Entrepreneurship and ADHD
ADHDers are more likely than others to start their own businesses. Why?
One goal of ADHD+ is to encourage those with ADHD and those who love them to see the assets that ADHD confers. A strong association exists between people exhibiting hyperactive behaviors and being self-employed.1 This might be for a few reasons:
Risk Aversion
People with ADHD are less risk-averse. While this can be a double-edged sword, willingness to take risks has obvious benefits. Starting your own business requires capital, time and a serious amount of risk. It makes sense, then, that those willing to do it are more apt to view moderate risks positively.2
Working for Others
“Individuals who demonstrate such behaviors tend to show low job performance and a high chance of becoming unemployed” write Verheul, et al. (2016). People with ADHD have a hard time working for others. They want to try doing things novel ways, they don’t like repetitive tasks, they want to take risks and be creative. Plainly put, to an ADHDer, working for others is frustrating and stifling.
Innovative
People with ADHD view themselves as more creative, and research supports that they may indeed be. Craving novelty, they like doing things their ways, and this tends to mean doing it a different way each time.
They also are more likely to view problems as opportunities. For instance, Ingvar Kamprad wondered, “If manufacturing was so cheap, why did products become so expensive as soon as they left the factory?”3 This ultimately led to a new way to shop for furniture (and Swedish meatballs) known as IKEA.
Verheul, I., Rietdijk, W., Block, J., Franken, I., Larsson, H., & Thurik, R. (2016). The association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms and self-employment. European Journal of Epidemiology, 31(8), 793–801. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44849489
ANTSHEL, K. M. (2018). ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD) AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. Academy of Management Perspectives, 32(2), 243–265. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26528550
https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/the-story-of-ikea/meet-ingvar-kamprad/