In the UK alone, 14.1 million people suffer from some form of disability. To break that down in more detail - 8% of children, 19% of working age adults and 46% of pension age adults are disabled.
Those are quite incredible numbers when you think about it – over a fifth of the UK’s population have some form of impediment to consider on a daily basis. As such, it’s no surprise that the industry around disability support, and more specifically disability transportation, is a massive one - and with the “purple pound” currently worth £274 billion to UK businesses annually, there are plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs to find success in relevant markets.
Of course, if you’re new to the world of disability transport, knowing where to start with a business is essential, and your business plan should be carefully thought through, legally considered, well equipped and conscientious of your potential customers.
With that in mind, here are four key starting points in building a disability transportation business.
Find Your Location
Location, location, location – an important concept for any business, and no different for a transport enterprise.
To offer a successful, useful disability support service, you need to be suitably placed in an area where you’re needed. Despite having just over 20% of the UK as your target demographic, setting up in an area with lower healthcare demand or somewhere that’s already well resourced in transport terms will kill your business before it’s even got off the ground.
Choosing the right location is all about research. You’ll want to focus on areas with a high proportion of healthcare facilities in the area. Speak to those facilities, find out about the sort of transport assistance they need, and use your data to find the correct base for your business.
Get To Grips With Licencing And Legalities
With any transport business comes a plethora of licencing and legal requirements, and those requirements hold even more importance when working with disabled customers. One of your first ports of call as a business will be to understand the legal, licencing and insurance requirements facing your organisation, not to mention understanding the rights of disabled passengers who plan to travel with you.
Get The Right Equipment
Unsurprisingly, a disability transport business comes with a number of specialist equipment requirements. These items will represent a significant investment straight off the bat for your business, and one that you’ll need to be sure you can finance efficiently.
Key equipment areas for your business will include:
• Wheelchair lifts
• Wheelchair ramps
• Disability training for staff
• More general office and business supplies
Act With Compassion
Building up the rest of your business comes down to a lot of general areas: determining pricing, putting together short- and long-term schedules and looking at marketing strategies. A key requirement beyond those, however, is the need for compassion in what is an industry tailored to helping people.
Of course, every business should encourage compassion and decency between itself and customers, but when you’re running a business that is made to help people overcome significant daily hardships, it’s essential that you have the patience, empathy and appropriate level of respect for your target demographic.
Do that, and not only will you have a successful business with returning customers, but you’ll also have a sense of reward and achievement for offering a service that truly offers value to people in need, which is a welcome addition alongside any business return.
