The New, Accessible Mainstreet: An Exploration of E-Commerce Disability Entrepreneurship

In recent years, disability entrepreneurship has become a topic of increasing academic interest, particularly for its potential to facilitate greater inclusion and independence of disabled individuals. However, no research has explicitly focused on disability entrepreneurship in the context of the rapidly proliferating e-commerce business model. In this paper, I explore the unique benefits and challenges of e-commerce business for disabled entrepreneurs through analysis of ten semi-structured interviews with physically disabled e-commerce entrepreneurs. I find that the e-commerce business model can make entrepreneurship more attainable for disabled individuals by mitigating accessibility challenges, financial barriers, and educational barriers which commonly affect traditional disability entrepreneurship. However, disabled entrepreneurs often have difficulty scaling their e-commerce businesses, and a lack of accessibility in the internet and computer technology may still hinder participation. Given these findings, I recommend that the government expand access to capital and educational resources for disabled entrepreneurs and subsidize assistive technology.