Office for the rights of persons with disabilities continues a series of interviews with employers who are ready to employ PWDs or have already done it. This time we visited an interesting person – the director of “Inva-auto-service” Alexander Makhortov. In his repair shop cars are equipped with manual control. He is a very interesting and enterprising person: started his own business and is planning to realize another business idea. He plays wheelchair basketball and considers that the main thing is not to give up.
- Alexander, there are a lot of information about you and your business in the Internet. But “Inva-auto-service” started to work only in 2011 and you became a disabled much earlier. What did you do till 2011?
- It is true, I became a disabled in 2000 as the result of car crash. After several years of rehabilitation and psychological adaptation I employed to a distant job and worked at home making different certificates. I had been working there till 2007 when the firm closed because of some unknown reasons. At that moment I decided to start self-educating and finished many study courses in prosthetic hospital in order to get the following specialties – draftsman, designer, computer operator, graphic operator. Plus before the crash I studied at machine-building secondary school.
- So, you didn’t have any problems with employment.
- Yes, we can say so. Although I had some difficulties. When I was studying in prosthetic hospital and was already a qualified specialist one firm offered me a job connected with projecting surveillance systems. The difficulty was that their office was at the 12th floor and elevators in the building were very often out of order and it was not an option to carry me to the 12th floor. That is why I couldn’t employ to that job.
- How did you come with the idea to start your own business?
- I worked at “Alpha-team” firm. It was a firm under the society of rehabilitation-sport club of disabled and it specialized in making wheelchairs for different kinds of sports. I had some spare time and at the same time I started to equip cars with manual control. Did it for my car, then for my friends… My business started outside near my house, at dacha, step by step I mastered my skills and started to make much better product.
I had one person who helped me and a number of clients started to increase. I decide to start my own business. Of course I needed some preparation to do it. I wrote a business plan and registered in employment service as an unemployed. It turned out that the state gave me a subsidy. It was enough for me to pay for instruments, some spares for cars and to rent premises. All thanks to the state. As I figured out later my idea was given a green light because the problem was really topical and there were no specialists to solve it. And I came out with a decision.
- How many employees do you have and how many of them are disabled?
- There are 5 people working at the firm. Me, the director, 1st group disabled and two more persons with disabilities – accountant and advertising specialist. They work distantly. And two automobile mechanics – they are not disabled.
May be it sounds very simple but at every stage someone helped me. It was my idea, the business plan was slightly changed. I got the premises thanks to the support of deputy head of Minsk city executive committee Igor Karpenko. After we had found the premises sponsors helped us to prepare the office, paint the garage and install windows. They are “vasia.by”, “InstalTreid”, “Alfasklad”, “Company office comfit” and other small firms which provided us with lamps, wall outlets and so on.
- Did you have any difficulties registering the employment of people with disabilities?
- Absolutely not. This week I am going to employ another person. He is registering as unemployed and we open a vacancy, he gets an assignment to a job and we hire him. We prepare almost the same document as for any other person. We need to look at his recommendations and to take in account the fact that he can’t work more than 35 hours a week.
- Why then are other executives guided by stereotypes?
- I think it is the mentality. Although, from the other point of view if a specialist is a good one and is able to interest people with his positive attitude in this case he will get what he wants. An employer is motivated to employ a professional either it is a person with disability or not. It works for a long time abroad. I don’t feel preconceived opinion for a long time!
- Can own business become a remedy for a person with disability? It turns out that no one has ever done it before you in Belarus…
- I’ve heard that auto school “Spec-auto-master” had equipped cars with manual control. But even then I called and asked but no one told me anything on the topic. I found out that they made only 7 cars in 4 years. You can compare – we have equipped 400 in three years! People come to us. Our website hasn’t worked for a year but we still have a lot of work because people see that we provide high quality and reliability. Now we have orders from Russia. We do it here and send it by post and people equip their cars with it.
- What can you advice to people who are just starting their own business or are thinking about starting it?
- The main thing here is to thoroughly think it over. You will get help from the state anyway. Rent benefits is a big plus. And there is no secret that you have to start working in the sphere with little or no other firms. You have to think about something specific.
- Do you think it has to be connected with disability issues?
- No. It is an idea that is important. I have plans to open a hairdresser’s. It has been my dream for a long time and now I want to realize it. We want to find premises, make some minor repairs and make it accessible for PWDs. May be we will have one specialist who will do house visits. We will attract people with low prices, because we don’t have to pay high rent, VAT and so on. It seems that we have lots of hairdressing saloons but we will have lower prices and the accessibility of services!
- Your case is a unique one. Many people with disabilities say that they have difficulties with employment…
- The main thing is to have a wish to employ. How can a person employ if he cannot do anything? Of course, first of all he has to undergo social adaptation. Some people leave their house and are afraid when someone is looking at them. You have to get used to everything at first, accept it. Some people can be motivated by the fact that they have to provide for their family. They don’t have to be victims. No pain, no gain – you have to put efforts to find something. I was always impressed how sometimes PWDs get a profession that will never be needed. Why? I had been looking for an accountant with disability for two years. And there are a lot of small firms and entrepreneurs in Minsk that are looking for an accountant. If you study in this field you will be needed! Plus you can work at home. I know some people who studied at shoe repairing courses and now are opening their own repairing businesses. There are a lot of choices.
- Our interview turned out unexpectedly positive: Belarussian society is very kind, officials are understanding and there is no discrimination…
- The main thing is to make people understand that they don’t have to be afraid and should start to act. According to my experience many officials when they know that you are in a wheelchair even come out of building they work at to meet you and take some papers you have to give them. They are very open and understanding. You can solve any issue if you do not to sit on your hands.
