Three entrepreneurs share the challenges and opportunities of starting-up a business when you have a disability.
Ross Linnett was not diagnosed with dyslexia until he was
22-years-old, which was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He thought that he might be dyslexic when he was at school, but his teacher replied that he must not be trying hard enough.
Mr Linnett always wanted his own business, and he was encouraged
to learn that successful entrepreneurs, such as Sir Richard Branson and Lord Sugar, also had dyslexia.
His business idea came from the frustration of using assistive technologies designed to help with tasks such as reading and writing.
While helpful, they were only usable on the particular devices that had them installed. To solve the problem, he started Recite Me, a cloud-based web accessibility tool that works across all devices.
“Dyslexia can affect nearly every part of your life, but it impacts timekeeping and [concentration] in particular” says Mr Linnett. “I was often late to meetings, which wasn’t good, but having a good team around me, and getting Google alerts to tell me where I need to be and how long it will take to get there, has improved my timekeeping considerably.”
He adds that in a business setting, dyslexia has its advantages:
“The analytical ability of dyslexic people tends to be much higher than the average person. Thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions to very complex problems often comes much easier.”
Opportunity to help others
Meetings are an essential part of doing business, but this can prove tricky if you can’t always hear what others are saying.
“My hearing loss puts me in an often uncomfortable middle ground between the hearing and the non-hearing worlds,” says Sara Hawthorn, founder of public relations company InFusion Comms.
The founder is hard of hearing, but can lip-read and wears a hearing aid. She says that her hearing loss can sometimes be quite funny in her personal life, when her partner might talk about the cat and she will respond with: “I love you.”
Professionally, however, it can present a different set of
challenges. “I go to a lot of networking events, but often I’m gripped by anxiety,” she explains. “I know that the venue will be noisy and the background chatter will fill my hearing aids with sound, which overwhelms my brain and I will struggle to keep up.”
Ms Hawthorn addressed this at a recent event in Glasgow, where she spoke to management and explained how a hearing loop would be helpful. It is being considered for the next event.
She says it’s important for those with disabilities to speak up about accessibility, because people will likely be willing to help, and it could assist others in similar situations: “I’ve come to realise that despite my hearing loss causing me frustration at times, it’s an opportunity to make things better [for others].”
The same issues can sometimes crop up in the office, where she requires a quiet space away from traffic sounds. Open-plan hot-desking or collaborative spaces work better when it comes to communication.
To manage meetings and interviews, Ms Hawthorn tries to keep
them in her small open-plan office, because it’s relatively quiet and located at the back of the building with suspended ceilings and muffled acoustics.
Online organisation tool, Slack, and texting app, Whatsapp, have also been useful in helping her to communicate with colleagues, who often work remotely.
Accessibility is key
Finding an office that’s the perfect fit for a business’s needs – being the right size, having a good breakout area and all within the right price range – is already tricky, but add a wheelchair to the mix and things can get harder.
This was a challenge faced by Srin Madipalli, the co-founder of accessible accommodation company, Accomable.
Mr Madipalli has spinal muscular atrophy (type II), which means that he does not have any movement in his legs and has very limited use of his hands, but he can use a laptop and mobile phone for work. He requires a powered wheelchair for mobility and relies on personal care assistants.
When searching for an office, he found that regular spaces weren’t big enough, and lacked accessible bathrooms and easy access, so he decided to look for a co-working space.
“There are lots in London, but most of them are in older, rundown buildings,” he says. However, co-working space, WeWork South Bank, was very accommodating to Mr Madipalli’s needs. For example, although it usually charges a membership fee per person, it has been flexible about him having a support worker and doesn’t charge an additional cost.
“It also installed a ramp to make it possible to work from the balcony,” he adds.
One thing he would recommend disabled entrepreneurs look into is the Government’s Access to Work programme, which enables people to receive the assistance that they need in the workplace.
