Small businesses often feel like they can't afford wheelchairs for their customers. That's simply a mistake. Getting a wheelchair for customers is a major benefit that can provide small business owners with a new reputation for philanthropy.

How Wheelchairs Benefit A Business

While many small business owners may not feel they can afford wheelchairs, it is important to find a way to get a few. Wheelchairs offer small business owners a myriad of benefits, including:

• Allowing handicapped customers access to their business
• Potential right up in a newspaper
• A reputation for serving the community
• Happier and more satisfied customers

Businesses that go the extra yard to provide their employees with the benefit of wheelchairs often succeed more fully than those that do not. This is particularly true if they also install wheelchair ramps for increased accessibility.

Average Cost Of Wheelchairs

When small business owners are interested in purchasing wheelchairs, they need to know the cost of the chair. The costs of these chairs will vary wildly depending on the type of chair. Most expert estimates suggest that wheelchair costs include:

• Standard manual wheel chair – An average of $500 and between $1,000 to $2,000 for a daily-use chair.
• Power wheelchairs – $1,200-1,500 depending on the type of chair, its frame, and its seating needs.

One thing that is difficult about buying wheelchairs is that most insurance companies will cover, at most, 80 percent of the cost. This is typically more likely when purchasing a wheelchair for personal medical use, rather than as a way of improving your business.

Funding Wheelchair Purchases

Businesses that can't quite afford to purchase wheelchairs for their customers to use often turn to various forms of funding. There are many grants available across the nation that can help businesses purchase wheelchairs. Many of these grants can be applied to and used to pay for funding the purchase of both mechanical wheelchairs and powered wheelchairs.

Most grants will require a business owner to justify the purchase of the wheelchairs. For example, a business owner who owns a flower business could try to justify wheelchairs by claiming clients need them for moving through their flower selection in the greenhouse. They can also uses grants to purchase wheelchair ramps and other handicap accessibility items.

By purchasing wheelchairs for their business, small business owners can help make them more accessible to a wider range of people. This is a useful way of expanding a business and investing back in the good of the community.