KUALA LUMPUR: At 27, Selvestone Junit dreamt of running an eco-resort business in his hometown, but lacked the funding and technical know-how to get started.
Fortunately, the Sabah-born participated in the Rural Business Challenge Programme organised by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKLW), which enabled him to win a RM500,000 in grant to realise his dream.
Today, Selvestone runs the Panorama Paradise Resort in Kota Marudu and is among small and medium entrepreneurs to have benefited from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Masterplan (2012 to 2020), overseen by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp Malaysia).
In recognising that many Malaysian youths possess great talent, SME Corp Malaysia formulated the masterplan, with the strategy to develop more competitive SMEs to compete on a global platform.
Under the masterplan, six High Impact Programmes (HIP) and 26 supporting initiatives were mapped out towards transforming the SMEs into ‘game changers’, and fit contenders against international players.
The HIP 1: Integration of Business Registration and Licensing, culminated in the MalaysiaBiz Portal, a single gateway platform which served as the first step for local entrepreneurs into the industry. It allowed enterprising individuals like Selvestone to obtain legitimate advice to establish their business plan in three easy steps.
Selvestone’s own initial attempts to kick-start his enterprise was met with disappointment due to limited experience.
“I had no support network and no marketing experience. I learned by trial and error and by networking with those with better business experience and know-how and also with various government agencies and non-governmental organisations all over Sabah,” he said.
He believes the government initiative will assist others gain a foothold in their business. “We must know thoroughly the business we are in. Otherwise, we can be easily cheated or manipulated by others.
“Many aspiring entrepreneurs want to do business, but have no clear motivation or plans. Without a clear objective and business plan, failure is inevitable,” he said.
The MalaysiaBiz Portal covers licensing information for some 1,174 business activities under the Malaysia Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (MSIC 2008), as prepared by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The information includes licensing regulations across the federal, state and local authority levels.
The HIP 1 is an inter-agency effort led by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) in collaboration with SME Corp Malaysia, Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and state governments.
Following the launch of the MalaysiaBiz Portal in Sabah in July this year and Sarawak the following month, the conceptualisation under the HIP 1 is now complete. This was made possible after a year-long effort at conducting engagement sessions with SMEs in Peninsular Malaysia from May 2016.
Another successful SME story is Malaysian Yoghurt Company Sdn Bhd from Negeri Sembilan. Starting out in 1983, the first batch of the product was manufactured in a small home kitchen.
After 34 years, it has grown to become an equal contender to imported yogurt brands and now available on supermarket shelves. Malaysian Yoghurt was awarded the Best SME (Negeri Sembilan) at the Safe Food Expo 2015 and ranked 11th at the SME Corp Malaysia Enterprise 50 (E50) Award 2016. — Bernama
