SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSESSMENT

Many people who have disabilities choose to become self-employed, to start and run their own businesses.  In general, the needs of these people are similar to the needs of people with disabilities in conventional employment.  However, there are specific aspects of self-employment where disability can have substantial impact.  It can also be more difficult in self-employment situations to strike the correct balance between business and disability needs.

By looking closely at the whole business, as well as the disability and its associated needs, it is possible to make recommendations that will minimize the impact of disability in operation of the business, without giving the disabled person an unfair business advantage.  This is achieved through a realistic approach to support of the client, rather than support of the business.

All aspects of support needs may impact on the business, so the self-employment assessment explores the business and the disability in parallel.  This can often result in advice to the client which will reduce the need for support, whilst at the same time increasing the effectiveness of the client and his or her business.  The consequent greater independence of the client adds to their business confidence, so that the long term viability and sustainability of their business is generally improved.

A self-employment assessment draws on all other assessment types so as to recommend the most appropriate package of support to meet the disability needs of the client.  It can be tailored to match the circumstances and disabilities of individual clients and their perceived requirements for support.  As with most of the other assessment types, the self-employment assessment is based on personal profiling, though this aspect is much more significant in the case of clients running their own businesses, since there is an overlap of identity between the client and his or her business.

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