Sarah Jane Smith
As someone with a chronic illness, I am well aware of how hard it can be to find suitable employment that can fit in with the demands of my disease. I’m a multi business owner from Brisbane, Australia with chronic rheumatoid arthritis (among other things). I run a commercial cleaning business (with my husband) and a digital art practice. Additionally, I have recently started the Housebound Business Community to help Housebound Entrepreneurs with chronic diseases and disabilities build and grow their businesses.
When I first started getting really sick, I experienced a hard time dealing with the impact it was having on my life. I was frustrated at my ever growing list of “can’ts” – can’t walk too far, can’t hold a paint brush, too fatigued to go out, blah, blah, blah. I realised that I had better find a way to mentally adapt or I was going to stay miserable. I was lucky to still be able to do some work and I came to see that despite the physical limitations my disease puts on me, it also gives me so many things that make me a great entrepreneur and I think that they are traits many people with disabilities and chronic conditions share.
First, it gives me resilience. I may have the best laid plans as to what I will accomplish in any given day, but when I wake up my body has very different ideas. This happened yesterday. I’d been having a few bad pain days (and nights) and despite trying to rest for the weekend so I’d be ready to start work on Monday, I was still not fit enough to report for duty. There was a time when this would have sent me off into the usual recriminations that I was falling behind, not achieving anything etc., etc. You know that nagging little voice we have! But these days I’m much kinder to myself and I treat those days as necessary to keep the wheels turning. Taking care of myself is also important to the progress of my business. So I managed to make a list of everything I’d like to do this week, scheduled in some calls I said I’d make to other days, did a little business reading and went back to bed. Today, I’m much better and able to make my schedule and I don’t feel guilty at all. Having a resilient outlook means I can adapt and pivot to what I can achieve rather than focusing on what I can’t achieve. Our business benefits from this adaptability as tasks are still achieved regardless of how I am feeling.
I have also been given the gifts of innovation and improvisation. I can’t always get things done in the traditional way. I try to batch most of my social media posts and schedule them so that I have one less thing to organise. I have had most apps and programs required to run my business added to my iPad. This allows me to work from bed when necessary. I even do live broadcasts for my social media platforms for my group from my bed. For my digital art practice, I keep a small stack of mounts for my work already made up as well as postage and packaging supplies. I can make up an order in the middle of the night and arrange for someone else to do the mailing. Dealing with constant health issues means I have learnt to be incredibly creative and improvise as I go to ensure I can fulfill orders and don’t let anyone down.
Most people with physical limitations are incredibly resourceful and great planners because they have to be. I need to carefully decide what is not essential to running my business and schedule the things that do matter early in the week. Careful prioritisation means the urgent and important tasks (for instance payroll and tax) get done and other would-be-nice-to-achieve tasks (such as forward planning or strategy updates) get left until I feel more able to tackle them. I am pretty handy at researching problems and solutions with the internet. If I need supplies, I need to plan well ahead and make sure that I keep stock of essential stuff or I need to enlist help for errands.
I have learned to be stubborn and tenacious. If I decide I will do something it is probably best not to try and stop me and get out of my way. It took me three days to take the Christmas decorations down and another two days to get them put away, but I had a plan to do it so that it wouldn’t interfere with my work. “Spoonies” will understand what I mean. I can accept that I may not be able to attend all of the opening nights of my fellow artists, but I can still support them online and share their work and wish them well. I find non-traditional ways of achieving the same outcomes.
I have also needed to be my own advocate in regards to my needs and my health – another great trait for an entrepreneur.
Other great things that my disease has given me are a lot more optimism and a sense of gratitude. Even those without a chronic illness would benefit from a more optimistic outlook on life and a deliberate sense of gratitude. Not every day is a good day when you have health issues, but the belief that not all days will be bad is one of the things that sustains me. Paying attention to all that is good in my world helps keep me focused on the positives that fill my world. Right now I am typing on my iPad on the couch with my dog sleeping on his back with all four paws in the air. There’s a light breeze blowing and someone is mowing their grass and I can smell that freshly mown smell. All things to smile about! I consciously focus on the things I am grateful for, which in turn enhances my sense of optimism for tomorrow.
While we did already have the cleaning business when I got sick, my role used to include physical cleaning tasks for our staff on annual or sick leave. That has had to come to an end, but I can still handle all of the administration tasks including payroll, accounting, typing, and running our social media. I was planning my world domination of the crochet and art world when I got really sick and couldn’t hold a brush or a crochet hook anymore. And then I discovered digital art. If my fine motor skills are not very good on a particular day, I can enlarge anything I’m working on my iPad and do short bursts of work, saving as I go. I don’t have to worry about paint drying out before I can finish, or that my hands are too sore to hold the brush. As a digital artist I have had more success than I ever did as a traditional paint artist. My work sells in a local gallery and online and can now be found on four continents. I consider this a gift of my illness, as I probably would not have moved from paint to digital otherwise.
I’ve been self employed for over 22 years so I’ve been through many of the ups and downs that small business owners go through. As someone with a chronic illness, I’ve had to learn to adapt to continue to run my businesses, but it’s becoming increasingly easy with technological advances and the increase in online shopping. While many people around the world suffered during lockdowns due to the continued pandemic, for most housebound people (including entrepreneurs) it was just business as usual. When issues about supply and postage arose, disabled and chronic entrepreneurs were uniquely suited to either pivot their businesses or their business offerings because of all the reasons I discussed. When international orders screeched to a halt and overseas visitors to the gallery that sells my work dried up, I moved towards images targeted to the local market. I removed international postage from my online store and again highlighted images for local buyers. Improvements in accounting software and integrations with taxation and government departments, as well as an ever expanding online shopping and information system, make it easier than ever to run a business from home. I encourage you to participate in online communities to stay current with emerging technologies that make life easier everyday.
It is hard enough for most people to leap the hurdles to start a new business – I don’t know enough, I’ve never run a business before, I don’t know enough tech, etc. But people with chronic issues and disabilities also have to worry about “I’m not well enough,” “I don’t have the connections or networks,” “I don’t have the energy,” “I can’t fit it around my medical or therapy appointments,” etc. – all of these things can be overcome. I run two businesses plus the Housebound Community and I work part time hours. That currently includes doing social media for all three. You just have to be able to work around the many limitations your condition causes. You can learn how to do this with some persistence and some kindness to yourself.
The wonderful thing about running my own business is that I can tailor it to suit my health. I can work from bed or the couch or even while waiting for a medical appointment. I can sleep in the day if I need to and work during the night. I can schedule meetings and phone calls to suit my needs. I don’t need to work full time to run a business, or even more than one business so it gives me plenty of flexibility. It keeps me engaged and excited about life even when I’m having a bad day physically. It provides me with financial security and independence. Business can be a great leveler. No one cares whether you’re in a wheelchair or talking from your bed when you’re on a zoom call (but you may want to get out of your pajamas!).
One of the things that bothered me when I was looking for a community was that the perception for people working with disability was incredibly limited. I could find employment options for people with intellectual disabilities (which is great), but there was nothing for business owners or people who wanted to be business owners. I started the Housebound Business Community because I couldn’t find a group for people just like me, people who had some of the same struggles as well as the same dreams. Currently in the group we have graphic artists, publishers, virtual assistants, and craftspeople to name just a few. It also bothers me that when I try to search for stock photos for my social pages there are a few photos of people in wheelchairs, but hardly any of people working with disabilities. I want to change that! I want a flood of images of the vibrant, active disability sector at work, as leaders and as role models. Not all disabilities are physical and with somewhere near 40% of the adult population living with disabilities in some way we have a great message to share.
I can now say that I’m the happiest I have ever been. I have work that I love, a supportive family, my art sells all over the world and in local galleries, and I get to help people just like me build and grow their businesses. I’m not extraordinary. I struggle with technology. I have bad days just like anybody else. There are literally thousands of opportunities for people with disabilities and chronic health issues to run their own business, be financially independent, and help others. Many people with disabilities already have many of the qualities to make a great entrepreneur.
If you think you might like to start a business or are looking to grow your existing business, there is limitless information available for free on the internet. If you’d like to find a community of people who share your dreams and aspirations, as well as understand some of the problems you encounter as a business owner with a disability or chronic condition, then I encourage you to come and find us at the Housebound Business Community.
Imagine the World as One Magazine 