Gary Allen

It’s only at the pilot stage, but already a disability support platform co-founded by a Griffith alumnus is making a difference in the lives of its clients.

Due to launch nationally in December, Enabled.vip is an online business and entrepreneurship incubator tailored for Australians living with a disability.

Co-founder Gary Allen, a Griffith research ethicist with a national profile, says the online community supports its members to monetise a hobby or craft, or establish a small business or gig-based microbusiness.

“We want to support disabled people with a money-generating idea,” he says. “It doesn't need to be the next Google—even an enterprise that generates a few hundred dollars a month is going to make a huge difference.”

Buoyed by the success of the pilot program, Gary has put the call out for Griffith alumni to contribute to the non-profit platform as mentors or guest webinar speakers.

Allen says 10 Australians with a disability are currently engaged in the initiative’s pilot phase which, even though it offers only a cutdown suite of services, has already impacted lives and produced business wins for clients.

“We’re not offering full support, but the pilot experience has been very affirming—particularly seeing some clients starting to earn regular income,” says Gary.

“People are getting value out of it and we’re seeing plenty of interaction; it’s reinforced for me that this is a good idea.”

How Griffith alumni can get involved

The full Enabled.vip service covers general business coaching as well as advice specific to disabled entrepreneurship and includes mentoring by experienced businesspeople, webinars on key topics and professional learning courses delivered by Griffith Business School.

Allen projects that after about six months of support, clients will have made substantial progress towards setting up their enterprise.

He wants to hear from alumni with relevant experience to act as mentors, which could mean writing blog posts on the nuts and bolts of operating a business all the way to one-on-one mentoring of clients, a commitment of about two hours per month.

“Our mentors don’t need to know anything about disability,” he says. “If someone has some expertise to share, we will buddy them up with a support worker who understands disability to provide that holistic level of attention.”

Gary is just as keen for alumni to recommend Enabled.vip to clients, pointing out that if 1.9 million working age Australians live with a disability, “odds are some of our alumni live with a disability or know someone who does”.

He says the recent Disability Royal Commission showed 40% of disabled people live on or near the poverty line and that about 30% have experienced workplace discrimination or ignorance.

Enabled.vip can also, says Gary, help established businesses provide disability-friendly facilities and opportunities and “avoid those issues in the workplace”.

Griffith connections

Enabled.vip will launch on 3 December, World Disability Day, at an event featuring Deputy Premier Steven Miles, pioneering skier and aerobatics pilot Janine Shephard and Griffith’s Dinesh Palipana OAM, a patron of the organisation.

Griffith personnel are also well represented on Enabled.vip’s Advisory Board, which includes disability and rehabilitation researcher Prof. Elizabeth Kendall, entrepreneurship academic Associate Professor Naomi Birdthistle and Menzies Institute project officer Joe-Anne Kek-Pamenter.

Griffith Business School are also facilitating the platform’s professional learning component, which encompasses five short courses studied online.

“What about disability entrepreneurship?”

The kernel of the Enabled.vip concept was grown from a Federal Government disability employment event Allen attended a few years ago.

“The focus was on the ‘sheltered workshop’ model, and a colleague and I asked the question ‘what about disability entrepreneurship?’ and got funny looks from everyone there,” he laughs.

“I saw a lack of visible role models and peer support in Australia and thought about what we can do to change that.”

Existing support services had barriers to entry, such as a formal business plan or developed product, but Gary wanted to offer a boost to those who needed help making their idea into something viable.

He found an early supporter in online freelance marketplace fiverr.com, who provided seed funding and ongoing support, with a ‘disability’ badge in development for Enabled.vip clients to place on their Fiverr profiles.

“I might be naïve, but I think there’s a good percentage of businesses that want to support people with a disability if they could,” says Gary.