Exploring Self-Employment as an Option

Historically many people with disabilities have expressed a strong interest in working for themselves.In fact, in the 1990 national census, 12.2 percent of people with disabilities reported having self-employment experience (versus 7.8 percent of people without disabilities). Despite this fact, self-employment is often overlooked by the government and people with disabilities themselves as an employment option. Statistics from a 1997 Rehabilitation Services Administration survey show that only 2.7 percent of over 220,000 vocational rehabilitation clients with successful closures became self-employed.

Self-employment should be carefully explored as an option for people with disabilities. Public and private sector employers are reducing their workforces. They are outsourcing work and hiring temporary employees.

The demand for self-employed contractors who can provide services targeted to a specific need is increasing rapidly. For instance, large movie production companies have begun to eliminate animation and special effects jobs and outsource this work to small one- or two-person shops.

Many artistsÃ'actors, painters, and freelance writers, for instanceÃ'are self-employed by the very nature of their work. Actors move from one show or film to another, painters sell their works, and freelance writers sell their books and articles.

Individuals who are self-employed and start their own business are often called entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to organize and manage all aspects of their business. Entrepreneurs find that there are many benefits to self-employment. Some of these benefits include the following:

• Being in charge of your own destiny
• Using your creativity to do work you enjoy while earning money
• Having the freedom to set your own goals and limits
• Having the potential for unlimited income and profit
• Being free to set your own schedule and work hours
• Being able to constantly challenge yourself

It is also important to remember, however, that entrepreneurs also assume all the risks involved in achieving their goals. To be successfully self-employed in an arts field, or any other field, takes skills, training, motivation, and persistence.

The rest of this section will help you assess whether self-employment is right for you. As an artist or a person in an art-related field, you may have the opportunity to work for someone else, to work for yourself, or to do some combination of the two. Be aware that not all of the information provided in this section will apply to you in your specific circumstances and field. Take what is useful for you, and store the rest. You never know what the future will hold, and although total self-employment may not be an option now, it might be later.