From traditional ‘kuih’ sellers to frozen food manufacturers
GEORGE TOWN: A dream for bigger things doesn't work unless you work for it.
This is true for Mahani Abu Bakar, 50, dan Mohd Samisi Ishak, 48, who began as smalltime traditional ‘kuih' sellers and can now smile with pride following their success in becoming a flourishing frozen food vendor.
For the couple who previously worked in a factory in Penang, the drive to succeed and numerous opportunities and assistance provided by the federal government agencies helped small and medium industries like theirs to thrive.
Realising that they were not equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills to become entrepreneurs, they enrolled into the Arau Community College, Perlis, and took turns attending a four-month course under the Northern Corridor Economic Region programme.
“We started our venture into the frozen food industry by selling only curry puffs and ‘roti canai'...equipped with only one table and a stove... we did everything manually,” said Mahani, who is better known as Che Ani, when met at her shop, here, recently.
Due to the financial challenges faced at the initial stage of their business in 2010, the couple took a loan of RM10,000 from the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) and RM15,000 in 2015.
With a capital of RM40,000 from their savings and sales proceeds, they bought a shop lot. After seven years, they are now operating their frozen food business at two shop lots in Sungai Dua, Seberang Perai, near here. They make 14 types of frozen food, namely, roti canai, ‘cucur kacang', ‘popia', ‘ondeonde', doughnuts, numerous types of curry puffs, and ‘murtabak' and ‘cucur badak'.
Che Ani said to ensure the quality of their products, they had secured halal certification and received guidance and motivation from the Agriculture Department, Veterinary Services Department, Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) and the Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA).
“We have also received help from the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU) under the Northern Corridor and RM29,000 from the Bumiputra Micro Entrepreneur Development Programme (MCash),” she added.
The couple who have children aged between 15 and 24, run their frozen food production business six days a week (except Sundays), producing 400 to 600 packets per day that are distributed to 31 outlets across the state.
“Behind every success story, there are various challenges faced...our greatest challenge came last year when our workers all resigned at the same instant, which resulted in us having to slog to meet the demand for our products.
“At that time, I nearly felt like giving up, but thanks to our patience and support received from all, we were able to rise again,” said Che Ani who now has eight local workers.
She said when the workers resigned, the next timeconsuming challenge was training the new workers.
When asked about the couple's future plans to expand their business outside of Penang, they said although they wanted to expand the market of their products, their hands were full with the current demand as they were understaffed. -