Disabilities Lead to Business Success

 

I am always meeting new people and discovering new businesses. A large amount of these businesses are not accessible, which means I cannot even enter the building!

This both frustrated and intrigued me. It was at this point I looked at some of the reasons a business may not be accessible.

Reason 1: Awareness. A lot of businesses and people have no clue what it is like to be disabled in society and more importantly the barriers they face on a daily basis.

Reason 2: I don’t know what needs to be done to be more accessible? What changes will I need to make?

Reason 3: I believe the BIGGEST reason for a lack of accessibility, is MONEY! There I said it! I know there will be people out there that will disagree and they will go as far as to argue with me on this point. ( I have been in many debates about the subject of accessibility ). Once I explain to business owners that people with disabilities have money to spend AND WANT TO SPEND IT ON YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, it changes the conversation in a big way. I actually use math and tangible numbers to illustrate Return On Investment (ROI)

It is not just money from business owners that will cure this issue the governments and municipalities need to make accessibility a priority, not only in terms of the customers of businesses but for potential employees as well.

About 25 percent of British Columbians have a university degree.
In comparison, 17 percent of people with a disability have a university
degree while 33 percent have a non-university post-secondary certificate.

Source: Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, 2011, Statistics Canada

The employment rate for people with disabilities is 18 percentage points
lower than for people without a disability.

Source: Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 2006, Statistics Canada

What these above stats don’t mention, is that most people with a disability enjoy routine in their working environment so businesses that hire someone with a disability will have less turnover.