more Click Here

Affiliate marketing

When it comes to business ideas for disabled people that are easy to start, affiliate marketing is a popular choice.

The reason affiliate marketing is so popular, is it’s a very simple concept. Essentially, your job is to promote other people’s products. For this business owners will pay you a percentage for every item you sell.

There are many ways to do affiliate marketing, and some of the biggest companies in the world offer affiliate programs. The biggest and one of the most popular is Amazon. If you become an amazon affiliate, you can promote any product on their platform and if you make a sale Amazon will pay you a small commission (up to 11% at the time of writing).

Another large popular affiliate program is Clickbank. Here you can promote digital products such as eBooks and courses. On Clickbank commissions can be as high as 75%. Yes, that is not a typo, some business owners will give you 75% of the sale price.

To learn more about affiliate marketing, I would highly recommend getting a proper course. There is plenty of free information online. However, determining what is good information can be very challenging. A low cost course like this one from Udemy would be a good place to start.

Tutoring services

If your looking for business ideas for disabled people, one of the best things you can do, is look at your own skills.

What are you already good at? There are many things you could do as a tutor, this could be done in person, or via the internet. You can see a few ideas below:

  • Teaching a foreign language
  • Helping people to learn a musical instrument.
  • Academic topics such as maths and English

There are quite a lot of options here. Basically, if you have a skill that others would like to learn, then there is the potential for you to offer it as a tutoring service. Learn how to start your own tutoring service by clicking here

Laundry / ironing service

This one is much more traditional and doesn’t involve the internet at all. With that said, it could still earn you a good income and depending on your personal mobility, it might be a good option.

The good thing about a laundry service, is it is something that everybody needs to do. Whilst most people will do it themselves, for many it is a task that they simply don’t have the time for.

Whether you offer a complete service, or even just an ironing service, you can charge either an hourly rate, or a per item rate. Based on discussions online the average income form ironing alone can be as high as $12/hour. That’s not a bad hourly rate for something you can do at home whilst watching daytime TV.

Getting started with this type of service is simple. You just need to let people know. Below are a few ideas:

  • Tell all your friends and family and ask them to spread the word.
  • Post on social media.
  • Have business cards printed and post them on message boards and in shop windows locally.
  • Take out a small ad in the local paper

The main thing is to let people know. Get your self out there and before you know it, you will have plenty of regular, happy customers.

Pet sitting & child minding

If you don’t relish the idea of working on a computer all day and you have good mobility, then looking after pets or people’s children could be a great option.

This job could be done at your own home and both services are in quite high demand. Child minding for example, is often hard to come by and it can also be quite expensive.

There may be certain qualifications required to perform these services, and if you are looking after children, you will need the relevant background checks. But once these hurdles are out of the way, this could be a very rewarding and profitable business idea.

Conclusion: What business idea is right for you?

As you can see there are many business ideas for disabled people that are worth considering. In this article we have covered six options. Some of these, such as freelancing and tutoring can range across a huge number of industries, so the options are almost endless.

Working for yourself can be a daunting idea and admittedly it is not for everyone. But for those that like the idea of being their own boss, it can be an extremely rewarding decision.

If you have any questions, or if you have any other business ideas for disabled people, please post them in the comments below!



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