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Is there anyone who is self-employed?

Leona26

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about self-employment in the autistic community. We often hear about barriers to employment, but not as much about autistic people starting their own businesses or being self-employed. 

  • Do you know some programs that can offer entrepreneurial training for autistic people?

  • Is it that the stories just aren’t being shared enough?

  • How can we get funds?
Parents

  • I have been self employed for nearly 20 years (sole trader). I do internal refurbishment, kitchen design and bathroom remodels. I even do this in my spare time at my own house. It’s far from glamorous but I actually really enjoy my work, it gives me so much satisfaction. The best part about what I do is that I work alone for 90% of the time which has been a life saver for me personally. I have been employed many years ago and struggled to make it through the day, spent large chunks of the day in the toilets to reduce the amount of time I spent working closely with others. I think what I’m saying is being self employed was a good option for me  and I’ve never been happier regarding work. Could you perhaps start off part time and see where it goes and keep your stock to a minimum to reduce any big outlay? Then once things pick up you can increase your stock and your hours to suit yourself. 
    I wish you good luck and I hope you get to enjoy your work in whatever you choose to do. 

  • in reply to Take5

    Thank you so much — that’s really encouraging to read, and I’m glad self-employment has worked out so well for you. Starting part-time and keeping stock small is a really good idea. I think I’ve been putting pressure on myself to have everything figured out right from the start, but maybe I don’t need to go all in immediately. 

    I’ve been wondering about the funding side of things, though — even starting small, there are still some upfront costs, and I’m not sure if I should try applying for a small loan or just wait and save slowly. I guess I’m worried about taking on too much financial risk too early. Did you have to invest a lot to get started in your field?

    Thanks again for the kind words and the advice — it really helps.

Reply
  • in reply to Take5

    Thank you so much — that’s really encouraging to read, and I’m glad self-employment has worked out so well for you. Starting part-time and keeping stock small is a really good idea. I think I’ve been putting pressure on myself to have everything figured out right from the start, but maybe I don’t need to go all in immediately. 

    I’ve been wondering about the funding side of things, though — even starting small, there are still some upfront costs, and I’m not sure if I should try applying for a small loan or just wait and save slowly. I guess I’m worried about taking on too much financial risk too early. Did you have to invest a lot to get started in your field?

    Thanks again for the kind words and the advice — it really helps.

Children
  • in reply to Take5

    That makes a lot of sense. It’s good to hear you didn’t have to invest too much upfront either — that definitely eases some of my anxiety around the financial side.

  • in reply to Leona26

    You’re welcome and happy to help. No I didn’t really invest too much but built things up slowly over time, I never even considered a grant but may have been worthwhile looking into. I think going all in right from the beginning would have overwhelmed me and potentially put me off so starting small was the right thing to do for me.