- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- special kids today articles
- special kids today q&a
- message boards
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
 |
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Expanding Markets
Inclusion Solutions for Business
By Kelly Burgess
Dawn Okamoto just laughs when she hears her fellow small business owners say they "don't have customers in wheelchairs." What she's learned is that the reason they don't may simply be because they aren't reaching out to those customers. "These store owners don't even realize what they're missing," she says. "If you're in a wheelchair and your store is not accessible, that customer will just pass you by."
By not realizing the market that's out there, these business owners are costing themselves money. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the aggregate income of people with disabilities tops $1 trillion, which includes $220 billion in discretionary income. That's a huge market to just ignore.
Okamoto found out the hard way that sometimes even when you think you're accessible, you may not be. Her store, Secret Treasures Antiques, in Evanston, Ill., is located in a structure that is exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws because of its age. To access her facility, customers had to negotiate a step up. When her wheelchair-bound customers wanted to shop, they would knock on her door or call her on the phone to watch for them when they were coming. She would then come out and help boost their wheelchairs over the step.
Then, one day when Okamoto was helping a customer up the step, she accidentally broke his wheelchair's battery pack off the back of the chair. Although he was very nice about it, she felt terrible – and also felt there had to be a better way. She found a company called Inclusion Solutions (www.inclusionsolutions.com) that sold light, portable ramps she could use so her customers could negotiate the step on their own. In addition, they had a product available called BigBell that enabled her customers to notify her that they were at her door.
