Supported SelfEmployment from a Businessmans Perspective

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Supported Self-Employment from a Businessmans
Perspective

• Jim Huston, CPA
• Venture Mentors, LLC

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What is Venture Mentors?

• Venture Mentors is a unique consulting firm
  that specializes in helping people with
  disabilities successfully launch and manage
  profitable small businesses or micro-enterprises. 
  While our home base is Louisville Kentucky, we
  serve a national clientele.
• Venture Mentors provides a one-of-a-kind
  linkage between the business world and the
  vocational rehabilitation or disability services
  systems. 
• Venture Mentors also provides training and
  technical assistance to agencies seeking to
  increase capacity for supporting people with
  disabilities who wish to be self-employed.      

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What does it take to succeed?

• Services and supports needed to accommodate
  disability while operating the business
• Counseling on SSA benefits and work incentives
• Business supports
• Feasibility analysis
• Business planning
• Accounting finance
• Marketing

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Considerations for Accommodating Disability in
Self-Employment

• Human services workers cant run the business -
  neither can paid employees or worse, volunteers!
• Individuals with even the most severe
  disabilities can be successful if they have
  appropriate supports
• In most cases, self-employment requires
  additional accommodations/supports on top of the
  usual supports provided in wage employment

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Considerations for Benefits Counseling

• Benefits counseling needs to take place BEFORE
  the business opens not after!
• SSA work incentives offer excellent opportunities
  for business start-up for SOME beneficiaries
• WIPA projects may not know everything about how
  self-employment income and small business
  ownership will impact benefits over time help
  is often needed!

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Considerations Related to Business Supports

• This is what causes MOST business to struggle
  not just businesses operated by people with
  disabilities
• Business supports cost money leveraging human
  services funds to pay for these supports is
  challenging
• Even when you have the money it can be hard to
  find the services you need to purchase

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The Business Collaborative Model

• Offers one-stop shopping for feasibility
  analysis, management oversight, accounting,
  marketing, business planning, etc.
• Reduces cost per business/individual
• Offers consistency across businesses and affords
  more oversight of new business owners
• Offer support to individuals who do not already
  have access to help

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Resources

• http//www.venturementors.biz
• http//www.griffinhammis.com
• http//vcu-ntc.org/training/index.cfm
• http//www.start-up-usa.biz