Success Stories: How Four Malaysia Women Built Success During Covid-19
Women are making significant contributions to the business world. Successful female entrepreneurs are enthusiastic about what they do, and they build businesses around their interests.
Read the inspirational stories of these Malaysian women who founded profitable businesses and are making significant societal improvements.
Ms Savina Kaharuddin
In 2020, when the pandemic first emerged, Savina Kaharuddin recognized an opportunity and began manufacturing bio-cellulose face masks and hand sanitizers in Malaysia.
Ms Kaharuddin’s business, VNI Scientific Sdn Bhd, was already producing environmentally friendly cosmetics and personal care products when she had the epiphany that she could also assist in the treatment of skin issues caused by the frequent usage of masks.
She attended a training class by UNCTAD’s Empretec, a United Nations program established by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to make the most of this market opportunity and utilized the skills she gained there.
Ms Kaharuddin explained that after conducting research on consumer behaviour and the market, her team came to the conclusion that consumers were interested in purchasing local items. Her business was successful as a direct result of the chances she took.
Olivia Quah Turned Her Passion into a Business
After spending time caring for her parents, Olivia Quah realized that working with older people was her calling in life and decided to turn that calling into a career.
She formulated strategies for the growth of her company, Asian Integrated Medical Sdn Bhd, which is an online marketplace for the sale of items geared toward the elderly.
According to Ms. Quah, “Goal setting for me involves finding solutions for the ageing population. It’s necessary to have a clear and specific long-term goal to measure short-term objectives.”
Thanks to her thoughtful strategic planning, she was able to increase her online sales by 100% and opened two new showrooms this year.
She also plans to open a luxury retirement community in the future. The community will have 30 separate rooms and will employ medical professionals as well as other staff.
How Data Helped Ms Chandrekha Naidu
Ms Chandrekha Naidu launched her company, Heavenly Baker’s Cakes and Pastries, by selling chocolate cakes on Facebook. She based her decision to do so on the insights she gained from analyzing the data.
But due to frequent lockdowns caused by COVID-19, customers were unable to travel to the market to buy food. So, she used her customer list and information from Facebook to start a business that sells fresh fruit.
Due to the difficult financial circumstances brought on by the pandemic, she also agreed to receive payments in instalments. Since she first opened her doors for business, her revenue has soared by a factor of two hundred.
Ms Eena Khalil: Innovation and Networking
Eena Khalil produces railway sleepers. At the height of the pandemic, her company, Mastrak, decided to shut down like many others. On the other hand, Ms Khalil did all in her power to keep all her employees and make constructive use of the downtime.
Through her training at Empretec, she learned how to set clear goals, be creative, and make the most of the power of networking.
“The most important thing for any entrepreneur is the ability to create goals for themselves.” She said that “you have to have a clear idea of what it is that you want to accomplish.”
She instructed her staff, as a first step, to get in touch with both their customers and their suppliers to better understand their requirements and to deepen their ties. She also did more research on how the company could grow in the future as the market grows.
The production time for the company was set back by five months, but thanks to her clear vision and plan, the company was able to get back on schedule by the time lockdowns were lifted in late 2021.
Final Takeaways
We hope that after reading the stories of these successful women entrepreneurs, you will be inspired to start your own dream business and become successful as well.
From their success stories, we learned that knowledge and training play an important role when it comes to taking a business to success.
Knowledge and training empower entrepreneurs to move forward and give them the innovative ideas and networking opportunities they need in the highly competitive business world.
AIMST University, an award-winning university in Malaysia, offers quality business and management programs, such as a diploma in business, foundation in business, bachelor of marketing, bachelor of accounting and finance, diploma in finance, and more.
For further information, please feel free to schedule an appointment with our friendly and helpful course counsellors.
