MCO: How small businesses are surviving

Immediately after the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced, many lost their main source of income, especially those doing their own business. Despite the challenges, some strive to persevere.

Single mother Zarina Che Ismail, 41, was quick to figure out another way to support her three children, one of whom is disabled.

The mother used to do multiple jobs including waiting tables, cleaning as well as selling clothes at a night market in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

Now, she does deliveries for her neighbours, and sells fruits and vegetables, which she buys from local farmers, such as watermelon, pineapples and cucumbers.

“If I’m lucky, I can get RM40 a day, but it depends on the orders I receive,” she said, adding that it was quite a struggle to get that amount.

In Putrajaya, freelance photographer Khairul Hizard Amirul Ihsan, 39, suffered a loss of at least RM18,000 after his clients cancelled their weddings and events.

“Due to the MCO, my clients had to either cancel or postpone their events up until August, and I had no choice but to refund their money, particularly to those who are supposed to have their events during the MCO period.”

However, Khairul is confident that he will bounce back after May, that is if the MCO is not extended again.

Although his business is deeply affected, Khairul had to think of alternatives to provide for his family of nine, which includes eight kids, aged from 3 months to 14 years old.

As the head of the family, he now takes up three jobs to make ends meet. He juggles between being a dropship seller, a grocery runner and providing printing services.

He sells masks and sanitisers too, but demand for these items have slowed compared with during the beginning of MCO. He spent almost RM10,000 on buying the items in bulk.

“I still have stocks for masks and sanitisers, which I am now selling as loose items,” he said, adding that he would stop stocking the two items, and would venture into selling cookies, which he ordered from a baker in Shah Alam, starting next week.

Khairul also takes grocery orders from his neighbours through social media.

He will round up the orders a night before, and do the shopping and delivery the next day with only a RM25 charge per house.

“Some are reluctant to go out during this period, so I help make their life easier,” he said, adding that he took the orders twice a week to abide by the MCO rules.

At home, Khairul provides printing service for parents, who want their kids’ schoolwork to be printed, for a minimum of 20 sen per page.

Things took a different turn for Siti Khalijah Mohd Yasin, 33. When the MCO was announced, the baker was devastated.

“I sold my pastries every day from Monday to Saturday from 7am to noon in front of Kolej Universiti Islam Zulkifli Muhammad in Gombak. But with the MCO, I couldn’t open my stall,” said the second child of nine siblings.

Siti Khalijah lives with her parents and four of her younger siblings in Taman Melewar, Gombak. Since her father’s retirement, she supports her family by selling pastries.

“My friends and family suggested that I sell my pastries online. So I challenged myself to start promoting my pastries on social media like Instagram and Facebook.”

To her surprise, she received good response, and her business is even better now.

At the stall, she said, a customer would normally spend RM10, but online, they order more to keep as stocks. She once received an order worth RM400.

She sells 16 types of pastries, including bread loaves, curry puffs and donuts. Her menu also includes roasted twisted chicken and briyani.

“Orders are closed at 6pm and I will start baking after maghrib prayers. The baking process takes around five to seven hours, depending on the orders,” she said, adding that she would collect orders a day before the delivery to ensure the freshness of her pastries.

Siti Khalijah said when she first started the delivery service, her younger brother helped her with the delivery, but to obey the MCO requirement, she started using Lalamove and Grab delivery services instead.

She said by using delivery services, she was able to send her freshly baked goods faster.

(source: nst.com.my)