Thriving business for some industries during pandemic
KUALA LUMPUR: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a number of businesses particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to shut down as they struggled with cash-flow issues, although some have survived the ordeal as the government and financial sector have thrown them various lifelines to help them tide through the challenging times.
However, many small businesses and micro-enterprises especially in sectors such as food and beverage, hygiene and safety products and hobby-related activities such as baking have thrived.
Most of them are the ones who were bold enough to take the opportunities during the global crisis, at the same time, creatively adapting to the current situations by providing lots of products and services to help the people manage their daily lives especially during the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) from March 18.
They switched to e-commerce fast and completely flipped the scenario to their advantage.
Malaysians, in general, are also conscious about their health and personal safety as data showed that products from the healthcare and wellness category saw booming sales during the period.
KBeautyOriginal Sdn Bhd assistant director Aini Wardiah Md Wazilah said that during the MCO implementation of the first wave, the company received a spike in demand, making decent profits with double to triple the return of investment, from March up until May this year.
With many non-essential businesses facing restrictions during the lockdown and most people staying home to keep themselves safe, Malaysians resort to making their purchases via online retailers.
“Before the MCO, our sales were around RM120,000 per month.
However, since the MCO began, our sales had gone up to RM250,000 to RM400,000 per month,” she told Bernama.
The adaptation to e-commerce, she said, is helping the business to run well without hassle or restrictions especially during the MCO.
The company focused on ecommerce to attract customers who were looking for beauty and healthcare products while spending their time at home.
However, after the government introduced the Recovery MCO and Conditional MCO, its sales in July dropped to RM150,000 to RM180,000 per month.
For information technology analyst, Liyana Ramli, 35, she found herself with a lot of free time which she felt could be used to focus on getting extra income even before the pandemic hit.
Being a part-time entrepreneur, she took the opportunity to make a fortune by selling a unique door gift and mini ‘sejadah’ or prayer mat – gifts for any event.
She was making a decent profit when there was a spike in demand starting from the implementation of the MCO when she received thousands of orders.
“I started this door gift business towards the end of 2017 and received a sudden surge in demand during the MCO up until the Recovery MCO with more than RM70,000 profit per month.
“My customers bought the mini sejadah for wedding ceremonies before the pandemic hit us.
Although they can’t hold the ceremony during the MCO, they can still keep them,” she told Bernama.
After much research on how to market her products online, Liyana started to offer her products online via Facebook, Instagram and Shoppe named @doorgiftmurah_2018, in the hope of going beyond traditional marketing.
“My return on investment is giving me a big smile.