^{Zaharah Zainuddin, Managing Director of Akie Group Sdn Bhd with her husband, Mohd Izzuddin Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer of Akie Group Sdn Bhd}


KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Bernama) -- Agrobank Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) continue to be proactive and restrategising their businesses smartly to remain relevant especially in coping with the changes in the standard operating procedures (SOPs) based on the current situation in curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Sharing experiences in managing their businesses during the movement control order (MCO), Zaharah Zainuddin, Managing Director of Akie Group Sdn Bhd and Norsyakirah Othman, Manager at Wezlay Enterprise appeared as panels to discuss on the topic: "Setahun Pandemik Covid-19: Tips Berdaya Saing dan Formula Bergerak Kehadapan” in the first series of the UMBI AGRO 2021 programme held via Facebook LIVE Agrobank on Thursday, 27 May. The an hour and half dialogue session was moderated by Rosli Jusoh, Head of Centre of Excellence Agrobank (ACE).
 
Both businesswomen who have been active in the manufacturing and sales of muslim frozen food industry for about six years shared the same sentiment that entrepreneurs should lift themselves from the comfort zone and restrategise their sales techniques to ensure the continuity of their business even though there is a reduction in the total sales in this uncertain situation due to the pandemic.
 
Zaharah Zainuddin who produces burger patties under the brand name of Akie Burger said, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many businesses around the world and it must not be looked at as a major problem, instead entrepreneurs look for solutions to ensure the sustainability of their business and kept up under any circumstances.
 
“For example throughout this MCO period, the government has limited business hours to 8:00 pm only. This move has affected many small business owners to operate as usual, this applies to us at Akie Burger as well. We have 68 entrepreneurs working under us and most burger stalls operate at night. Therefore, I cannot decide not to continue working as usual, I will continue to operate by business as usual and rearrange the schedule of my workers so that they are able to work at the factory to process burger patties”.
 
“I am confident that in any circumstances, there will be customers and if it is not today, we may have customers tomorrow. As for me, most important is to gain consistent sales, though it may not be much but I have to be patient to face this situation.  Yet when opportunities open up in the future, entrepreneurs should quickly seize the opportunity and double-up their efforts in increasing the sales of their business,” she added.
 
She said, entrepreneurs must be efficient in managing their finances and expenses, while act smartly in seizing opportunities to obtain financial aids offered by the government as financing facilities to assist Malaysian SMEs affected by COVID-19 and moratorium to sustain their businesses.
 
Meanwhile, Norsyakirah Othman from Wezlay Enterprise who produces frozen and baked pizza said, she had to shut down her business for one month during the early stages of MCO in March last year, and faced difficulty paying up salaries.
 
“At that time, I could not pay off their salaries, however with the government financial assistance and continuous support from Agrobank, I managed to get out of that situation and today I am able to compete on par with the leading pizza brands in Malaysia by offering 20 types of pizza suiting local and western flavours.
 
“I had to restructure my business, I appointed sales agents consisting of housewives in areas around Jengka, Pahang. I had to change my target customers from university students to family groups and I moved my premises to a larger space in order to comply with the SOPs set by the government. In addition, I also provide food delivery services to my customers,” she said.
 
Sharing her motivation that helped her strive harder to be at a better position compared to the year before, she said, the crucial situation of COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not a barrier for a person to succeed, in fact entrepreneurs should focus on other factors such as satisfaction obtained by taking into account feedback from customers, the spirit of not giving up and using the power of social media to market products to their targeted groups.
 
 
ABOUT AGROBANK

Agrobank is a leader in agriculture financing and values-based banking based (VBI)* in Malaysia. Established in 1969, Agrobank is actively involved in charting the growth and development of Malaysia’s agriculture industry by offering shariah compliant products and solutions across various customer segments including corporate, commercial, consumer, trade finance and micro financing customers. Agrobank is a full-fledged Islamic bank since 1st July 2015.
 
As a market driven, customer-centric DFI (Development Financial Institution) with a primary focus on strengthening the agriculture sector in Malaysia, Agrobank strikes an equal balance to its developmental and commercial roles to benefit the agriculture sector. Agrobank provides a comprehensive repertoire of financing solutions for the agriculture community; that includes upstream activities related to primary food and commodities-based agriculture activities to downstream activities such as processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural products.
 
Agrobank also offers retail banking financing solutions to improve the well-being of the agriculture community. This is done through its network of 192 customer touch points including 138 branches, 1 agro banking, 1 virtual banking, 10 commercial financing centre, 34 kiosk, 8 agro corners & agro point.  
 
In 2019, Agrobank celebrates its golden jubilee Anniversary, as it marks 50 years of its proud establishment developing the agro industry.  
 
www.agrobank.com.my
  
* VBI or value-based intermediation is an initiative by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) which aims to improve the products and services offered by Islamic financial institutions towards a better facilitation of entrepreneurship, community well-being, sustainable environment and economic growth, without compromising on shareholders’ returns.
 
Issued by Strategic Communications Department, Agrobank
 

SOURCE : Agrobank

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Shahreen Rahim
Section Head of Public Relations, Strategic Communications Department, Agrobank
Tel : 03-2731 1600 (ext 1660) / +6012 943 6217
Email : shahreen.rahim@agrobank.com.my
 
Name : Rasheffa Rashid
Executive, Public Relations, Strategic Communications Department, Agrobank
Tel : 03-2731 1600 (ext 1650 / +019 272 9907
Email : rasheffa@agrobank.com.my
 
--BERNAMA