Welcome to the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

Our goal is to provide you, the entrepreneur, with services that will aid you in creating a successful business venture. Whether you are in the idea generation phase or have your business up and running, we want to help you make your business a success as you make your dreams come true!

Since 1995, EDN has provided support, inspiration, networking, and learning opportunities to thousands of entrepreneurs with disabilities. By reinforcing the belief that entrepreneurship is a viable career option for people with disabilities, EDN has helped entrepreneurs turn their business ideas and ambitions into reality. With a current membership of around 600 members and community partners, EDN continues to grow and foster entrepreneurship in Nova Scotia.

EDN is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, living with any type of disability, in every stage of business development. Nova Scotia is EDN’s primary focus, with member business ranging from accountants, artists, inventors, writers, store owners, graphic designers, and countless other types of small business owners.

EDN is a not-for-profit organization; please contact us to learn more about how we can assist with your business aspirations.

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Technology for those with Disabilities: Wheelchairs Controlled by your Eyes.

Posted on January 25, 2012 by

A new year in this technological era could only mean one thing, new technology of course. What do scientists have in mind for 2012? According to the website www.theengineer.co.uk, people may soon be able to steer their wheelchairs by simply looking in the direction in which they want to go. Currently, there are wheelchair models that allow you to get around by using a joystick to control your speed and direction. There are also models which allow users to use their mouth and tongue to steer, but these are quite costly.
Currently, a team led by Dr. Prashant Pillai of Bradford University has created a model that can capture the user’s gaze using an infrared camera headset. By shining infrared LEDs onto their iris, Dr. Pillai uses technology to record the signals reflected from the user’s eye. This is then converted to a signal which feeds information to the steering motors of the wheelchair.
‘When someone sits in it for the first time, it takes a while to train and get used to it, because most of the time we keep looking around everywhere,’ Dr Pillai told The Engineer. His team is working on removing the time delay between when the person looks where they want to go and when they actually begin to turn towards that direction. Dr. Pillai also wants to remove the head set and instead place cameras on the front on the wheelchair pointing up to the eyes.
In the future, they hope to create a fully technology assisted home. In such a home, a user would simply look at their light or television for example and it would turn on. These are all still on the drawing board. Who knows what this year will actually bring to the market. What do you think of this wheelchair that is controlled by your eyes? Please leave your comments below. If you do not see the comment box below this article, try clicking the title of the article and then the comment box should be visible.

Source :
Czyzewski, A. (2011, September 29). The Engineer. Retrieved January 19, 2012 from http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/medical-and-healthcare/news/iris-technology-could-soon-help-electric-wheelchair-users/1010437.article#ixzz1jv6d8x51

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Inspirational Entrepreneur: Richard Branson

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

Sir Richard Branson was born and raised in England. As a dyslexic and near-sighted boy, he struggled academically throughout his school life. What his grades did not reflect however was his passion for sports, his strong ambition and his ability to connect with others. These character traits, along with determination and hard work, transformed this high school dropout into the fourth richest man in the UK according to Forbes, 2011.

This well-known innovative entrepreneur started his first business, a school newspaper, at the young age of sixteen. It was actually his frustration with school which lead him to start Student, a newspaper written for students. From his basement, Student grew to sell advertising space to major corporations. Richard’s principal congratulated him by saying “I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.” Little did he know, Richard Branson would one day have a net worth of $4.2 Billion, according to Forbes, 2011.

Richard Branson’s second business began while he was running his newspaper. He discovered that a lot of his readers spent a large sum of money on records. From this he saw the opportunity to offer cheaper records to students by running ads for mail order delivery. This venture was extremely successful and from this Richard Branson decided to open his own record store. At this time they needed a name, something catchy, something that they did not know at the time but would go on to represent around 200 different companies in over 30 countries. The name “Virgin” was suggested by one of Richard’s early employees as they were all very new to business.  From this one record store the Virgin Empire grew to what we know today.

In 1984 Richard Branson entered the airline industry with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Unfortunately, in 1992 Richard had to sell his first Virgin company, Virgin Records for £500 Million in order to keep his airline alive. He later re-entered the record industry with V2 Records. Other industries in which Virgin has entered are: Virgin Mobile, Virgin Trains, Virgin Comics and Animation, Virgin Fuels, and even Virgin Galactic, which provides trips to space for tourists at a cost of about $200,000.

Richard Branson is truly an inspirational entrepreneur. Not only is he a successful businessman, but a good ethical person. He invites each of the Virgin employees to email him whenever. He also created the Virgin Green Fund where he invests in renewable energy and resource efficiency. Richard Branson is known for his world record attempts and has broken a number of records, such as fastest person to cross the pacific by a balloon. Richard once said, “For me business is not about wearing suits, or keeping stockholders pleased. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.”

Sources:

Forbes. (2011, March). Forbes: The Worlds Billionaires . Retrieved January 11, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/

Shepler, J. (2011, December 26). Richard Branson’s Virgin Success. Retrieved January 12, 2012, from http://www.johnshepler.com/articles/branson.html

Virgin. (2012). Autobiography- Richard Branson. Retrieved January 11, 2012, from http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/autobiography

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Monthly Poll

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

Please share your opinion with us in our monthly poll.

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WordPress Workshop

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

On Wednesday January 18, EDN will be hosting a workshop on how to use WordPress for making websites and blogs. It will be from 2-4 pm in the afternoon and hosted by Holly Salsman. It will take place in the EDN office boardroom and you must sign up with Archie or Amelia at 426-0591 or 426-8578 to attend. We hope to see you there!

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The E-Book Revolution

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet, Image from http://www.engadget.com

E-books are taking the world by storm! According to the Association of American Publishers, 114 million E-books were sold last year, a 1039% increase from 2008, while 603 million hardcover books were sold, an increase of only 5.8% from 2008 (“E-book sales, devices soar”, 2011) Early this year, Amazon sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, making it the most popular format on Amazon.com (“Kindle Books Overtake Paperback Books To Become Amazon’s Most Popular Format”, 2011).

E-books present both opportunities and challenges for writers. E-books enable writers to bring their work to more readers in an inexpensive and faster way, as the reach of E-books is larger than that of traditional hard copies. E-books provide writers the opportunity to earn more money, a surprise to many. If you are a self-published writer, you can sell your books at a lower price than the price traditional publishers charge for their books and make more money at the same time. This is because your costs will be less, as traditional publishers get a percentage of your earnings. Another advantage of E-books is that you will not need to trouble yourself with print runs, inventories and getting shelf space in bookstores. (“Millions from eBooks!”, 2011).

As with every opportunity, there will be challenges one has to face. Piracy is a big problem when it comes to e-books. Both E-books and Paper books (which are scanned into the computer) are distributed in the internet through file sharing sites (“Digital Piracy hits the e-book industry”, 2011). Piracy, once a problem for the movie and music industry, is now also a problem for the book industry. Another challenge writers have to face is the increasing number of “free” e-books. Many writers publish their work and sell them for free in order to attract and gain readers and in the hope of getting noticed by many.
Although E-books are quickly being adapted into people’s lives, you may want to consider giving your readers the option to choose a hard copy or a digital copy of your book. An inexpensive option to print hard copies is to use print-on-demand services or POD, such as those offered by Lulu.com. When a customer orders a hard copy of your book, you can upload your book to the print-on-demand services website. These services will then print the books for you and mail them to the customers (“Making eBooks – the 3 Opportunities you are Missing”, 2011). Some of the companies that offer these services also offer to proofread, edit, and format your work. Using these services may also give you the opportunity to get your books listed in online bookstores.

As a writer, it is important to take note of the trends and forecasts of E-books. Firstly, there will be better E-readers at relatively inexpensive prices, which will encourage consumers to buy them and buy more E-books. The availability of inexpensive E-readers will increase the demand for E-books. Writers will also have the option to go directly to E-book publishers instead of waiting for their traditional publishers to convert their work into an E-book format. Writers will also have the option to self-publish their work. Bundled books are also another predicted trend. Publishers will sell books in bundles at a discount, such as a bundle of an author’s works, or a bundle of books of a certain genre. Another trend to take note of is the increase in Social Reading, where readers can share their thoughts on a book or on a certain page in a book and read others’ comments and reply to them. Other trends predicted include subscription services to read all you want for a monthly price, advertising in-books and sponsored links. (“Six E-book Trends to Watch in 2011”, 2011).

There is no doubt that and E-books will be a part of our future and many will adopt them into their daily lives. It’s up to the writers to find the opportunities and face the challenges of the growing popularity of E-books.

Sources:

Choney, S. (2011, August) E-book sales, devices soar. Technoblog. Retrieved from
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com

Tsotsis, A. (2011, January 27) Kindle Books Overtake Paperback Books to Become Amazon’s Most Popular Format. Techcrunch. Retrieved from
http://techcrunch.com

Carlson, D. (2011, March 1) Millions from eBooks!. Business Opportunities. Retrieved from
http://www.business-opportunities.biz

Frisch, M. (2010, January 1) Digital piracy hits the e-book industry. CNN Tech. Retrieved from
http://articles.cnn.com

Making eBooks – the 3 Opportunities you are Missing (2011) Product Creation. Retrieved from
http://www.productcreation.co

Hyatt, M. (2011, January 11) Six E-book Trends to Watch in 2011. Michael Hyatt. Retrieved from
http://michaelhyatt.com

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Inspirational Entrepreneur: Walt Disney

Posted on November 7, 2011 by

Walt Disney, Image from blogasarea.wordpress.com

We all know Walt Disney as the man who changed the entertainment industry through his animated films. He brought our favorite fairy tales to life and created one of the largest amusement parks in the world, which also changed the amusement park industry. It was said that Walt Disney suffered from Dyslexia, but that did not stop him from accomplishing his dreams.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney

Walt Disney started an animation studio in 1922 with Iwerks. In 1927 they created one of the most beloved characters in history, Mickey Mouse and created two short animated films called Plane Crazy and Gallopin Gaucho to introduce their beloved character to the world. The two short films were set aside after Disney recognized the possibilities for sound in animated cartoon films. He then produced a third Mickey Mouse cartoon Steamboat Willie and released it in 1928. Steamboat Willie was the first animated film with synchronized sound and it became a sensation. Mickey and Minnie Mouse gained popularity and Disney soon created Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto.

One of his greatest accomplishments was producing the first feature-length animated film in the world, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Snow White was praised by both critics and audiences alike. Another great accomplishment of Walt Disney was Disneyland, which opened in 1955. Walt Disney’s vision for Disneyland was to build a place where families could spend time and have fun together.

Even after years of Walt Disney’s passing in 1966, the Walt Disney Company continues to prosper. The Walt Disney Company continues to accomplish great things to this date, such as Disneyworld, Pixar 3D animations (which they bought from Steve Jobs) and corporate training through their Disney Institute courses.

Sources:

http://www.biography.com/people/walt-disney-9275533?page=2

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/550602/Snow-White-and-the-Seven-Dwarfs

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The Business of Art: Pricing your Artwork

Posted on November 4, 2011 by

One of the first steps an artist needs to take is to price their artwork. Pricing art is subjective and there is no fixed dollar amount for any piece of art. Here are some options to consider when pricing your artwork:

If you have just started selling art, you can price your work based on labor (set your own hourly wage), time and expenses, such as transportation and materials. Also include in your calculation any marketing expenses, such as advertisements in the newspaper or online or promotions in exhibitions.

Another option is to price your work based on similar works of other artists. Similar works include artworks that use the same medium as yours or have similar subjects, themes or sizes. If you have sold artwork before, you can base the price of your recent artwork with previous similar artworks.

As stated above, pricing artwork is subjective and depends on you. At the very least, your price should cover costs and time spent on the artwork and promotions. The only time you could sell your artwork at a small price would be when you want to promote and increase the publicity of your artwork. You could sell your artwork in print form to promote your work.

In doing price calculations, consider the medium and size of the artwork. The price of original artwork should always be greater than the print version. As well, prices for limited run prints should be higher than unlimited run prints. Also, the larger the artwork, the more expensive it should be. Some artists price their artwork by square-inch.

These are just some of the options for pricing artwork. You may want to consider providing artwork in different price ranges to appeal to a wider customer base. Pricing your artwork can be difficult, but by keeping these options in mind, the process of pricing can be smoother.

Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2110608_price-art.html#ixzz1ZGzeKBzZ

http://artbistro.monster.com/benefits/articles/9311-how-to-price-your-artwork?page=2

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