In Gusto’s 2024 New Business Formation Report, entrepreneurs with disabilities, entrepreneurs with a disability were the most likely to say that technological advances lowered the barriers to starting their businesses. The new business owners cited technological advances at twice the overall rate of entrepreneurs—12 percent vs. 6 percent in the survey of more than 1,300 business owners who started their companies in 2023. Nineteen percent of new business owners reported some form of disability.
Technology has also benefited immigrant respondents. Forty percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed were either immigrants or children of immigrants, according to data released by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2022.
These groups provide a vivid illustration of how technological innovations might expand the entrepreneurship field further in coming years.
Entrepreneurship among people with disabilities
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 13 percent of the population had a disability in 2022. Of those individuals, only 22.5 percent were employed, providing more strong evidence that people with disabilities are often marginalized in the labor market.
That might explain why those with disabilities were more likely to be self-employed in 2023 (8.4 percent of workers with disabilities vs. 5.9 percent of the workers without disabilities). A report from the National Disability Institute (NDI) states that about 1.8 million adults with disabilities are business owners.
Some of these are examples of “necessity entrepreneurship,” where individuals who face barriers in the job market end up opening their own small businesses to get by. But even people with disabilities who have been able to find traditional employment turn to self-employment and small business development in hopes of achieving more control and flexibility, much like other entrepreneurs.
In this way, they’re no different than many budding entrepreneurs, drawn by the idea of being their own boss and working remotely. But such characteristics can be essential for individuals with mobility issues, who must juggle medical visits and other health-related demands, or experience discrimination from coworkers, customers, or managers in the workplace.
Plus, people with disabilities can make more money through entrepreneurship than as employees. SBA data show that entrepreneurs with disabilities had 14 percent higher incomes than wage workers with disabilities.
And people with disabilities are often natural entrepreneurs. Diego Mariscal, the CEO of 2Gether-International (2GI), a startup accelerator run by and for entrepreneurs with disabilities, explains it this way: “People with disabilities are innate problem solvers. From the moment we wake up, we have to figure out how to get dressed, how to drive, how to communicate, how to live in a world that is not built to fit our needs.”
They can, however, run into numerous hurdles when pursuing entrepreneurship. For example, people with disabilities may have weaker networks and fewer mentorship relationships due to physical, cultural, and social barriers. They might have less access to education on entrepreneurship and to funding. But new technologies and the digital transformation of the business world are giving these prospective small business owners opportunities not previously available.
Entrepreneurship among immigrants
Immigrants in the United States are 80 percent more likely to start businesses than native-born Americans. More than half of America’s billion-dollar startup companies trace their roots to immigrant founders, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. In fact, immigrants make up a higher percentage of business owners than workers.
Research conducted at the MIT Sloan School of Management shows that immigrants create more firms of all sizes, from small businesses to large companies and from “subsistence businesses” to growth-oriented startups. Immigrant-owned businesses are operating in every sector of the U.S. economy. They’re most common in accommodations and food services, retail trade, health care and social assistance, miscellaneous services, and professional services.
Not only are immigrants more likely to own businesses than native-born Americans, but on average their businesses demonstrate greater innovation. Specifically, they’re more likely to create entirely new products, improve existing products, use new processes, and engage in both basic and applied research and development. The high levels of innovation are reflected in higher levels of patents and productivity.
6 ways new technology has opened the door to more entrepreneurs
Immigrants, people with disabilities, and other diverse groups have found it easier to join the ranks of entrepreneurs in recent years due largely to technological advancements. Most small business owners say technology platforms and apps have helped their businesses get up and running and operate more efficiently. They’ve used these innovations to build customer bases, foster and strengthen customer relationships, and forge strong connections with their broader community. Notably, four out of five small businesses with high technology usage report growth in sales, employment, and profits.
Here are some specific ways that new technologies have driven expanded entrepreneurship among immigrants, people with disabilities, and others:
1. Online education
While much has been made of well-known, successful entrepreneurs who didn’t finish college, the truth is that about half of all entrepreneurs hold a degree. Educational opportunities haven’t historically been equally distributed, though.
Technology has dramatically increased the access to education, entrepreneurial and otherwise. The internet alone has put vast amounts of information at the fingertips of anyone with a connection, including books, instructional videos, lectures, and podcasts.
Education is no longer restricted to physical classrooms with limited seating. Virtual classrooms ranging from MOOCs (massive open online classes) to specialized courses offered by accelerators and similar entrepreneur-focused resources provide knowledge that many would-be entrepreneurs couldn’t easily tap even a decade ago. For example, 2GI provides training, pitch competitions, meetups, and community platforms—all online—to help disabled founders create a pathway to funding and entrepreneurial success.
2. Remote work capabilities
The onset of the COVID pandemic expedited the push to market for all sorts of new technological tools intended to enable remote work. It’s now possible for individuals to work from anywhere and for teams to collaborate and communicate seamlessly across the country or the globe.
For entrepreneurs, remote work and virtual teams offer new avenues to recruit from a deep talent pool, reduce overhead costs, and increase flexibility and work-life balance. They can avoid the costs of brick-and-mortar workplaces and hire contract employees as needed.
The increased prevalence of remote work also means that early-stage entrepreneurs can form critical connections that in the past required face-to-face contact. More founders are making at least initial contact with investors, mentors, advisers, and other critical support and resources without leaving home.
3. Cloud computing
Cloud computing has proven to be one of the more essential enablers of remote work, bringing substantial cost savings to all kinds of businesses. Rather than renting or purchasing expensive hardware, software, and infrastructure, new business owners can subscribe to scalable solutions and data storage.
Cloud computing also allows businesses to transfer much of the headaches and hassles of implementing strong cybersecurity measures. They can purchase packages that include state-of-the-art protections from cyber attacks.
With concerns about keeping up with the latest technology and security resting elsewhere, entrepreneurs can focus more of their energies on product development and business growth. They’ll also enjoy greater cash flow and the flexibility that comes with it.
4. Digital business models
Emerging business models typically have a bandwagon effect, with new and existing businesses jumping on board for the ride, and digital models are no different. For example, the evolution of e-commerce and online marketplaces has attracted a wide cross-section of entrepreneurs, allowing everyone from stay-at-home moms selling handmade crafts to inventors to cut out the middleman and sell their products directly to consumers.
Technological advances have streamlined and simplified sales processing and distribution for these entrepreneurs, too, knocking down some of the barriers to entry. Platforms like eBay, Etsy, Amazon, and Shopify don’t just offer them a cost-effective way to reach a broad customer base; they usually also have options to make purchase confirmation, invoicing, credit card processing, and shipping easy. The rise of services like print-on-demand, dropshipping, and automated order fulfillment allows small businesses to compete with larger stores, without inventory or a shipping department.
The ubiquity of smartphones and tablets has spurred additional digital business models that are attractive to some entrepreneurs in app development. They can build apps for other businesses that want to give their customers the option to shop and purchase their goods or use their services from mobile devices. Or they can develop apps that stand as products or services on their own, such as those that feature games, wellness solutions like meditations, productivity tools, readers, and social media.
5. Social media and digital marketing
For all its faults, social media has empowered people to make connections more easily and far-reaching than ever before. That’s especially valuable for entrepreneurs with physical or other limitations that impede participation in traditional networking forums like conventions and social outings. Now they have alternatives such as MeetUps or Facebook groups where they can forge relationships and exchange questions and advice on starting new businesses.
Social media has become an essential component in marketing, too. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest are popular choices for social media marketing. Many e-commerce and other online businesses regularly post about promotions and products on their accounts. They may also use paid advertising on social media.
Content marketing lets entrepreneurs inform or entertain their social media followers, without actively pitching a product or their business. Blog posts, streaming live events, and infographics can cultivate relationships and trust over the long term. Influencer marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising are additional digital marketing methods.
6. AI and automation
Artificial intelligence has been improving efficiency, increasing productivity, and reducing costs for a while—for example, automating routine tasks and improving customer experiences with chatbots and algorithms. More recently, entrepreneurs are using generative AI like ChatGPT to generate content, whether emails, websites, or legal documents.
Gusto’s report found that entrepreneurs were using AI systems in 2023 for:
- Legal operations (legal research, contract review): 17%
- Human resources (such as creating job postings): 12%
- Accounting and finance (invoicing, bookkeeping): 11%
- Security and fraud detection (identifying bots, incident response): 5%
Marketing is the most common way entrepreneurs are currently using AI, though. Seventy-six percent of the new businesses surveyed by Gusto that use generative AI are applying the tools to tasks like content creation and market research. A smaller but still significant percentage (41 percent) of new firms are using generative AI for sales (for example, crafting communications with leads) or customer service work (26 percent).
AI already boasts a proven track record for streamlining business processes and liberating new business owners to focus on high-value work, core competencies, and strategic initiatives. But now AI is increasingly being applied to more innovative and transformative ends. For example, entrepreneurs are putting AI to work to refine and expedite product development. It can help business leaders come up with and validate ideas, evaluate the competitive environment and market conditions, assemble a prototype, and test it.
Data analytics driven by AI is another engine for entrepreneurship. It crunches Big Data from disparate sources to guide better decision-making and produce actionable insights for both short- and long-term planning.
Note: The adoption of AI can also play a pivotal role in securing funding from external sources. The Gusto report revealed that, in 2023, 19 percent of new businesses developing AI technologies or using AI in their operations received a private capital investment, compared to only 4 percent of firms that weren’t making or using AI. AI-focused companies started with considerably more funding, too. Almost half of new businesses focused on AI began with more than $10,000 in startup funds, compared to 29 percent of other firms.
More Entrepreneurship News
To learn much more about the latest trends in U.S. entrepreneurship, check out the full Gusto report in our blog post.
