Introduction
In early 2024, Gusto surveyed business owners who started their businesses in 2023. In a series of follow ups, we’ve explored the unique experiences of side hustlers, LGBTQ+, and immigrant entrepreneurs. We now look to the businesses started in 2023 by people with disabilities. Disabilities are both seen and unseen, with more than 1-in-4 adults in the U.S. report having some sort of disability. Therefore, it is unsurprising that people with disabilities make up a meaningful share of entrepreneurs. Using the new business formation survey we looked at the responses of people with disabilities who started a business in 2023.
Key findings:
- Nearly 1-in-4 entrepreneurs in 2023 reported having a disability. This is similar to the share of U.S. adults living with a disability as reported by the CDC in 2023. This means that people with a disability are starting businesses at rates consistent to their share of the population.
- Entrepreneurs with a disability were more likely than all entrepreneurs to say that they started their business because entrepreneurship offered flexibility. Additionally, 1-in-10 businesses owned by a person with a disability were started because technology made it possible to do so.
- Businesses started by people with disabilities were 25% more likely than all businesses in 2023 to offer remote and hybrid positions. Half of all businesses started by a person with a disability required all in-person work, compared to 39% of all employer businesses started in 2023.
25% of entrepreneurs reported having a disability in 2023
One-in-four entrepreneurs starting a business in 2023 reported having at least one disability. This is similar to the share of U.S. adults with a disability as reported by the CDC in 2023. People with a disability are starting businesses at rates consistent to their share of the population.
Entrepreneurs with disabilities were almost 10 percent more likely to cite flexibility and 94 percent more likely to cite technology as reasons they started their businesses than all entrepreneurs
The rise in remote work in the last couple of years has provided flexibility and opportunities for people with disabilities to enter the labor market. Over the last few years businesses have learned how to operate remotely through new and more convenient technological tools. This shift in attitude may have increased access to entrepreneurship as well. The ubiquity of accessible technology means that entrepreneurs have the ability to have regular communication with clients via easy-to-use messaging apps and communicate via video software through well known tools and straight from email. Entrepreneurs with disabilities have taken advantage of this change in work attitude to start their own businesses. One-in-ten businesses owned by a person with a disability were started because technology made it possible to do so in 2023, and two-thirds of entrepreneurs with a disability cited a desire for more flexibility as a reason to start their business. As technology continues to provide opportunities to work remotely and asynchronously, more people may find entrepreneurship accessible.
Over half (57%) of entrepreneurs with a disability, or 13 percent of all entrepreneurs who started a business in 2023, reported a mental health condition or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. People with invisible disabilities like these may be hesitant to report their conditions and request reasonable accommodations in the workplace. Starting a new business provides people with the opportunity to establish more work flexibility without disclosing a medical history, and this is something that entrepreneurs with disabilities reported valuing in 2023.
Businesses started by a person with disabilities are 25% more likely to offer remote or hybrid positions
Half of employer businesses started by a person with a disability in 2023 require all in-person work, compared to 60% of all employer businesses started in 2023. Some may think that this is fully attributable to a difference in industry, but entrepreneurs with a disability were not noticeably over- or under-represented in any industry. This suggests that people with disabilities are starting businesses in many different industries, and these businesses are more likely than other 2023 startups to offer remote work capabilities and work location flexibility. People with disabilities stated that they valued flexibility in starting their own businesses, and seem to offer that flexibility to their employees as well.
Conclusion
Seen and unseen disabilities affect nearly 25% of entrepreneurs who started businesses in 2023. These entrepreneurs started their businesses because they sought additional flexibility, and technology may have provided some of them with opportunities to take their ideas to market while working with their customers and employees. Additionally, entrepreneurs with disabilities were more likely to offer their employees flexibility through remote and hybrid work than the general business started in 2023. Taken together, entrepreneurs with disabilities are creating workplaces that align with their values.
