The Just Watch Me contest is about entrepreneurs with disabilities, and the ways they have gone forward in the business world. One of the entrants, Perry Dancsok from the Massage P.A.D. in Yorkton, is legally blind, and recently opened his own business.
He says becoming a business owner was something he needed to do, and he also says other people with disabilities should consider doing the same.
Dancsok says he decided to open his business because controlling his surroundings is something he needs to do in order to effectively do his job. With a visual impairment he explains, the main difficulty is just finding the things he needs, but with his own office he can set it up around the way he works. He believes this is the key for any disabled entrepreneurs, making a controlled business environment in order to make their work life more effective.
"My feeling is that anyone with a disability, I don't care if you've got MS, or you're deaf, or you're blind, whatever, if you open your own business you create your own environment. If you have people working for you, that's part of the learning process. Chairs get pushed in, or this stays here no matter what, because it's yours, not someone else's, so you have your way of doing it... Why not do it so we can do what we need to do to the best of our ability?" he says.
Dancsok believes that people with disabilities need to overcome them in order to have their lives be as rewarding as possible, and that there are ways to make their environments work for them.
"I think the biggest problem is that people with disabilities limit themselves. You can either let it stop you, and you can sit at home and dwell on it, or you can do something about it. It's like a hurdle, but I just walk right over them. You need to get rid of the hurdles, even something simple like a deaf person doing accounting. This way you feel better about yourself because you're doing what you like to do, and in your environment where you're comfortable doing it."
Dancsok got assistance in starting the business through Community Futures Development, which aided in getting loans and with the development of a business plan. He says that their help was important because while he knew what he wanted to do, he didn't know many of the smaller details that were necessary.
"I didn't realize all the little things that need to be done to start a business, it's crazy."
The business has been going well, Dancsok says, with many old clients finding his new location. He says that the environment is better for him, but also for them as well, since it's easier to access for elderly clients and he can also work much more effectively in the space.
The Just Watch Me screening gallery is at www.justwatchmecontest.ca.
