SMEs are being encouraged to capitalise on the success of the Paralympic Games and include disable people in their target markets.
Minister for disabled people, Maria Miller, referred to the demographic as the 'purple pound', noting that their spending power is in the region of £80 billion a year.
A new guide is now being launched to help businesses to tap into this. Launching the guide at City Hall in London, Ms Miller remarked: “There are now over 11 million disabled people in the UK today which is around 19 per cent of the population. This equates to a lot of clout for the purple pound. Many SMEs - which make up the majority of UK businesses - are unaware of this potential market.”
She explained that the guide aims to tackle the two main barriers to SMEs focusing on disabled customers. These have been shown to be a lack of awareness of how they could boost sales and profits by making a business more attractive to disabled customers; and a fear and discomfort with disability, coupled with a narrow understanding of 'access'.
Small business buyers might find that homing in on this market helps them turn around certain struggling companies. 
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