MIRM's Entrepreneurship Workshop
for the Deaf

“I choose not to place ‘DIS’, in my ability.” – Robert M. Hensel

The Make It Right Movement’s (MIRM) mission and vision is to ensure that the members of the marginalised communities are not isolated and “left out” in today’s modern society in light of the rapid changes in terms of technology, sociology and even economics. After the pandemic in 2020, some members of the marginalised communities weer still struggling to cope with the after-effect.

As such, MIRM sought to address this issue by conducting a Entrepreneurship Workshop for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), specifically for those who were deaf. In this workshop, which was approximately 6 hours long, participants were taught the basics of building a business, including how to create a business idea, how to understand customers and the market, how to create a business profile and build a brand, and more.

On 12th May 2024, MIRM's Entrepreneurship Workshop for the Deaf saw 15 participants being taught the basics of creating a business. This workshop was mainly conducted by breaking the participants into several groups, wherein members within the groups would brainstorm and create a business idea together, and would present it to the other participants of the workshop. Once they had created and presented their business ideas, the lead trainer, Brian Lariche, who is also the CEO of MIRM, followed up with further questions and lessons in respect of their business idea, e.g. how to further create a business profile, build their brand and adopt online marketing. The communications and presentations between trainer and participants were enhanced with the help of 3 sign-language interpreters.

Lucy, one of the sign-language interpreters for the workshop, said that the workshop was very insightful to the deaf community and that the examples provided are “practical and relevant to the 21^st century”. Lucy further said that it was nice to see them be exposed to concepts such as product branding and adding value, which will help them to develop their business. Lucy further expressed that she looks forward to working with MIRM for other capacity building programs in the future.  

Amanda Kong, Community Development Manager of MIRM said that she is currently working on further modules for the Entrepreneurship Workshop to cover other aspects of creating/operating a business, and is also in the midst of looking for other communities or groups that are keen in hosting such workshops.