Starting a small business when you're disabled

Many people want work they can do from home, or on hours that fit a body that changes. This page does not name a business to start.

California's Department of Rehabilitation uses graphic artist, barber, and accountant as examples of occupations a person can pursue as self-employed instead of as an employee. Those are examples of a vocational goal. They are not a starter list, and they are not all home businesses.

The Small Business Administration's launch guide says a home-based business can still have local zoning rules. Check with the city planning office, or the office that handles zoning where you live. The same guide says a sole proprietorship is easy to form and gives you control, and that business debts are not separate from personal debts. It also describes other structures, including a limited liability company. This page does not tell you which one to form.

A flexible day is part of the business plan, not a promise. Customers, licensing, and your health all change what a week can hold. A local Small Business Development Center or a SCORE mentor can look at an idea with you. They do not decide a benefit.

DOR's self-employment page says an Individualized Plan for Employment is written once the vocational goal and the needed services are identified. The self-employment setting has three rules on that page. It must be a sole proprietorship, and you must control the decisions. It must be able to meet ongoing living expenses and be intended to become a majority source of income. It must follow state, federal, and local law.

The page links a business summary, a business plan template, the Small Business Administration, California Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, and Disability:IN. It does not promise a dollar amount for startup costs. New applicants who are found eligible can be placed on a waiting list under order of selection. People who already have a signed plan keep going. Read that rule on the work guide before you assume services start the week you ask.

The Texas Workforce Commission says self-employment support is available to people with disabilities in the Vocational Rehabilitation program. Ask your counselor. The page says the counselor can explain the application, recommend small-business resources, and connect you with Certified Business Technical Assistance Consultants who help you develop a business plan.

After a plan, the counselor works with you on what is needed. The page says this can help a new business or someone who already owns one. It does not promise a grant or a set startup payment. The vocational rehabilitation phone on the main VR page is 512-936-6400.

A PASS is a written plan to set aside income other than SSI, and resources, for a work goal. Social Security's PASS page says common expenses include supplies to start a business, school, equipment and tools, transportation, uniforms, and childcare. The goal should let you earn enough to reduce or end the need for both SSDI and SSI.

Income set aside under an approved plan is not counted when Social Security figures the SSI payment, which can raise that payment. SSDI set aside for PASS expenses is not counted when they decide SSI eligibility, which can help someone qualify for SSI. Resources set aside for the plan do not count against the $2,000 limit for one person or the $3,000 limit for a couple.

The application is Form SSA-545-BK. It must state the work goal, the items or services, the costs, the steps, and the time. If the goal is self-employment, you must also submit a business plan. The booklet Working While Disabled says that plan should explain the type of business, where it will operate, the hours, the customers, how you will advertise, what you need and what it costs, how you will pay, and expected earnings. A PASS specialist checks that the goal is reasonable, that you need the items, and that the prices are reasonable. If the plan is not approved, you can appeal.

Help can come from a vocational rehabilitation counselor, a WIPA program, a Protection and Advocacy organization, a Ticket to Work employment network, a local Social Security office, or anyone else willing to help. The same booklet says that if you stop the plan and wait to tell Social Security, you may have been paid too much SSI and may have to pay it back. Tell them when the plan changes.

SSDI and SSI do not use the same math. The trial work period does not apply to SSI. For SSDI, the Red Book says a 2026 trial work month for wages is gross earnings above $1,210. It also says work is services for the trial work period if you work more than 80 hours in self-employment in a month. The booklet Working While Disabled says a self-employed trial work month is when you earn more than $1,210 after business expenses, or you work more than 80 hours in your own business. Read both pages. Social Security decides the month. Nine trial work months can fall inside a rolling 60-month period. During those months, the Red Book says you still get full SSDI if you report the work and you still have a disabling impairment.

After the trial work period, substantial gainful activity matters. For 2026 the Red Book amount is $1,690 a month, or $2,830 if you are blind. The employment-supports page says Social Security generally follows Internal Revenue Service rules for net earnings from self-employment. The IRS allows expenses you actually paid or incurred as debt. When Social Security decides substantial gainful activity, it also subtracts unincurred business expenses, because it wants the value of the work. An unincurred expense is help you did not pay for. The page's examples are a computer from the state vocational rehabilitation agency, or a friend who works without pay. The item or service still has to be one the IRS would allow if you had paid for it.

Those unpaid expenses are not subtracted when Social Security figures the SSI payment. They may be subtracted for a substantial gainful activity decision on an SSI application. After that, SSI uses its own income rules. Report the books. Do not guess the month.

Impairment-related work expenses

An impairment-related work expense is a cost Social Security may deduct from gross earnings when it decides if work is substantial. All of these have to be true. The item or service lets you work. You need it because of a physical or mental impairment. You pay for it and are not paid back by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or an employment network. The cost is reasonable for your community.

For SSI, the same page says the expense is excluded from earned income when they figure the monthly payment, if those rules are met, you paid it in a month you had earned income, and you worked while you used it. You generally must be working in the month you pay. Some costs paid before work starts, or after it stops, can still be deducted. Read that exception on the page.

If you are self-employed at home, interior changes that create a workspace for your impairment can count. The page's examples are a wider doorway into an office or workroom, and changes to the office for a dexterity limitation. You cannot deduct the same change as an impairment-related work expense if you will also deduct it as a business expense when they decide substantial gainful activity.

An ABLE account is a savings tool with its own rules. It is not a business bank account, and this page does not say business startup costs are a qualified disability expense. Read the spotlight before you deposit or withdraw.

Social Security does not decide who can open an account. As of January 1, 2026, the disability must have begun before age 46. Only one account is allowed. Up to $100,000 in the account is ignored for SSI. If the amount over $100,000 pushes you over the SSI resource limit, SSI can be suspended, and Medicaid can continue if you otherwise stay eligible. The spotlight's main section says the 2026 contribution limit is $20,000. A later answer on the same page still prints $19,000. Ask the program which figure it is using. A working owner may be able to add more.

Money taken out for housing, or for a cost that is not a qualified disability expense, counts as a resource if you still have it the next month. Look at your home state's plan first. California's plan is CalABLE. Social Security points to a list of state programs and does not endorse a company. We did not open a Texas ABLE website, so this page does not link one.

The Small Business Administration funds local partners. Its finder asks for a ZIP code. The main office address on that page is 409 3rd St., SW, Washington, DC 20416. The phone is 800-827-5722.

Small Business Development Centers

SBDCs counsel and train people who are starting a business and people who already have one, including pre-venture entrepreneurs. Help can include business planning, money management, marketing, and access to capital. Texas Workforce Commission's self-employment page describes SBDC advising as free consulting and low-cost training, including business plans and lending assistance.

SCORE mentors

SCORE is a nonprofit and, in the SBA's words, the nation's largest network of volunteer business mentors. Mentors give area-specific advice at no cost, by email, phone, and video, and they can keep meeting with you. Topics named on the page include financing, human resources, and business planning. Texas describes SCORE the same way: free small-business advice.

Women's Business Centers

Women's Business Centers give free to low-cost counseling and training. They focus on women who want to start, grow, and expand a small business. The SBA page says the centers exist to help with obstacles women still face. They are not limited to disabled owners, and they are not a loan.

The SBA microloan page says loans go up to $50,000. The average microloan is about $13,000. SBA gives the funds to nonprofit intermediary lenders. Those lenders make the credit decision and set the terms. SBA does not. The maximum term is seven years. Interest is generally 8 percent to 13 percent, set by the intermediary.

Read the page's two descriptions together. The eligibility list says the business must be an operating business, for profit, in the United States, and small under SBA size rules. The use section says you can use a microloan when you need less than $50,000 to start and/or grow. Uses include working capital, inventory, supplies, furniture, fixtures, machinery, and equipment. You cannot use it to pay existing debts or to buy real estate. Ask the intermediary which rule applies to a business that is not open yet. This is a loan, not a grant. Any small business that meets the rules can apply. Disability is not a requirement.

The SBA grants page says SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business. Its grants go to nonprofits, resource partners, and educational organizations, for counseling and training. Other grants on that page are for scientific research, for export help through state agencies, or for organizations that train entrepreneurs, including some programs for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. Those awards are to organizations, not a check to a person opening a shop.

We did not open a current California or Texas page that pays a disabled person a grant to start a business. If a website calls itself a disability business grant, open the official page and check the date before you apply. Do not pay a fee to a stranger who says they can get you an SBA grant. SBA says it only emails from addresses that end in @sba.gov.

Disability:IN certifies Disability-Owned Business Enterprises, often called DOBE. The page says a business may qualify if it is for profit, headquartered in the country where it applies, and at least 51 percent owned, operated, managed, and controlled by one or more people with disabilities. The page also names veteran and service-disabled veteran certifications.

The same page says the application fee is $300, and the certification is valid for 3 years. Certification is a credential and a way to be listed with companies that look for disability-owned suppliers. It is not a grant, a loan, or a promise of a contract. Disability Help Finder is not a certified disability-owned business. This page only describes the program.

Earning from a business can change health coverage. The county or the state decides. The work guide has the longer notes. The parts that mention work, including self-employment, are below.

California: 250% Working Disabled Program

The Department of Health Care Services says this Medi-Cal program is for certain working disabled people. You must keep meeting the federal disability definition, without regard to substantial gainful activity. You must be working. There is no minimum number of hours or dollars. You show proof, such as a pay stub. Net family income must be under 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Countable assets must not exceed $130,000 for one person and $65,000 for each added person, up to 10 people. You must be eligible for SSI/SSP if earnings were not counted. The county enrolls you. As of July 1, 2022, premiums are $0. The Medi-Cal Helpline on that page is (800) 541-5555, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Texas: Medicaid Buy-In for adults

Texas Health and Human Services says Medicaid Buy-In offers low-cost Medicaid to adults with disabilities who work. You may qualify if you have a disability, are working, live in Texas, and do not live full-time in a state institution or nursing home. Apply at YourTexasBenefits.com, at a local benefits office, or by calling 2-1-1. If you already get Social Security disability, you meet the disability rule.

The same page says monthly earnings from a job or self-employment must be less than $3,325 before taxes, deductions, or exclusions, and countable things you own must be no more than $5,000. A monthly payment, if there is one, cannot be more than $500. The page explains when a fee starts, including job income over $1,995 a month after certain taxes. The letter after you apply is what tells you the result.