Entrepreneurship: More about We than Me.

by Picasso Einstein, LLC

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard; “My son/daughter can’t run a business on his/her own.” This is often the response when a parent is first approached with the idea of Entrepreneurship, or self-employment. Here is another thing I hear a lot, “Entrepreneurship is over his/her head.”

Why is that sort of thinking so common, even among parents? Firstly, because most think entrepreneurship is about a solitary, singular venture. Honestly, how can I blame them for thinking that? Most entrepreneurs we hail and celebrate often relate the all too familiar story of being locked up in a garage or hotel room for months on end, with only pizza and water as their main source of sustenance, oh yeah, and rock music. But is that the WHOLE story to their successes? Hardly!

Our society has celebrated heroism and genius in singular terms for decades. Yet how often we hear the stories long after they are gone, that a multitude of relationships, conversations, collaborations and interactions played an equal part in their success, and ultimately their ‘brilliant idea.’

Entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities is that very same experience. We focus on the notion that ideation (development of ideas) is a conglomerate experience. We believe that ideas are fused together and refined as a result of conversations, group activities, relationships and lots of making mistakes.

Entrepreneurship is about WE! Just because someone is interested in starting a business does not mean that they are seeking a life of solitude. Nor does it mean that a person with a disability, interested in entrepreneurship, must do it all alone. No, on the contrary. Time and again, it has been proven that true sustainable success and happiness requires a team effort and team support. Whether you the parent, start the business, or the person with a disability, it is not the beginning nor end of relationships, it is the potential for a new one altogether.

This is how we turn the thought of ME, to WE.
· Parents, caregivers, are you struggling, trying to identify sustainable and long-term employment for your son or daughter with disabilities? Why not entertain a small, family-run business, started by YOU, the parent, but including clear and precise ways to provide meaningful employment to your son/daughter by way of that business?

· Young men and women with disabilities: Are you struggling with your current employment? Do you not like what you do? Is your intelligence above and beyond the tasks and duties you are currently asked to do at work? Firstly, examine what you like. What you are good at? Gather a “Development Team” of friends, family members, professionals and community mentors, to talk about your desire to be self-employed. Get the conversation going. Have honest conversation. Then start working on a plan to get your small business going with the help and support of this development team.

Being an entrepreneur does NOT mean, you are in this alone. Remember, that being self-employed is more about the venture WE are exploring, and less about ME. 

Sibling Calvary

By Wilfredo Gonzalez

“What’s the difference from a man with disabilities and a man without?” I asked my mom one Sunday morning. My mother said to me “There is no difference". After that, that's how I see people with disabilities. There is no difference between them and the average man. The only difference is that their brains work differently. That's how I've been able to love and appreciate my brother and not see him as a sibling with autism, but as my brother.  At times it's hard because I have to make sure he's well behaved. But all in all he's just like any other sibling.

What I always wonder, if I were to leave or if I had to go, what would my brother do? He doesn't take authority well. He prefers to do things in his own way. So I began to learn entrepreneurship soon I became aware of the benefits of owning your own business, for me and for my brother. I now see the value in the freedom of owning your own business, and deciding the success and financial gain of an entire company through your own ideas and pathways. Ideas are what have made this country one of the most economically prominent countries in the world, because innovators and free thinkers decided to change the status quo with these ideas.  Why can't the same be for those with disabilities? 

My current business model is an app in which a person can order a standby photographer for any event and however long. I can use my brother and other people with disabilities to interact with the customers. I will need a great deal of employees and I will certainly include them in all innovation side by side with all employees. I am sure my brother and I can create a business model that will improve the relationship between businesses and our beloved community with disabilities. Why can’t you?

Willy (left) & Isaiah (right)

 About the Author:
"Willy" is a H.S. Senior in Broward County currently in the process of starting a business for himself that will include his brother, Isaiah, who has Autism. Willy is a current student of the E4i Entrepreneurship Fall Sessions. He is a prime example of how people with disabilities who have family members who want to be entrepreneurs, can benefit from the venture. Isaiah will also receive education in Self-Employment.  

Disability Training: Making the Complex, Compelling

By Rebecca Witonsky

Disability training for employers is necessary because employers are often not aware of the complex issues involved in hiring people with disabilities. Hiring people with disabilities often requires making accommodations for people with disabilities. Disability training can help make employers understand what accommodations are necessary for a person with disabilities. For example, if a person has autism, they may need to rely upon written instructions rather than oral instructions because they cannot read social cues. If a person has a physical disability, then the employer may need to re-think the workplace flow, or access to make it easier for the person to navigate the office. Accommodations can include modified equipment, flexible work hours, and as simple as the opportunity to work at home.


Employers may assume that accommodations are expensive and difficult to overcome. But in fact one study Disability awareness training for employers can help employers understand that the cost of accommodations is much less than they believe. Between 1992 and 1998 found that 80% of accommodations cost less than $1,000.

In addition, disability awareness training can help all overcome the stereotypes and biases concerning people with disabilities. Some stereotypes are based on incorrect assumptions about the capabilities of people with disabilities, leading to a worry that people with disabilities will be less productive and less likely to complete the tasks on time, or even that people with disabilities will require more expensive healthcare benefits. Social competence is an especially important component of the workplace and represents a particular barrier for people with autism. Clearly, disability training for employers is necessary in challenging such stereotypes about people with disabilities.
 
Disability training is more than just information. Training includes role-playing, which helps employers to understand the perspectives of people with disabilities. Hands on experiences and role-playing can cover visual impairment, hearing impairment, cognitive disabilities, and hidden disabilities. Spending time in a wheelchair for a person with a physical disability or a visual impairment exercise that simulates blindness. If employers better appreciate the perspectives of people with disabilities, then they can be more likely to hire, promote, and sustain employment for people with disabilities.


Co-workers may be concerned about the increased workload associated with having a co-worker with a disability and how to relate to the co-workers with a disability. Disability training can also improve the relationships that co-workers may have with their colleagues with disabilities.


Customers with disabilities are also better understood and better served after training. One study found that the 50 million people with disabilities have aggregate incomes of $360.5 billion as of 2000. Employers such as Publix which have a record of hiring and promoting people with disabilities also are known for their ability to accommodate customers with disabilities. Customers with disabilities may have creative reactions and solutions to customer service issues, and disability training for employers can help employers to find these opportunities.


People with disabilities face a very high unemployment rate. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, only 18.2% of people with disabilities were employed in May 2012, compared with 64.3% of people with no disability. Clearly unemployment for people with disabilities remains rampant in spite of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Disability training can help employers harness the tremendous untapped potential of people with disabilities.

 
About the Author:

[Rebecca Witonsky discovered that she was autistic in early 2011 when she was 35 years old. Rebecca serves as a member of the Florida Rehabilitation Council. Ms. Rebecca Witonsky earned a B.A. in international relations at Brown University in 1997. She also received a masters degree in taxation from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in 2007.]

  
 

Corporate Inclusion Training 

Accommodated Employment Consulting

INCLUSION - a word we take seriously. It is more than just accepting or introducing persons with disabilities into your workforce make-up.

Picasso Einstein assists companies to better understand disabilities, trains on how to strategize, raise awareness and embrace diversified employment. We assist corporations in providing support systems through HR Policy and Standard Operating Procedures, and set up models that celebrate the value-proposition of hiring persons with disabilities and build upon intrinsic sustainability.