KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 ― For many F&B businesses, 2015-16 has not been easy. With many consumers tightening their belts, food businesses have found the going tough.
In addition, GST implementation, increase in the price of staples, and reduction in subsidies for oil have also caused input costs to go up.
But two women-owned small businesses, Niza’s Creation and Farni’s Nasi Kukus are beating the odds, and managing to grow their businesses beyond their immediate areas ― and they are doing it the high-tech way.
Instead of the making the risky move of expanding with new outlets, these women are scaling up their business using local technology platforms.
Niza’s Creation is a food and catering business that uses RecomN.com, a platform that helps customers find reliable service professionals for events, weddings and home improvement. And Farni’s Nasi Kukus delivers many of its orders via GoGet.my, a point-to-point delivery service.
The owner of Niza’s Creation, Hasniza Hamzah started as a home-baker in 2013. She started her business small by taking online requests for custom-made cakes and desserts, as well as catering requests for events.
“The very first request that I received through RecomN was just for a small cake, but I gladly accepted it. The size of the order and the price is secondary when you are doing business. The fact that you are given the opportunity to provide your service and show your product is more important in the long run,” she said.
From that initial online request, her business has expanded vigorously. Today, she owns a café/bakery in Shah Alam that serves Halal international cuisine. Even today, she still continues to get catering and cake orders through the RecomN.com platform.
For Rosnani, the owner of Farni’s Nasi Kukus in Bukit Damansara, her journey to entrepreneurship was done out of necessity to feed her six children.
“I travelled from Kelantan to the unfamiliar state of Kuala Lumpur, in search of a fresh start,” Rosnani recalled. “In 2006, I started preparing packets of nasi kukus in the kitchen of my rented house and sold them to people who lived around my apartment.”
Initially she was flying solo and catered to only a small market near her home. Not long after, she met Farid, her business-partner, who in time, became her husband.
Today, her stall is up and running by 10.30am and her food is usually sold out by 1.30pm. The average number of nasi kukus sold in a day could range from 60 to 90 packets. Her stall has been featured in Malay Mail Online as well as in Going Places, Malaysia Airline’s in-flight magazine.
When asked about how GoGet.my has helped her business, she smiles fondly.
“I knew about GoGet because there was a man who would come by the stall often and purchase several packets at once. He told me that he was a GoGetter (a term used for couriers making pickups and deliveries on the platform). I did not have any delivery service, but GoGet has created one for me automatically.”
“I find it interesting how people can just surf the web on their phones or devices and request for help or anything they need last minute!”
Times may be tough, but these ladies show resilience and creativity in growing their customers beyond their immediate catchment area ― while satisfying the food cravings of Malaysians all over Klang Valley.
