Understanding motivations of entrepreneurs in the assistive technology market

Abstract

Businesses in the assistive technology (AT) sector tend to be oriented to small, niche markets and can have lower profits and higher risk than those targeting large, mainstream markets. We carried out a study to examine the motivations and business practices of entrepreneurs in the AT market. It appears that a majority of AT entrepreneurs would be considered social entrepreneurs and are motivated by social factors such as helping society and people with disabilities rather than profit in starting and maintain their AT business. In addition, this personal motivation seems to translate into the achievement and expectation of social goals in monitoring company performance and in selecting supply chain partners.