SME Focus: However tough the times have been lately, a report by the accountancy firm Grant Thornton and the Economist Intelligence Unit today confirms the pool of entrepreneurs has carried on expanding.

However tough the times have been lately, a report by the accountancy firm Grant Thornton and the Economist Intelligence Unit today confirms the pool of entrepreneurs has carried on expanding.

The report also provides a reminder for all that entrepreneurship is changing. With technology rewriting the rules of the game, the barriers to entry in many industries are breaking down, allowing new demographic groups to play a much bigger role.

This week's SME Focus highlights the case of a man who, after overcoming discrimination in his youth, has harnessed the power of the internet to develop a business that is building links between deaf people around the world.

Name: Andrew Thomson.

Age: 44.

What is your business called? www.Sign-now.com

Where is it based? Grangemouth.

What does it produce, what services does it offer? We have the first dedicated social networking website (www.sign-tube.com) for the deaf which, as of April, has achieved one million hits. We provide weekly news updates and video clips translated into BSL (British Sign Language) for our customers.

We also provide interactive video conferencing (VideoTalk and Communicator), filming, translation, Interpretation in BSL for home or business use.

To whom does it sell? We sell to the private and public sector. A travel company uses Communicator to sell business and holiday travel packages to a wide range of clients - not just the deaf.

We provide Falkirk Council with a deaf community link on its web site - a mirco website providing them with information about council services and news.

What is its turnover? £250,000.

How many employees? Six.

When was it formed? 2006.

Why did you take the plunge? Both my parents were deaf and they had a poor education. They were determined I should get a good education so they sent me to school in England, believing the provision there was better.

Unfortunately, I had many difficulties during my school years - including being told to sit on my hands (as a deaf person, my only way of communicating) as a way of teaching me to speak properly'! The education system seemed to think teaching me to speak properly' was more important than my academic education.

I always wanted to be an entrepreneur - I wanted to be able to deliver a high-quality service that fulfilled customer needs - and I wanted to be able to do this without being labelled as a deaf or disabled person. However, I also wanted to create a worthwhile business that shows the world deaf people are able to make a real contribution.

Creating Sign Now and Sign Tube (the dedicated web social network website) was borne out of frustration and determination.

I was frustrated at the lack of access for deaf people and the realisation I had the ability to solve many of these access issues. My knowledge of web design and communication technology proved to be the way forward to create solutions and provide the opportunity to set up my own business. I decided to take the plunge and sought help from the GO Group who really understood the specific challenges I faced as a disabled entrepreneur.

What were you doing before you took the plunge? I worked as a team leader in the Royal Bank of Scotland. The team focused on peripheral equipment for the IT network within the bank.

How did you raise the start-up funding? I used my own funds and a small business loan to get started.

What was your biggest break? Gaining recognition through winning the Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur award last November, the Falkirk Herald Best e-Commerce business, a NESTA Innovations award and the Barclays Trading Places Award. I have had a lot of support from the GO Group with its services.

What was your worst moment? The first few months of setting up were nerve wracking, but exciting. Realising there was no guaranteed salary at the end of each month and that paying the mortgage and other daily expenses were now all dependent upon my success was a bit scary. With two boys to look after and my wife now also part of the business there were a few sleepless nights.

What do you most enjoy about running the business? The ability to use technology to make it possible for people to communicate effectively. This might sound like a small thing, but when you are deaf access to basic information can be very difficult. Take the swine flu pandemic: right now we have translated information on swine flu for NHS24 into a BSL video so deaf people can understand what they need to do.

What do you least enjoy? Having to constantly remind people I may be deaf but I am not stupid.

What is your biggest bugbear? It still surprises me how little people understand the deaf community. Too often deafness is misunderstood and people are lumped together as one entity. Everyone needs to recognise deaf people come in all shapes sizes and types, the common link is deafness.

What are your ambitions for the firm? I want to take the business to a global platform. Sign Tube has already reached seven million hits in under a year and is growing at a rate of 20% each month.

What are your top priorities? To secure a number of long term contracts with the Scottish Government, NHS and other public service organisations. As the business grows our private sector business is developing at the rate we expect and if we can penetrate the public sector then demand in the private sector will follow.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help? There are more people in Scotland using sign language as their first language than there are Gaelic speakers. The government needs to recognise this and support the development of sign language in the way it has for Gaelic.

I would like to see the government invest monies in businesses managed by disabled entrepreneurs. This will allow them to ensure public money is being spent wisely - as opposed to investing the monies in short-term. and often in ad hoc, charity-based projects that can never deliver the same long-term economic benefits as a well-managed business.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned? Accepting I had to employ the services of a hearing person to conduct business on my behalf. There is nothing more frustrating than speaking to someone through a translator and having them look my translator in the eyes and completely ignore me as if I was not the one engaging in the conversation. That is very hard to overcome and I have had to say to people in the past "You're actually speaking to me, not my translator."

The language barriers between deaf and hearing people go beyond words and, sadly, there are still many prejudices to overcome. We are making progress, but there is still a long way to go.

In business, English is an essential tool to make things happen - that is why I felt I had to employ a hearing person.

We hired Mary in January to join our two translators on a part-time basis, and since then I have seen a distinct improvement in the level of business we have, the way people communicate with me, and the level of engagement I have with external bodies, customers and suppliers.

Contracts always need to be handled in English and my first language is BSL - so one of Mary's duties is to write and gain contracts. She also carries out spoken word presentations for the company, building on my work to develop the business. She is responsible for promoting Sign-Now and handling the marketing and public relations for the company. Mary is also helping us to gain Investors in People recognition - as a registered advisor and having written two books on the subject, she is something of an expert!

How do you relax? I am a Hearts supporter so I am not sure relaxing comes into it.