Overview
A microenterprise is a very small business set up as a job for a person with intellectual disability. Each one is different, because it is built around the person's skills and interests and the supports they have around them, along with careful consideration of the supports available to help them start and sustain their business. Most cost very little to start. Some make a profit while others do not. The creation of a microenterprise often grows out of is one strategy than can emerge from using the customised employment approach to employment support for people with intellectual disability.
Why choose a microenterprise?
Open employment can be hard to find for people with intellectual disability. A microenterprise creates a job that fits the person, instead of asking the person to fit the job. It can build skills, confidence, income and a stronger place in the community. Research in this area is limited, but it points to three things that help a microenterprise work: ongoing support from family, friends and services; good financial planning; and a product or service the community genuinely wants.
How these resources can help
This section brings the practical steps together in one place. You will find Easy Read explainers, videos, planning tools and real stories from people running their own microenterprise. Together they can help you work out what kind of microenterprise you might create, connect with the right supports, plan for the money side and build the skills needed to keep a business going.
Explore the resources, tools and learning below to build your own knowledge, then share what suits the people you support so they can take the next step towards a microenterprise of their own.