Advice

3 Tips for Ecopreneurs With Disabilities

3 Tips for People With Disabilities Who’d Like to Start an Environmentally Friendly Business

Like entrepreneurs, ecopreneurs create products and services that better the planet — tackling major environmental issues like food waste, climate change, air pollution, and deforestation. And if you’re eager to make a positive difference in the world, your disability shouldn’t hold you back from starting an environmentally friendly business — especially if you have an entrepreneurial mindset and a passion for nature.

With the following tips from Sustainable Business Design, you’ll learn how to successfully launch a business with a disability and change the world in the process. The future of our planet depends on people like you, so don’t wait any longer: Start your environmentally friendly business today!

1. Choose a Home-Based Business Opportunity

Depending on the type of disability you hold, a home-based business may be best for you — as this will eliminate the need to commute to and from an office and pay for an accessible office space. To name a few green business ideas that can be started from home, you could launch an environmental consulting firm, create green products by hand before selling them online and shipping purchases to customers, or build an app that promotes a sustainable lifestyle.

There are many green business ideas to choose from, but the key is to find one that fits your disability, personality, lifestyle, interests, and budget. And if you will be working from home as an ecopreneur, it’s important to create an accessible office space that’s comfortable, functional, and equipped with the assistive technologies you may need when reading, writing, speaking, or moving around the room.

2. Look for Loans and Grants

In addition to saving money while working from home, many financing options are available to UK ecopreneurs with disabilities. According to Kevin Watson of Grants Expert, several possibilities include UnLtd, Access to Work, Blind Business Association Charitable Trust (BBACT), and Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award. Government loans, Kaleidoscope Investments, and Virgin startup loans are some other great options for ecopreneurs with disabilities to consider when launching a green business.

If you need additional help as you get your green business off the ground, Disabled Entrepreneurs is another great resource for ecopreneurs with physical, mental, or intellectual disabilities. You can find mentorship opportunities, motivational speakers, and startup advice — helping you to achieve your dream of changing the world through ecopreneurship.

3. Start an Accounting System

Just like any other type of small business, you’ll need an accounting system in to keep track of your assets and liabilities, earnings and expenses, and profits and losses. Some common bookkeeping tasks include the following:

  • Preparing and sending invoices
  • Paying employees, suppliers, and Value-Added Taxes (VAT)
  • Monitoring bank accounts
  • Recording transactions
  • Storing receipts and documentation

Whether you choose to hire a professional or do your own bookkeeping, accounting software can help to simplify your small business finances. QuickBooks, for instance, allows you to process payroll from a smart device, file and pay taxes, run reports, and monitor the financial health of your environmentally friendly business. It also offers reminders so you won’t miss payroll and tax deadlines.

Launch Your Green Business

As you get started as an ecopreneur, sustainability consultants can help you to build a sustainable business model so you’ll reduce waste, use less plastic, reuse and recycle wherever possible, and minimize your environmental footprint in business. After all, it’s important to practice what you preach — right down to your supply chain, operations, and marketing.

Ecopreneurs are needed to improve the air we breathe, water we drink, and food we consume — and the green values they hold can help to save our oceans, forests, lakes, and landfills. And while the road to entrepreneurship is rarely a quick and easy process, these tips will help ecopreneurs with disabilities to come up with an environmentally friendly business idea, find financing opportunities, and manage their small business finances. Changing the world starts with compassionate people like you, so launch your environmentally friendly business today!

Is your goal to launch a business that’s not only profitable, but environmentally friendly as well? Sustainable Business Design can help. Contact Sustainable Business Design at 0333 344 5890 or send them an email.

Guest article written by Marcus Lansky of Abilitator

Marcus is an entrepreneur and business owner who was born with a spinal condition. He is a man on a mission, to help other people with disabilities start their own businesses.