Exploring the determinants of business sector choice among entrepreneurs with disabilities

Our research aims to advance scientific understanding of entrepreneurship among people with disabilities, with a particular focus on their choice of business sector. This qualitative study, which involves interviewing 20 entrepreneurs with motor or sensory disabilities, addresses this question through two primary objectives. First, it seeks to understand the factors influencing the choice of business sector among entrepreneurs with disabilities. This line of inquiry is essential for effectively fostering entrepreneurship among people with disabilities and supporting sustainable businesses. A deeper understanding might improve the working conditions of entrepreneurs with disabilities and contribute to the success of their ventures. Second, this research is dedicated to raising the visibility of entrepreneurs with disabilities within academic, political, and economic spheres. It aims to enhance awareness among policymakers, scholars, practitioners, and the general public about the capacity of people with disabilities to be entrepreneurs, ultimately fostering broader societal acceptance of people with disabilities, particularly as entrepreneurs, and helping to reduce any professional discrimination that they may encounter. Our main contribution unveils the multi-faceted determinants of business sector choice by entrepreneurs with disabilities, reflecting not just coping mechanisms of necessity entrepreneurship, but deliberate positioning and opportunity seizing within broader economic and social contexts.