Helping Entrepreneurs have Social Impact and Create Global Change

Written by Debra Ruh, Featuring Rosemary Musachio

When I decided to become an entrepreneur and create my own business, it was very important to me to have positive social impact. When our daughter Sara was born with Trisomy 21 (commonly referred to as Down syndrome), I wanted to support our new community. I wanted to use my business and strategic knowledge to help become a catalyst for positive change for the community of persons with disabilities.

At the time I had worked in the banking industry for many years, working my way up to an executive. Could I take the knowledge that I learned in the banking and financial industry and apply it to my entrepreneurial journey? Instinctively, I felt that I could make a difference and join others on my team to become a catalytic force to help ensure persons with disabilities were more meaningfully included in corporations as employees, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders.

According to the World Report on Disability (2011) produced jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank – one in seven people in the world have a disability. In the United States, one in five people identify as being a person with a disability.

Globally persons with disabilities were experiencing a lack of access to education, employment, and economic opportunities.

My daughter was still in middle school in Virginia when I began my entrepreneurial journey but it was clear that many of the traditional approaches and business models were not meeting the needs. I felt deeply that it was part of my responsibility to help mobilize a diverse team to create a multi-stakeholder approach to help solve some of these complex societal challenges for the community of persons with disabilities.

It is interesting, exciting, and sometimes overwhelming being an entrepreneur. When I created my first business – TecAccess in 2000 – it often felt like I was drinking from a fire hose. I knew there were resources available but I was not sure which ones to trust. I was determined to be successful and so just jumped in the entrepreneurial waters. To say that I could not swim was an understatement. I had many successes and many failures.

After a lot of social searching, I realized that I had actually learned more from my failures than my successes in many cases. The mistakes and failures were painful and expensive but the lessons were powerful. I merged my firm TecAccess in 2011 with another firm and 18 months later created my current firm, Ruh Global Communications, in 2013.

I was determined to make my walk more deliberate this time around and take a less of a “learn by the seat of my pants” approach. I am blessed to live in the United States that encourages entrepreneurs to keep trying and learn from our mistakes. That is not always the case. Many countries discourage entrepreneurs and it is difficult for the business owner to live down mistakes and failures.

I have learned a lot about business and strategy as I have walked this entrepreneurial path. I remember thinking that when I got my sales past $1 million a year that it would be smooth sailing from that point forward. I am not sure where I got that silly idea but I was wrong. Viable businesses require sustained commitment, teamwork, management, and innovation. Entrepreneurs need to draw on diverse domains of expertise, emerging evidence about “what works,” and progressive thinking to stay viable.

The good news is that entrepreneurs do not have to do it alone. There are amazing resources available to help us out. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has tons of resources (https://www.sba.gov) but some corporations like MassMutual (www.massmutual.com) have also stepped up to the plate to help business owners.

Our chief accessibility officer, Rosemary Musachio, attended a webinar by MassMutual for small business owners on June 20, 2017. Here are her comments:

Being a business owner allows you to invest your time, money, and effort in products or services that you believe in and reap the financial benefits in return. It allows you to have independence, set your own hours, and establish your own work ethics. Having your own business also permits you to offer job opportunities to others and make a difference in the community.

Yet, reaching those goals as a business owner are not always easy. MassMutual, one of the leading insurance companies in the United States, conducted a study about business owners’ attitudes and values towards business planning. Findings were presented in a live webinar entitled “How to Overcome Top Challenges that Business Owners Face.” The findings were discussed by panelists Monica Villalobos, vice president of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Paul Sessions, director of the Center for Family Business of the University of New Haven, and Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media and founder of the Agents of Change.

Retaining employee loyalty is the top challenge of business owners. According to the panelists, keeping employees loyal involves many factors. Their values must match those of the employer. For example, if you work at a pet shop but you don’t like dogs, then chances are you’ll look for another job. Matching values can be detected in job interviews. Human resource departments can find potential employees with similar perspectives on job boards, blogs, and social media platforms like LinkedIn.

As one panelist said, employees need purpose to go to work every day besides a paycheck. Besides same values and thus a purpose, employees need to make an impact at what they do and be recognized for it. If employers don’t praise their personnel for their achievements, companies may have to invest in revolving doors for their human resource department. Many small businesses don’t even offer insurance plans, which adds to their job turnover rates.

Building trust with your employees involves constant two-way communication between them and you. The webinar panelists agree that an open dialog is vital where employers divulge the direction and the status of companies. They also should stay abreast of their wants and needs. A suggestion is to have individual monthly meetings with them or a feedback page on the company’s Intranet.

Besides loyalty, the MassMutual survey revealed other challenges that business owners may face include possible disability or death or potential decline of business value. Many business owners don’t plan for these events because they don’t have time or money. They also assume that something bad can’t happen to their companies any time soon.

According to panelist Monica Villalobos, family-owned families have an advantage since family members tend to hold similar values and look out for each other. This is especially true for Latino family-owned businesses that not only are protective of their families but also those of their customers. Ms. Villalobos referred to minority businesses caring for their communities as cultural competency. Examples of this concept include helping families in need, sponsoring minority-oriented events, and supporting minority-oriented causes. In fact, according to Ms. Villalobos, minority businesses grow three times faster than non-minority businesses (2017).

To help business owners face the challenges discussed in the MassMutual webinar, the panelists suggested such organizations as SBA’s SCORE that helps mentor business owners and Mastermind groups that let you network with other business owners. MassMutual also offers services at its Small Solutions website. Though business owners face challenges, they can overcome them by planning and with help.

It is exciting, challenging and rewarding to be your own boss. Having resources like these makes the path a little easier to travel. Tell us more about how you are making a difference in the world. Also want to join the conversation? Here are some ways to learn more about our work: www.RuhGlobal.com.

Please join our community on Facebook Group “Human Potential At Work.” We explore these topics and focus on empowering ways to fully include persons with disabilities in the workforce, as clients, and in society. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/960643464071067/?ref=bookmarks)

We are also proud to host a weekly radio/Facebook Live show, also called “Human Potential at Work.” You can listen to past episodes at http://www.ruhglobal.com/podcasthuman-potential-work/ The show is being watched in 64 countries.

I am a co-host of #AXSChat: Join Neil Milliken, Antonio Santos, and myself for a weekly Twitter Chat on disability inclusion, ICT accessibility, built environment, CRPD, empowerment, and employment. Just search the hashtag #AXSChat at 3pmEST and join the conversation. You can learn more about AXSChat at www.AXSChat.com.

Lastly, we love to engage on social media. Our handles are: @debraruh, @ruhglobal and @rosemusachio on most social media platforms.

This article was sponsored by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111-0001. www.MassMutual.com. All opinions are those of the author. CRN201908-216355