Tekun CBRM a boon for two-decade kek lapis business, other Sarawak SMEs
KUCHING: Sarawak kek lapis (layer cake) entrepreneur Zubaidah Sahadar, 55, was at her wits end on how to keep her two-decade-old business afloat during the Covid-19 outbreak owing to lack of income, especially during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Having founded the business herself, she did not want to see it closed down as it had been her source of income for so long, and she considered dipping into her savings over the years to tide things over.
Her predicament was not unique to just her alone, as many from the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector were equally struggling due to the economy coming to a standstill.
Fortunately for Zubaidah, she did not have to dip into her savings after the government announced the Covid Business Recovery – Micro (CBRM) scheme and Pakej Rangsangan Ekonomi Prihatin Rakyat (Prihatin), for which she received RM10,000 and RM3,000 respectively.
The CBRM scheme, under the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun), was launched April 8 with the aim of assisting SMEs and micro enterprises affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, with a zero-interest loan of up to RM10,000.
"I started this business ‘Zue Kek Lapis Sarawak’ 21 years ago as a home-based business. I am still baking at home and the cakes are sold at my rented store. I have two daily paid workers – one to man the store and one to help with baking.
"I am thankful for the assistance given as they can help improve cash flow. I really struggled at the start of the MCO as I had three wedding doorgift orders cancelled and ended up giving the cakes away to people and frontliners as ‘sedekah’ (donation)," she said.
Zubaidah said many of her pre-ordered cakes for Hari Raya Aidilfitri were also cancelled as open houses were not allowed during the Conditional MCO, adding she still had to pay rent for her store at Medan Niaga Satok during the MCO period, albeit with some discount.
With the CMCO in force beyond the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, she said she suffered 50 per cent loss of sales compared to the year before, with only an increase in orders from customers in Peninsular Malaysia helping her to get by.
“The assistance I received will be used to cover my costs, buy face masks, cleaning supplies as well as thermometer to comply with the standard operating procedure.
“I will also be putting some aside for similar unexpected situations in the future.”
Meanwhile, local furniture retailer Empire Furniture benefitted from Bank Negara's Special Relief Fund and wage subsidy programme under the Penjana economic recovery plan.
Its owner Sammantha Paulus said the company qualified for wage subsidy for 25 out of its 28 workers, all of whom received full pay despite the company not operating throughout the MCO period.
For sales staff, they still received their basic pay with the rest coming from sales commissions, she said.
Under the Penjana plan, RM5 billion was allocated for subsiding the wages of Malaysian employees earning RM4,000 and below a month.
Companies employing more than 200 workers will receive RM600 per retained worker while those employing between 75 and 200 employees will get RM800 per worker. Those with fewer than 75 employees will receive RM1,200 per worker.
“We feel some relief as the funds and subsidy helped to reduce our burden, having not opened for business during the MCO.
“We still had to pay for rent for all three of our showrooms but we did get some discount," Sammantha said.
Sammantha said Empire Furniture opened for business in 2007 with one showroom before expanding to a few branches. A few branches have closed down, replaced by new ones in new areas.
She said their reopening right before the Hari Raya and Gawai festive period brought in some sales, but this could not compare to figures from previous years.
“We had a decrease in sales this festive season. I don't have the figure, but it definitely went down.
“This year we were expecting more because Hari Raya and Gawai were back-to-back. Our business volume comes in during festive seasons as people will change furniture in time for their respective celebrations,” she said.
Sammantha said the assistance received from the government gave the company cash flow and working capital to bring in new stock, adding the company would have had to otherwise use its reserve funds which would have been enough to sustain the business for only a few months.
When asked if the company would have had to retrench its workers had the aid not arrived in time, Sammantha said there was no thought of letting go of anyone.
“We are actually lacking staff, and in that sense, we cannot afford to let anyone go.”
She added the money received from the government would also go into buying thermometer guns for their showrooms, as well as cleaning supplies and face masks for staff, so as to comply with the standard operating procedures.
“As for social distancing, there is no issue as customers do not usually come in big crowds at any one time,” she said.