The idea of starting your own business comes with the usual mix of excitement, ambition, and sleepless anxiety. If you’re living with a disability, that experience also includes navigating systems that weren’t exactly designed with you in mind. But here’s the thing: that same struggle creates a perspective most business leaders never get. It becomes a toolkit for resourcefulness, empathy, and sharp problem-solving. That toolkit? It might be your best asset in business, not your biggest obstacle.
Use Barriers as a Business Filter
You already know life throws logistical hurdles your way. Every inaccessible sidewalk or unresponsive customer service line becomes part of your daily calculus. Use that same filtering system when considering what kind of business to launch, as well as how you’ll run it. If the model isn’t flexible enough to adapt to your energy levels, transportation limits, or tech needs, it’s not the right one. That’s not a weakness—it’s a smart screen. You’re narrowing the field with clarity, and clarity is what separates the flailing from the focused.
Sharpen Your Strategy with a Business Degree
You don’t need to be born a spreadsheet whiz to succeed in business—but learning the language definitely helps. Going back to school for a business degree gives you more than textbook knowledge; it gives you a structure to your instincts, context for your ideas, and vocabulary for those investor calls that leave you second-guessing. Whether it’s accounting, management, or communications, the skills you gain can directly impact how you price, pitch, and pivot. And with the benefits of an online business degree, you can keep building your business in real time while gaining the tools to make it better.
Capitalize on Community Knowledge
One of the richest, most undervalued resources out there? Disabled communities swapping hard-won knowledge. Online forums, social media groups, and advocacy orgs are goldmines not just for solidarity, but for strategy. These aren’t just peers—they’re living archives of workarounds, grant advice, adaptive tools, and “here’s how I did it” threads that read better than any startup manual. Don’t reinvent the wheel when someone’s already found a motorized version that runs on a joystick and caffeine.
Don’t Wait for the Perfect System
If you hold out for a perfectly accessible, fully supportive infrastructure, you might wait forever. That doesn’t mean you power through recklessly—it means you build with your limits, not against them. Set up systems that assume you’ll have bad days. Automate tasks. Schedule flexibility. Choose tools and partners that reduce the mental load. Success isn’t about pretending you’re superhuman—it’s about making space for being human.
Use the System—Even if You Don’t Trust It
From grants to mentorships to federal procurement programs, there are supports for disabled entrepreneurs out there. Many of them are buried in bureaucracy or written in a language only a compliance officer could love, which can be frustrating. That’s why it’s important to do some research on all your options. Apply for that SBA loan. Look into Vocational Rehabilitation funding. Check out certification as a disability-owned business. These systems are flawed, but they’re real—and you deserve to benefit from every tool in the box.
Normalize Asking Without Apologizing
You don’t need to be “low maintenance” to be worthy of collaboration. Normalize asking for accommodations not just when absolutely necessary, but as a matter of standard practice–because it’s your right. Whether it’s remote meetings, alt-text on documents, or a better interface, ask like it’s your job. Your business, your body, your boundaries. The more you normalize that in your professional relationships, the more space you make for others who’ve been taught to shrink themselves to fit.
The myth of the lone entrepreneur grinding 20-hour days in a hoodie doesn’t work for most people; it’s a very personal track. Whether you choose to go back to school and build your skill set or find support from other entrepreneurs, there are multiple paths you can take to comfortably find your place in the business world.
Note: Don Lewis is the founder of the Idaho-based abilitylabs.com, started following his son Randy’s motorcycle accident that resulted in Randy suffering a severe head trauma. Lewis uses the website to provide a resource for family members of people with disabilities.This article is written and provided by Don Lewis, and opinions expressed are solely that of the writer.
