Frequently Asked Questions

Starting a small business can require a lot of work, planning, and money. If you have an idea for a small business and want to turn it into a reality, the basic steps you need to take are:

1. Decide if owning a business is right for you. Starting your own business means risking your own money and being in charge of tasks that you may not have had to deal with before, like accounting, getting insurance and licenses, and paying business taxes. Only you can decide if the extra risk and effort of being self-employed is worth it.
2. Do research about the type of business you want to start: Are a lot of people buying this product or service? How many other companies are selling it? How much does it usually cost? Answering these questions will help you figure out how easy or hard it will be to make money with your business.
3. Ask for help. Before you get started, reach out to an organization that helps people start small businesses. They can give you advice. You can also talk to the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) or a benefits expert.
4. Write your business plan. Your business plan will help you figure out how much money you need to start your business and when you expect to start making money. There are many organizations that help potential entrepreneurs write business plans.
5. Get funding. To start a business, you will probably need funding at first to pay for startup expenses. You can either raise money from other people (by getting a loan, for example), or you can save up money for your business.

Starting a business is a risk. Even if you do all of these steps, you may not succeed at making money. However, many people with disabilities have successfully started businesses and built a financial future for themselves. If you work hard and ask for help, you too can start a business!

Read more about starting a small business.

There are many organizations in Georgia that help people start small businesses, and some of these organizations are specifically aimed at helping people with disabilities. For help researching and planning your business, as well as writing a business plan, you can contact:

• Your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Georgia. SBDCs partner with the US Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide assistance and resources to people who have or want to start small businesses
• The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA), which can help you plan your business and get you training, if you qualify for its services
• SCORE, a nonprofit that provides education, mentorship, and tools to help small businesses get off the ground
• Synergies Work, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities start small businesses
  
• The Georgia Micro Enterprise Network (GMEN), a nonprofit association in Georgia that supports and funds microenterprises

For questions about your personal disability and situation, like what will happen to your benefits if you start a business, you should speak to a benefits expert.

Yes, a business plan is a very important step in starting a small business—and if you don't write one, your business is much more likely to fail. Your business plan will help you figure out if your business idea can actually make money, how much funding you need, and what some realistic goals are for your business. Don't start spending time and money on your business without figuring out all the steps you need to take first.

If you plan to use a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) to save money or want help from the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA), you will need a business plan. Your business plan can also be used to convince people to work with you, help you, or give you a loan, because it will show them that you have a clear, realistic plan to make money.

Even if you will be the only employee in your business, you'll still need people to help you with the parts of owning a business you don't know much about. The people you ask for help will depend on your personal situation and business. Some examples of experts and advisors are:

• Accountants or tax professionals
• Lawyers
• Disability benefits planners
• Marketing experts
• Bankers or credit experts

No one can do everything alone. These people will have knowledge that you need and can give you advice, suggestions, and solutions to problems.

You can also ask for help from an organization that is aimed at helping people start small businesses. Read more about organizations that help with business planning.

Yes, there are several programs and work incentives that help people with disabilities become small-business owners. For example:

• A Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) lets you put your income and resources in a separate bank account that isn't counted by Social Security, which means your benefits will go up even if you earn more or the same amount of money. You can then use the money you've saved for your work goal, like starting your business.
• The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) offers services to people who want to start their own business, including help creating business plans, training, and access to adaptive technology. If your plan is approved, you can also get funding that can be used for startup expenses in the first six months of starting your business.

Learn more about raising money to start your business.

There are several options for taking out a loan for your business, even if you do not qualify for a small business loan from your bank or credit union:

• You can work with a nonprofit microfinance organization that provides small loans to people with low income.
• You can work with a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which also provide loans for people who can't get traditional loans. You can apply for a loan from a CDFI directly, or you can apply for assistance through Georgia's State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
  
• You can look into online marketplace lending or alternative lending platforms, which are often more expensive but easier to get, meaning you may still qualify with a low credit score or low income.

Before you try to get a loan on your own, you can also ask for help from the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The SBDC has a team of advisors who help small businesses that don't have access to traditional loans. These advisors can help you with financial planning and applying for loans, and they also host online and in-person workshops to teach people about accounting and funding. Learn more about how the SBDC can help you get loans.

Learn more about getting a loan for your small business.

Your credit score is a measurement of how likely you are to pay back a loan based on your history of paying back other loans and bills. For example, if you have a credit card, you borrow money whenever you use your card and pay it back when you pay the bill. If you pay your credit card bill on time every month, you probably have a good credit score. If you don’t pay your bills on time, don’t make the minimum payments, or go over your credit limit, your credit score will go down.

Your credit score is very important when trying to get a loan for your small business, because it helps lenders, like banks, decide if you are a "good risk" (if they trust you to give back their money). If you plan to get a loan to start your business, you must have a good credit score. If your credit score is low, you can sign up for a free class at the University of Georgia to understand and improve your credit score.

Learn more about credit and loans.

To find out if you have a good credit score, you can get a free copy of your credit report from one of the three main credit reporting agencies in the United States. Learn more about how to get your free credit report.

If you want to save up money to start a business, there are ways to keep your benefits, even if you go over the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) resource limit ($2,000 for an individual; $3,000 if you’re married). These are:

• The Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) program
• Claiming your resources as Property Essential to Self-Support (PESS)

Any resources you have that are in a PASS account or that you claim as PESS for your business (like inventory, equipment, or cash in a business account) will not be counted as part of SSI's resource limit.

ABLE accounts are another way to save money without it being counted by Social Security. The money in your ABLE account can be used for most self-employment expenses and may be helpful to you if you are trying to save money to start a business.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) does not have a resource limit, so saving up money will not make your SSDI benefits go down.

Learn more about keeping your benefits when you start saving money for your business.

A Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) lets you save money for a work-related goal in an account that isn't counted by Social Security when they calculate your Supplement Security Income (SSI) benefits. This means that you can save up more money than the resource limit without losing your SSI benefits. You can also put your monthly income into your PASS account, which means it won't be counted by Social Security and your monthly SSI benefits will go up. You can then use the money in your PASS account for any work-related expenses.

To qualify for a PASS, you need to show how saving a certain amount of money will help you achieve your work goal. If you want to start a small business, you'll also need to include your business plan in your application.

Learn more about PASS.