To their dismay they found that peasants were actually digging up the bones and smashing them into pieces to get the most profit from them, severely diminishing their scientific value. This incident has become a classic case study on perverse incentives, a phenomenon that has far-reaching consequences in all social interactions, including business.

You don’t need to be a psychologist to know that when anyone does something, there is usually a reason behind it, especially when it comes to sales and management. As entrepreneurs and managers, we try to figure out what incentives we’ll need to give customers and employees to get results we actually want. Problem is, we can’t always predict how people will react.

Missing The Bigger Picture

We’re always looking for ways to improve the performance of every aspect of our business, and for that we turn to metrics and quantifiable data as a way to measure performance. However, there are plenty of limitations to purely metrics-based assessments.  Data won’t always tell you the whole picture, as we discussed in a post we did for VentureBeat.

If you base decisions purely on metrics you’d come to think of as “good”, then you might be working towards results that won’t be of use to anyone – worse still if you reward efforts aimed at getting those results.

In the former USSR, managers and employees of glass plants were at one point given incentives based on tons of sheet glass produced per period. Naturally, almost all these plants produced sheet glass so thick you could barely see through them. Funnier still was what happened next – the incentives were changed so managers were rewarded by the square meter. Predictably, factories produced glass so thin the sheets couldn’t be used for anything.

If you think that couldn’t happen, think again. In our case, we’ve struggled to come up with definitive metrics on the UPrinting site and blog network.

Ask your social media team to focus on getting bigger jumps traffic, and you might be getting that traffic at the expense of actual conversions. Focus too much on acquiring new customers, and you might be alienating old customers who would have provided more value over their lifetimes. Focus too much on increasing times on site and you might find you’re producing  overly-lengthy types of content that isn’t actually useful to most visitors.

Here’s a more familiar example. Say you have multiple employees given the same task and the same amount of time to complete it. Let’s say someone finishes well ahead of time – and you immediately reward them with a bunch of other stuff to do. If this becomes a pattern, it’s very likely you’ll see that employee’s productivity taper off to closely match their coworkers.

Fixating on just individual metrics – be they dinosaur bone fragments, sales, site traffic, or whatever – without looking at the big picture and understanding how people will react, is a great way to get nowhere fast.

Self-interest 

While there are numerous examples of altruism out there, your customers and employees will always be mostly acting out of self-interest. Customers and clients want to get something out of you. And while esprit de corps still counts for a lot, employees generally want to get paid. And just imagine how many people would get murdered or robbed if it weren’t illegal.

You’ve probably tried to game “the system” at some point in your life. For example, customers and a few unethical employees share exclusive coupon codes with people they aren’t intended for all the time, negatively impacting profit margins – even ruining some smaller companies.  We fully expect this and still give out coupons – in a controlled manner -because we’ve taken this into account in as much as we know how.

Just Following Orders

Maybe you want your employees to take the initiative and tell you if something’s up. But as the Milgram and Asch Conformity experiments tell us, the leadership still sets the tempo for whatever actions take place. As soon as someone takes else takes responsibility for your actions, you’re less likely to question anything and be more focused at the tasks at hand.

The diffusion of responsibility in business likely deserves its own post, but to sum it up, people in large groups will always tend to act differently from how individuals would alone, because no one will feel personally responsible for anything. This makes it much easier for unintended consequences to come about. No one thinks it’s their problem.

In the events leading up to the Subprime Mortgage Crisis of 2008, lending practices had deteriorated to the point that loans were being given out on the basis of nothing more than a credit score.

It would be hard to blame mortgage sales agents for anything that happened, but at the same time, it defies belief that they all didn’t think anything was at all screwy with what was happening even as they did what they did.

The same thing can even be argued about the victims of the crisis. It’s also doubtful that everyone who instigated the policies that caused this serious economic collapse would have willfully robbed someone at gunpoint, even though what they did had a likely worse effect on millions of families.

The sheer scale of the multitude of policies that created several perverse incentives at each and every single step of the Subprime Crisis. In any case, we could only say this thanks to the benefit of hindsight, and this might be rather dramatic compared to what can happen to your small business.

But these things do happen, and while we might think it’s all because of malice or some greater evil at work, it may very well mostly a function of sociology and group dynamics gone out of control.

What can be done?

While you can’t always predict what people will do,  Here are a couple of things you might want to try:

• Empathize! Familiarize yourself with the kind of work your employees or team members do. Doesn’t have to be in-depth, but you have to understand what the work involves not just professionally, but on a personal and mental level as well. Also detach yourself emotionally from your business and try to see how customers see you.
• Keep teams small. Smaller, more intimate teams are more likely to take responsibility for their own actions
• Create a culture of openness and curiosity. Easier said than done, but try to have an atmosphere where you are respected, not feared to encourage employees to give their honest feedback.
• Trust people, but prepare for the worst. Be realistic about what kinds of weaknesses your employees and customers give in to, but try to be discreet about it. Showing you don’t trust anyone is good way to turn off everyone that matters.

Additional Reading

The Business Judgment Rule and the Trans Union Case

Perverse Incentives of the No Child Left behind Act, The; Ryan, James E.

Self–Interest and Business Ethics: Some Lessons of the Recent Corporate Scandals

Perverse incentives drive the money tribe

Good intentions perverse incentives

Billable Hours and Perverse Incentives

James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, et al; Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity ISBN-10: 031233818X

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Dilbert by Scott Adams – Call Center, February 18, 2001, United Features Syndicate

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The way that you shop, for your home and for your business, will likely be very different in five years than it is today.

Are you old enough to remember the days before the ubiquitous nutrition label was required on food products in the U.S.? They were added in 1990, and before then, consumers were widely left in the dark. At least today, if we’re buying sugar cereal packed with high fructose corn syrup, we’re doing it with full knowledge of what we’re putting into our bodies.

Imagine if a similar system were in place for an item’s sustainability? Of course, today we already have ‘Fair Trade’ labels, ‘USDA Certified Organic’ labels, LEED certification for buildings, and an array of other sustainable product identifiers, but none of these are significant or widespread enough to change the buying habits of the masses.

With their new Sustainability Index, Walmart may help to change that. Now, any system put in place by the world’s largest retail company will obviously be implemented because it benefits their bottom line.

But when ideas like ‘buying sustainably’ become popular enough that a company like Walmart — with plenty of controversial business decisions in their history — will embrace it, that’s when a concept becomes truly mainstream.

For a small business owner, that means it’ll be easier (and more affordable) than ever to purchase the most eco-friendly paper, computers, furniture and supplies. That, in turn, gives you a new aspect of your business to both take pride in and market with confidence to your clients, customers and employers.

How the Index Works

The end goal of Walmart’s Sustainability Index program is to place a score on each product in their stores, alerting consumers to the environmental impact of any purchase.

Walmart’s plan for determining that score is a multistep process:

• Survey suppliers to collect data on how their products are made, focusing on four areas:
• Natural resources
• Material efficiency
• Energy and climate
• People and community

• Compile the information gathered with The Sustainability Consortium (a global organization dedicated to balancing the demands of businesses with the environment) to establish baselines across different industries and types of products — a task ongoing since 2009 (http://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/.)

• Implement this data and their associated scores onto product labels, allowing consumers more transparency in their shopping purchases.

What This Means For You While Working at Home

Walmart claims to have broken their index into six product categories and to have begun work with suppliers to encourage them to improve their sustainability (and thus, their products’ score). Conveying this information to consumers is still something they “one day” plan to do, but no timelines have been revealed.

As suppliers compete, however, products at every sort of retailer will become more sustainable. Just as Walmart will create demand within their inventory for products with the highest score, other retailers will strive to match or outcompete the biggest rivals’ perceived sustainability.

This healthy competition will have multiple benefits for any work at home business:

• Lower overhead cost for sustainable productsIf you want to buy earth-friendly products today, there’s an extra premium added to the cost. For small business owners or the self-employed, buying your own computers, printers, furniture, office supplies, cleaning supplies (and coffee!) can add up quickly.With the core suppliers competing to reduce energy consumption and minimize waste, the overall cost of sustainable products will be driven down, allowing you to shrink your footprint without increasing your budget.

Attract New Customers -Market Your Sustainability Honestly

If you are making an effort as an individual or small business to live as eco-friendly a life as possible, that’s worth highlighting on your website, blog and marketing emails. Include a line about your efforts in your email signature or on your business card. Be prepared to explain the real steps you are taking to green your home office and business, and customers who care about environmental impact will be drawn to you.

Reduce Your Own Costs

Do you already stand out as a green business in your field? As others catch up with you, you’ll be able to lower your prices to stay competitive, while remaining ‘the pioneer’ in your field for your area. Bottom line: Start greening your business practices now!

The ‘Feel Good’ Factor

All the other benefits aside, isn’t treating the Earth like the fragile and finite resource that it is simply the right thing to do? And if you have children, becoming more sustainable at your home office will have an impact on the entire house and their perspective as they mature.

Again, Walmart’s efforts to form their Sustainability Index should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt — it’s a fair assumption that they’re not going to rush out a new system if they thought it wouldn’t make them money. But the long-term impacts of such a program on nearly every sort of product we purchase or consume cannot be ignored.

Keep a vigilant eye out for ‘greenwashing’ (the all-too-common practice of making something look eco-friendly that actually isn’t), while also preparing yourself for heightened consumer demand for companies that make sustainability a noticeable priority.

Additional Reading

Sustainability Consortium

Walmart Sustainability Index

The Case For Corporate Social Responsibility In Small Business

Smallbusiness.uprinting.com/scrubbish/

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Some rich people inherit their wealth; others earn it from nothing. However, there is one thing that is abundantly clear: Rich people think much differently from the average person.

Financial freedom is a mindset as much as it is a monetary goal. A person with an income of $50,000 per year can be financially free just as easily as a person with $10 million in the bank can be in debt and enslaved to the whims of others. Although a sufficient amount of money must be earned at some point, it is not solely the amount of money that creates financial freedom.

The Financially Free Mindset

Financially free individuals are not afraid to ask for help in their financial lives. If a wealthy person gets into debt over his head, he will call credit repair services. The average person believes quite wrongly that simply making the phone call will somehow destroy a long term credit score.

Financially free individuals live frugally. The people that are trying to keep up with the Joneses with a new, leased vehicle every year and all the latest gadgets are most likely not financially free. Most millionaires drive used cars, live in middle class neighborhoods and dress normally. However, they work less than the average person and are happier overall.

Financially free people know that money flows. They do not try to hold onto money necessarily; they are more concerned with placing themselves in the flow of money that is moving. They simply grab what they need and move on. For instance, the buy and hold strategy in the stock market is exactly what bankrupted many pension funds during the housing and banking crises of the 1990s and 2008.

Who Is Financially Free?

In the meantime, investors who “jumped ship” like Mark Cuban are now reaping the benefits of their money flow mindset. While there is something to be said for sticking it out, you also have to know when to cash your chips in. Being greedy is the least accurate route to financial freedom.

Individuals who are financially free never stop learning about finance. Many people believe that giving money to a manager and trusting them to grow the funds is the smart way to build wealth.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Portfolios today should be personally managed by the individual who is looking to grow the funds. The Internet provides resources previously available only to the elite of the financial world; it is best to learn what is available and use it.

Additional Reading:

Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules For Start-ups

Frugal Living at About.com

Rich People are Mean; But Does it Pay To Be Nice? -Forbes.com

Research Shows Rich People Aren’t Entirely Awful and Selfish - Popsci.com

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Luckily, employers are starting to realize that by automating many of their business processes, they can also alleviate employee time constraints and frustrations – generating a win-win for the working folk and C-suite execs alike.

According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), a startling 82% of workers report that they experience at least a little stress at work and nearly half of all respondents say that workplace stress interferes with their personal life.

What is especially alarming about such data is that numerous studies have linked increased levels of job stress to increased health risks, including heart attack, hypertension and other disorders.

For employers, employee stress is clearly associated with increased costs, both from absences – roughly 1 million people a day miss work because of stress – and from error remediation when stressed out employees fail to perform adequately.

As a means for alleviating problems faced by employers and employees from workplace stress, many organizations are turning to business process automation, or what is commonly referred to as simply “BPA.”

An Intro to BPA

In the simplest of terms, BPA streamlines tasks that were formerly facilitated by humans by requiring technology to take over.  In turn, employees are able to focus their energy and talents on more meaningful aspects of their job and simultaneously relieve issues related to being overextended.

For instance, while years ago customer service representatives had to go through many, often time-consuming steps to get the customers the assistance they needed, now they can simply work from a comprehensive database that will automatically walk them through their dilemma.

Similarly, medical staffs are no longer required to manually submit patient files or approval records to other off-site facilities when collaborating on patient care. Instead, such routine actions can be automated down to a single click.

By relying on electronic document management and automating business processes, employees are freed of having to engage mindless, time-consuming tasks (like rifling through storage boxes in the basement) under tight deadlines.

This allows the inter-industry challenge of having to do more with less to be less daunting. After all, AIS reports that half of all Americans feel that their demands have increased year over year, and 48% experience stress due to unreasonable deadlines or tasks.

By offering employees a technology-supported alternative to constricting agendas and unreasonable deadlines, organizations can intentionally streamline their business processes to improve productivity and reduce workplace stress.

In turn, by reducing the amount of tension employees feel from work-related activities and circumstances, employees are more apt to show up and put their best foot forward.

Questions? Insights? Just head over to the comment section below. We’d love to hear from you!

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You may have heard of the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman; if you have not, the basic premise is that there are five love languages that exist and each individual prefers one of them to show love and through which to be shown that he or she is loved.

Interestingly enough, these five languages don’t only apply to romantic relationships; they have practical applications that can be used to improve communication between employees and employers as well.

Five Emotional Needs

According to Chapman, there are five emotional needs that people require, and each person will prefer one of them above all others when it comes to communication.

The Words of Affirmation need describes people who feel loved best by hearing it spoken aloud.

The Quality Time need applies to people who value spending time with others over all other needs.

Receiving Gifts is a need that fits people who most appreciate seeing concrete evidence of love and validation.

Acts of Service describes the need for people who show and are shown value through doing tasks or favors for others.

Last, Physical Touch applies to people who most appreciate small physical gestures, such as a pat on the back, or holding hands.

These basic needs compose the five languages of love. Maybe you recognize which one you are, and maybe you see which one your spouse is most like as well. Either way, these needs are important because they don’t just apply to your personal life.

Not Just for Lovers

Chapman’s five languages don’t have to stay in the romantic realm; they can be modified slightly too perfectly encompass employees and colleagues, and becoming fluent in all of them will help you better understand your coworkers and communicate with them.

In addition, knowing how they communicate makes it easier to show them that they are appreciated, which keeps office morale high. In a work environment today, employees are highly concerned with the culture that comes along with the workplace, not just with earning a paycheck. The more you can do to facilitate this, the more everyone will enjoy coming to work.

Modified for the Workplace

With that said, let’s take a look at the modified love languages. Physical Touch is not considered appropriate workplace behavior, so we can save that one for home. Words of Affirmation works best when you recognize an employee’s contributions and share words of appreciation both publicly and privately.

Quality Time involves really getting to know employees, spending time asking for their opinions and ideas, and letting them play a bigger role in giving feedback. Receiving Gifts is another great way to show appreciation to employees; a gift certificate or bottle of wine is a generous token of their value. Last, Acts of Service can help employees when they are sick and you offer to cover for them or giving extra time off after great performance on a big project.

While it might not be possible to perfectly discern which language each employee speaks, you can help all of your officemates become fluent in all of the languages. This will result in improved communication and a sense of satisfaction between everybody.

It’s important to feel appreciated, and it’s even more important to show others that you appreciate them. Incorporating these languages into the culture of your office will help strengthen your productivity and, more importantly, the bond between employees.

Additional Reading:

•  Gary Chapman (1995). The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. Northfield Publishing. ISBN 1881273156.
• Michael Olpin; Margie Hesson (2009). Stress Management for Life (2 ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 205. ISBN 0324599439.
• David Rainey (2008). Faith Reads: A Selective Guide to Christian Nonfiction. ABC-CLIO. p. 125. ISBN 1591588472.

•  Marybeth Whalen; Curt Whalen (2009). Learning to Live Financially Free: Hard-Earned Wisdom for Saving Your Marriage & Your Money. Kregel Publications. p. 37. ISBN 0825496470.

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Factor in office politics and the balancing act of working with many different personality types and you’ve got one stressful, emotionally loaded atmosphere. This is particularly troublesome if you’re in charge—you’re the one who is supposed to be setting an example, and if you react inappropriately to something your job could be on the line.

Here are some tips on how to keep your emotions in check when you’re managing others.

4.) Take Care Of Yourself

One of the most important ways to manage your emotions at work is taking care of yourself outside of your job. Regular exercise will help you feel good and sleep better, and eating right will ensure you have enough energy to get through the workday. Getting enough sleep is absolutely essential—a tired person is a grumpy person, and a grumpy person is a much more likely to get overwhelmed by their emotions at work.

Image Source: DisabilityScoop

You also need to make time to do the things that are important to you, whether it’s hanging out with family, activities with friends, or going on trips. Doing things you love will help you feel balanced and remind you why you work so hard in the first place. If you take care of yourself at home, you’ll be able to take care of everybody else at work.

3.) Don’t Bring Stress To Work

If you have stressful stuff going on at home, such as a divorce or money problems, it can impact your job in a hugely negative way. You might find yourself exploding at an employee who says something borderline disrespectful when a simple, unemotional reprimand would have sufficed, or maybe you’ll start crying when you get a minor criticism from a superior.

These could be signs that you’re bringing your home issues to work, which can render you volatile and overly emotional when you’re normally levelheaded and calm. No matter what you have going on at home, you need to learn to create mental boundaries between the spheres of work and home.

If you’re unable to do this, it might be time to look into taking a leave of absence until you can resolve your home issues and return to work fully focused. A mental health professional can also help you learn to cope.

2.) Identify Your Feelings

When you start to feel that overwhelming sensation of being consumed by your emotions, try to step outside the situation and check in with yourself about what you’re actually feeling. Is it anger, sadness, frustration, or sheer annoyance? Once you determine what you’re feeling, deconstruct why you’re feeling it.

Was it really Bob’s passive aggressive remark that sent you into a tailspin of self-doubt, or are your feelings caused by a deeper sense of feeling underappreciated in the office? What can you do to tackle these deeper issues so that small remarks don’t cause you to lose it in the future? As previously mentioned, your emotions could be coming from outside the office, too. If you’re struggling at home or consistently under-sleeping, you might be reacting to things at work in a much stronger way than you would otherwise.

Keeping a journal can be helpful in tracking, identifying, and addressing your workplace feelings. Deep breathing exercises and meditation can help you manage your anxiety and keep calm in the face of even the most stressful work situations.

1.) Nip Problems In The Bud

Image Source: Wordmall

Sometimes, regardless of how calm and collected you may be, a massive headache of a problem will rear its ugly head in the office place, one that’s so stressful you find yourself barely able to function. So much of the time, however, these big problems start out as small ones, and only grow to epic proportions because they’re allowed to.

In this case, the best treatment is prevention. If you notice minor issues, address them before they grow out of control; for example, if an employee is gossiping too much and spreading around hurtful information, talk to them before they have a chance to make the office a poisonous, negative environment.

It might not be comfortable, and you may worry you’re overreacting to something that’s not a big deal, but keeping these situations in check will help you keep your emotions under control in the long run.

If you find yourself chronically unhappy in the workplace despite your best efforts, it might be time for a career change. Though the economy is somewhat sluggish, there are fields that are hiring right now, meaning switching jobs is not out of the question. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the health care field is growing particularly fast right now and many programs, such as medical billing, personal training or pharmacy technicians are fast and flexible.

Whatever you decide to do, just remember to stay positive and balanced!

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Knowing success and failure rates within particular types of businesses isn’t totally pointless though. It’s all about taking calculated risks and knowing whether or not you possess advantages the other players don’t.

Our friends at Staff.com provided us with this handy infographic on startup business failure rates based on data from IBISWorld, Inc.com, and Small Business Trends.

Independent restaurants, brick-and-mortar retail stores, and direct sales are the riskiest ventures in the infographic- to no one’s real surprise. What might be more surprising is that consultancy and business services also rank among the riskiest. If you feel like you have a passion that involves these industries, you might feel discouraged from even getting started.

On the other hand, there’s no data presented for subtypes of businesses within these general categories. For all we know, it might be a great time to put your money in a Scandinavian restaurant and a similarly bad time to start a Taqueria.

The figures can be entirely accurate, yet still fail to point out the true story behind the risks of starting specific businesses. Like we pointed out earlier, figures don’t tell the whole story. Some areas are easier or more worthwhile to penetrate than others. Also, some might disagree with the way data was gathered with the cited studies or find overlooked opportunities.

Founding and investing in a new venture will always carry some risks, and data can only help you up to a certain point. In the end, it all comes down to how thoroughly you do your research,  mitigating and choosing risks, and having the strength of will to see things through.

Additional sources:

United States Census Bureau – Statistics of U.S. Businesses

Dun and Bradstreet - Outlook on Small Business Failure and Recovery

10 Common Causes of Business Failurere

UPrinting is not affiliated with any of the companies or sources mentioned in the article.

The Art of Small Business is part of UPrinting.com. UPrinting.com offers a wide variety of print products all easily customizable down to the quarter-inch with a unique, industry-acclaimed design tool. Get instant quotes with our one-of-a-kind online calculator. All orders are manually proofed by living, breathing, human beings (remarkable really)! Order your FREE stock sample kit today!  

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Now compare this with precipitous drop in the Median US household income according to data from the US Census Bureau. Figures for 2012 have not been published and the graph data only covers up until the end of 2011. Bloomberg surveys have suggest incomes have continued to fall since this period.

Despite the drop in real incomes, Americans as a whole are actually spending more. Reasons for this range from easy access to credit, as well as a psychological tendency for people to overspend once financial storms seem to have passed. Several studies have indicated that people tend to spend more freely if they have been have been feeling deprived. People are also more likely to overspend on credit, and if they have not actually held onto money in the form of savings.

Whatever the actual cause for increased spending despite diminishing real incomes, this presents a lot of  serious opportunities for small businesses that target the consumer market. Knowing what people are actually spending their money can help you plan business concepts and strategies, as well as help entrepreneurs identify areas of their own personal budgets to cut back on. 

CreditLoan created this interesting infographic that outlines what Americans spend their money – and credit- on.

What Americans Are Spending On:

Suffice to say, falling median incomes and rising debts do not necessarily mean that it’s a bad time to start a business. Of course, this infographic does not really tell the whole picture. For instance, the cost of clothing has dropped significantly in the past few generations thanks to both mass production and outsourced labor. Food has similarly become cheaper thanks to technology and better distribution.

In 1900, both food and apparel comprised around half of a household’s expenditures, with food almost tied with housing. By 2003, housing costs grew to a third of  average household expenses and food and apparel together wasn’t even a fifth. People also ate out a lot less, didn’t have much technology to spend their incomes on, and had fewer opportunities to travel. Knowing what a family chooses to spend things on won’t tell you everything about the economic conditions and developments that lead it to be that way.

Another thing to consider is that with credit so easily available, and with consumers so willing to spend, it may very well be the right time to start a business if you’re willing to take the risk.

UPrinting is not affiliated with any of the companies or sources mentioned in the article.

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The real reason might surprise you. Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish entrepreneur and IKEA founder is dyslexic. Kamprad’s dyslexia made it extremely difficult for him to keep track of alphanumeric codes for his extremely wide product range. The reason for what some might figure to be an oddly charming but inefficient naming system was in fact a way for Ingvar to cope with a crippling learning disability.

Learning disabilities (LD’s) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, dyscalcula, and many others obviously have huge-mostly negative-  implications for one’s ability to process information. This leads to significant roadblocks not only in school, where most of these conditions first starting affecting lives, but in business as well.

Who Has Them?

Entrepreneurs with learning disabilities are very commonplace, as we’ll discuss later. While there are way too many learning disabilities to discuss in just a single post, the main problems entrepreneurs and managers with learning disabilities often encounter are often one or more of the following:

• Inability to concentrate
• Short-term memory problems
• Inability to make decisions
• Difficulty with reading comprehension or math skills
• Trouble with open-ended test questions and word problems
• Dislikes reading and writing; avoids reading aloud
• Spelling the same word differently in a single document
• Poor organizational skills
• Trouble following discussions and expressing thoughts aloud
• Poor handwriting

LD’s are fairly commonplace. One in seven Americans have some form of learning disability. Much more than the percentage of Southpaws. Learning disabilities tend to be spectral – most people with them can function in normal society without ever realizing they had one. However for many entrepreneurs, they can be serious enough to lead to major difficulties.

Technology Offers Solutions

Luckily more than ever, there are plenty of solutions which can work for almost anyone with learning disabilities. Many of these solutions often take buggy short-term memory out of the equation.  ”None_shall_pass”, a contributor to Reddit’s r/entrepreneur community explains “I don’t bother remembering anything for short-term. If it’s not in my calendar (on phone) or email (on phone) it doesn’t exist. I tell everybody right up front.

The phone’s calendar is set to do reminders at a appropriate times before meetings, bills are due…. I do software development and support, and keep all the software tasks in Bugzilla.

I have most bills set to auto-pay out of my checking account. When visa comes in, I pop it into Quickbooks, add the payment to the bank and forget about it. Same thing for real estate taxes, etc.

Aside from anything else, it keeps my head clear. I never have to try to think if I’m forgetting something. My phone will tell me when it’s time. I figure that any one-time tasks I can get out of my head frees up “clear thinking” for stuff that actually makes me money.”

It doesn’t have to be high-tech either. Managers and entrepreneurs with learning disabilities may opt for decidedly low-tech whiteboards, Post-its, and notepads- which offer some of the same benefits. However, it takes a lot of effort and discipline to keep adhering to any method, especially if using them goes against the very nature of your LD. Which brings us to the next point:

Keeping a Support Network

Another important thing for entrepreneurs with learning disabilities to have is a support network of people who understand their particular condition.  Not only is it a much less lonely path to take, you’re able to have someone to nudge you in the right direction when you’re going off track. If your condition is a secret or is misunderstood, you might still get the nudging you need, but the overall delivery might be much more negative.

Someone who understands how you are will be in a better position not only to keep you grounded, but to also complement and compensate for your own abilities. We can’t be everything to everyone, and that’s OK.

Take Pride in Your Uniqueness

We just mentioned that one-in-seven Americans has a learning disability, so you might not be too unique anyhow. There is absolutely nothing wrong with scoring  how do in the genetic lottery. Learning disabilities are not your fault.

Some LD’s, such as Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD for example, offer some unique advantages. For example, adults with ADHD are 300% more likely to become entrepreneurs- thanks in part to the restlessness it imparts.

People with Asperger’s are likelier to have better focus at certain areas, especially technical fields. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for instance, is widely reported to have Asperger’s, as is a huge percentage of workers at tech hubs such as Silicon Valley.

Taking pride in what makes you different will also, if nothing else, make you more confident -which is essential for making any decsion.

Famous Examples of Entreps with Learning Disabilities

Cath Kidston, designer and businesswoman -Dyslexia
Richard Branson, entrepreneur- Dyslexia
Steven Spielberg, film director, founder of DreamWorks- Dyslexia
Michael Burry, US investment fund manager – Aspergers
Bram Cohen – BitTorrent Founder – Aspergers

For ADHD, there’re way too many to mention. Among the more famous:

Richard Branson
Andrew Carnegie
Malcolm Forbes – Forbes Magazine
Henry Ford
Bill Gates
William Randolph Hearst
Paul Orfalea (Kinkos)
Charles Schwab
Ted Turner
F.W. Woolworth

Entrepreneurs with learning disabilities face an uphill battle. LD’s often lead to problems with social interaction and organization- things absolutely essential for any entrepreneur or small business manager. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. With a realistic and mature attitude to towards LDs, they may not be disabilities at all, but rather the things that allow you to be the best at what you do.

For additional information: National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD)

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