|
Micro-enterprises provide opportunities
for people with learning disabilities (and others) which have been
almost completely overlooked in the UK. They have the potential
to be a very important extra option in the effort to find better
alternatives to day centres - both for people who are now in day
centres, and for young people at risk of being placed in one.
We believe that micro-enterprises
deserve to be strongly promoted in the UK. The NDT intends
to play a leading role in supporting and monitoring the development
of micro-enterprises, and we are currently developing a series of
linked initiatives. We are greatly assisted in this by our partnership
with Doreen Rosimos and Darcy Smith, of IncomeLinks in the USA.
Doreen and Darcy are international experts on micro-enterprises,
with enormous practical experience of helping people to develop
their own small businesses.
|
What is a micro-enterprise?
Basically a micro-enterprise is a small ('micro') business
('enterprise'). Each micro-enterprise is different, so the size, type
of business, and legal arrangements can vary a great deal. But there
are some common characteristics -
|
|
Micro-enterprises aim to make money, not
to give people something to do
Micro-enterprises are not concerned with 'getting a job' for the
sake of having something to do. They may (probably will, in fact)
help people to have richer, more purposeful lives, and provide new
connections with their communities. But these are not the main aim.
Most people with learning disabilities (and long-term members of
other disadvantage groups) have very little money which is under
their control. More money brings new opportunities.
|
|
|
Micro-enterprises aim to make money by
seeking out ordinary commercial opportunities
Micro-enterprises make capitalism work to the benefit of people
who have been disadvantaged. They don't generate income through
donations or grants (except, possibly, as start-up money) and almost
certainly don't depend on the social care industry. Micro-enterprises,
like other ordinary businesses, aim to offer ordinary citizens a
product or service for which they'll be willing to pay.
|
|
|
Micro-enterprises are built around individuals
They are not schemes, projects, or standard packages to be delivered
to whole groups of people. Micro-enterprises require thinking at
the 'micro' level - about this person,
with these interests, living in
this community.
|
|
|
Micro-enterprises are usually 'owned' by
one person, and are very unlikely to be shared between more than
three.
If the micro-enterprise has been created to match one person's
requirements, then it's probably only right for that person. And
by keeping the ownership to one person, there's the best possible
chance that the person will have real control over it. There are
times when two people can make a success of sharing ownership, but
these are the exceptions - and three people sharing is (Doreen and
Darcy report) a risky option. For example, what happens if one person
want to leave the business?
|
Some other key points about micro-enterprises
|
|
The
amount of income can vary widely - and it partly depends on what each
person want to achieve. Some people may be very happy if their
micro-enterprise makes just a little bit of money - enough, for example,
to save up over a year and spend on a good summer holiday. The US
experience suggests micro-enterprises often create a higher level
of income than that, and just a few make tens of thousands of pounds. |
|
|
Likewise,
the amount of time they require can vary from a few days a year to
a full-time occupation. They're designed to suit each person,
and some people may want, for example, to run their businesses at
events that only take place a few times a year. Some kinds of micro-enterprise
may run with very little effort (from a business point of view, an
ideal arrangement!). All this means that micro-enterprises can't be
viewed as an option that will necessarily
provide an alternative weekday occupation. |
|
|
The
cost of starting a micro-enterprise doesn't need to be high.
In fact, Doreen and Darcy recommend that people should never spend
more than £300. |
|
|
People
with very high support needs can have micro-enterprises.
If a business is set up in the right way, it can make an income with
very little effort in return. Doreen likes to point out that her brother,
Jack, got income from his micro-enterprise for several weeks while
he was in a coma. |
Three brief examples of micro-enterprises
These are just the outlines of three of the many stories
told by Doreen and Darcy about people they have helped to set up micro-enterprises.
|
1
|
A man with learning
disabilities had the idea of selling bottled water at a major sports
event, attended by thousands of people. The bottled water was sent
by the company in a lorry, on the basis that he would be charged afterwards
for the bottles that had been used. So he had no costs to get the
micro-enterprise started. In one weekend he made around £70,000. |
|
2
|
A woman with
multiple disabilities liked to do cross-stitch needlework. When the
option of a micro-enterprise was first mentioned, she thought she'd
use it to sell her craftwork. But it was soon clear that althoughb
her work was good, there was no possibility she could sell at a price
that would match all the hours she spent creating each item.In conversation,
the young woman mentioned that she had to send off special orders
for the thread she likes to use, as there was no shop which sold it
in the town. This was the clue to a better business opportunity.Now
she has her own stall in a shared small market of traders, selling
threads. She makes a useful income, is close to other people, still
has time to do her own needlework, and is a resource valued by other
local people who share her interest. |
|
3
|
It was suggested by a day
centre that two young women could set up a micro-enterprise together.
They both have very severe physical impairments and communication
difficulties, and at first it was far from clear what sort of business
would be right for them. But time spent getting to know their interests
revealed that they really liked bright colours, and anything to do
with parties and celebrations. They bought a special machine, second-hand,
which packs novelty objects (ranging from soft toys to fluffy handcuffs)
inside a balloon, to make novelty gifts. These are sold through local
shops. The two women choose the novelty objects, and choose well.
It was Valentine's Day a few months after they started the business,
and they were swamped with orders. |
NDT initiatives to support the development
of micro-enterprises
Following the very successful tour by Doreen Rosimos
and Darcy Smith last October, the NDT has made a decision in principle
to take the lead, in partnership with Doreen and Darcy, to promote micro-enterprises
in the UK. The courses in April,
and the Micro-Enterprises Development Network,
are two initiatives in this process. We are also actively seeking funding
for a larger project that can offer support to people developing micro-enterprises
and evaluate the outcomes.
Some points of policy about the NDT's involvement
in micro-enterprises
The history of social care, over at least the last 30
years, has repeatedly shown how easily new ideas become institutionalised.
The development of supported living, self-advocacy, and person-centred
planning are obvious examples of this process. A new idea, full of creative
possibilities, is reduced to a standardised model. Activities that should
be 'owned' by the people who need them to improve their lives are taken
over by the social care system. Regulations and procedures soon follow.
The net result is that the potential of the idea to make a radical difference
to people's lives - and to the way the social care system operates -
is lost.
The risk (in the long run, probably the certainty)
that this process will occur has to be a concern for people and organisations
that want to a new idea to be used to improve people's lives.
If, on the one hand, the idea is presented 'loosely' -
simply as "here are some thing you might
like to try" - it's all but certain that some people will
misunderstand and misuse the idea. They will change it into something
that is less effective in making a difference, and possibly something
that works against the rights and choices of the people it was supposed
to help.
On the other hand, the promoters of the idea can try to
counter that possibility by offering a tight definition of what the
idea is, and isn't, and backing it up with elaborate training sessions
and manuals. But that, too, creates problems. It encourages a view of
the idea as a standard model that can only be done in exactly one way.
The training courses and publications, though good business for the
people who produce them, usually push the idea towards the service system
(not least because the service system is in a better position to pay
for them). The idea then quickly becomes insitutionalised.
The NDT intends to tackle this problem 'head-on'. The
reason we want to take a lead in supporting the development of micro-enterprises
is not to take sole ownwership of the idea, but to do what we can to
protect it from this process of institutionalisation. One of the most
effective ways to slow the process is to keep the idea close to the
people that it is supposed to help. This has practical implications
for the kind of work that we want to develop:
|
|
Training courses
and conferences need to focus on the people who want to develop a
micro-enterprise. That means more than offering free places for a
few service users and family members: it means designing the whole
event so that all the discussions are framed around what people are
doing, and wanting to do. Fortunately, the format of the the two-day
courses that we have already organised (with the Valuing People Support
Team) do this very successfully. |
|
|
If the events
are going to involve people who are interested in developing a micro-enterprise,
then they need to be organised so that it's practical for them to
attend. At the very least, this means regional, not national, events. |
|
|
Support to people
developing micro-enterprises, outside or after training courses, is
also best focused on each person. However, it saves time if people
have ways they can share information that may help others. |
|
|
Publications need to reflect
the same focus on individuals, with plenty of real stories. |
These principles will guide the work that the NDT does
to support micro-enterprises.
Other linked activities
These include -
|
|
An issue of
our newsletter, SouNDTrack, dedicated to micro-enterprises |
|
|
Gathering stories
from people developing micro-enterprises, for a future NDT publication |
|
|
Working in
partnership with Doreen and Darcy on a new, international, book
about micro-enterprises. |
|
|
Looking for funding, so
that we are able to give more time to supporting people locally
and individually. |
|
