How People with Disabilities Looking to Start a Business Can Lower Their Stress
By: Ed Carter
Stress is something that comes with starting your own business. It can be a good thing in small amounts, as it serves as a motivator to succeed. But stress can also lead to poor business decisions, lack of confidence, and can negatively affect your health in a massive way.
The National Advocates Top 100 wants to see you succeed. When you’re considering taking the plunge into small business ownership, think about these ways to reduce your stress level and set yourself up for success.
Choose a lower-stress business
For some people with disabilities, it may be a good idea to find a small business opportunity that resides in a lower-stress field. This is not to say that having a disability makes you unable to succeed in high-stress fields, it’s just important to understand your own strengths and, more importantly, weaknesses. Shooting high is one thing, but it’s never a smart business decision to overextend yourself from the start.
Businesses that utilize the sharing economy – in which services are shared between private individuals typically through connecting via the internet – are flexible, low-stress ventures. You can use your skills to provide specific services to those in need, and can charge whatever the market will sustain. Babysitting, housekeeping, dog walking, and gardening businesses are good examples of this.
If you have professional skills from a previous job in fields like consulting, IT, tutoring, business coaching, or internet marketing, it’s a low-stress venture to set up a from-home, online-only business. You can not only choose your own hours, fees, and client base, but you’ll basically be able to take on as much – or as little – work as you want in any given week, month, or year. It’s truly one of the most flexible businesses you can create.
Choose a business with low initial costs and overhead
One of the surefire ways to cause yourself too much stress when starting up a new business is to overextend yourself financially. Many small business owners must draw from savings and take out additional small business loans to get their business off the ground, and there are plenty of businesses in a variety of fields that have minimal starting costs, comparatively.
Many at-home businesses can be started for less than a couple thousand dollars of initial capital. Tech-related businesses like graphic design, coding, and social media consultants fit this bill, as do freelance writing/editing, business consulting, marketing consulting, and photography-based businesses. If you have existing expertise or particular aptitude in any of these areas, you may consider building a business using that framework.
Cover legal concerns
As someone with a fledgling business, you have a lot on your plate. While it might be awhile before you hire permanent staff, legalities are best tended by an attorney. Microsoft explains an attorney can help you with things like local compliance, tackling contracts and agreements, and assisting you with tax concerns. You also need to establish a business structure.
Keeping in mind that you’ll need to officially register your business to receive the previously mentioned benefits, here’s a to-do list to get you started. First, you’ll have to appoint your registered agent and file your Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State. Then you’ll need to apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number so you can open a business account and then contact the Department of Revenue if your business involves the sale of goods. Most of this can be done quickly by an online filing service at very little cost.
While there’s no way to totally eliminate stress from the act of starting your own business (nor would you want to), there are ways to reduce it and make sure that you’re staying healthy during the process. As a business owner with a disability, don’t take on more than you can handle – physically or financially – and actively work to reduce stress with your lifestyle choices.
Look to Members of The National Advocates Top 100 for more information and advice throughout your journey.
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com
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