Disability Management and Entrepreneurship: Results From a Nationwide Study in Sweden

Abstract

Various factors have meant that employment in welfare states is much more insecure than just a few decades ago. Entrepreneurship has become an important alternative for many people, as a way to increase both security and flexibility. At the end of the 1990s and the start of the 2000s, an average of just over 10,000 people per year received grants in Sweden to start their own business. Of these, just under 10% had some type of ‘work handicap’. This study surveyed a group of new entrepreneurs with disabilities about their entrepreneurial activities. Of those who answered the questionnaire 51% were women. The average age of respondents was 43 years. Only 31.2% reported at follow-up that they were 100% involved in their business. The vast majority of disabled entrepreneurs worked part-time in their firm, which is quite different to the work contribution of entrepreneurs without disabilities. However, the main finding is clear: entrepreneurs with disabilities succeed to roughly the same extent as other entrepreneurs. In terms of disability management programs, entrepreneurship should also be considered as an option for people with disabilities.