Not even the crutch under his arms, the pins in his side, or the fact that he had to hobble down the steps to get to the Grand Caribbean Suite at the Knutsford Court Hotel could stop Christopher Mitchell from getting to the business information fair.
Mitchell, who was involved in a motor vehicle accident last October, still hasn't recovered from the effects.
"I got a dislocated hip, broken ribs, smashed waist and, right now, I have pins and screws in my hip to hold it in place," he told The Gleaner.
He shuffled around the different booths as he tried to gather as much information as possible, occasionally stopping amid limps to ask questions. Mitchell is a self-employed driver who transports commercial goods, and, like him, dozens of people were at the fair, which was staged by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, to get information on the access to educational and entrepreneurial information to grapple with the economic recession.
He says he found out about a myriad of funding options all in less than two hours, and it was more than he had learnt in a long while.
Informative and educational
"I find it very informative and educational and I see it as an avenue where small business people can be up to date," he said. "There is not a lot of information out there on how to get a business started and the different lending agencies, the different business associates and all of this."
Mitchell was not only concerned about himself, explaining that there were many people who might need similar information but had no idea where to get it. Despite the gloomy economic prospects, Mitchell is gung-ho about entrepreneurship during the meltdown.
"It's always best to start a business on the low tide so that when the tide is high, you would already be established, you would be publicised and people would know about you," he said.
With all the knowledge he has garnered, the determined father of three says he has plans to diversify his business to include ecotourism where he will offer touring services.
kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com