Open For Business

Last week, we spoke to Joachim Sebastian, managing director of Everpeaks Consulting about a letter he wrote to the PM, which highlighted the red tape that SMEs would have to go through in order to get some of the benefits announced in the Prihatin Stimulus Package. In light of the most recent addition to the stimulus package - one which is more focused on helping SMEs - Joachim joins us again on the show to share whether he thinks it addresses the issues he previously brought up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 26th of March, AirAsia released an announcement that it was enacting a temporary hibernation of most of its fleet for the time being. However, AirAsia’s online marketplace OURSHOP and its cargo and logistics platform Teleport are currently remaining operational, with Teleport utilising passenger aircraft to transport medical aid and protective equipment intended for hospitals and frontline emergency responders at selected destinations.    We managed to speak to Teleport CEO, Pete Charoenwongsak, about the adjustments Teleport are making currently and how the logistics sector is being affected.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freda speaks to Jeevan Sahadevan for the first Monday of the month as per usual, but in this show they focus on 8 keys for entrepreneurs to survive & thrive during the MCO. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Malaysia fights the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, usage of face masks by medical personnel and the general public has surged through the roof. Me.reka Makerspace, part of an association of decentralized ‘mask printers’, has flipped their premises to mass produce masks using 3D printers. We speak to Makerlab Coordinator, She Tze Jin, about the challenges of producing so many masks, getting printers together, and tackling this pandemic together in the time of an MCO.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On our first episode of Extraordinary Endeavor, we hear from Chen Chow Yeoh (CC), Co-Founder of Fave on how to plan for a better Q2 in light of the difficulties entrepreneurs face since the beginning of 2020. Asking the tough questions in this episode is Nadhir Ashafiq, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of TheLorry & Azarol Faizi, Founder and CEO of Bateriku.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While a vast majority of retailers around the country struggle with a dip in earnings during the MCO period, there are retailers - especially non-essential retailers that only operate out of malls - who find themselves with no choice but to close during this period. And a prolonged period of closure right now means zero cash flow for these businesses, and possible insolvency in the near future. We catch up with  Joseph Sun of Noodle Shack & Gwei Tze-Co from Astra Baby to see how the MCO has affected their businesses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this week, the Shopping Malls Association of Malaysia told the Malaysian Insight that shopping malls nationwide could incur losses in excess of RM2 billion after the movement control order (MCO) is lifted. This is taking into account the recovery period and loss of purchasing power, adding on the fact that it will take a considerable time for rehabilitation and recovery, and for shoppers to return. Today, we speiak to its president, Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok to better understand the mall operators perspective on this.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Without dine-in customers during this MCO period, some 200,000 F&B outlets in Malaysia are facing a massive cash flow problem. This is why Storehub launched Beep Delivery; a solution that will enable thousands of F&B businesses to take online orders from their customers for delivery or pickup, handing them a lifeline during the partial lockdown. We speak to Storehub Chieftain Fong Wai Hong about this overnight initiative and how it’s helping small businesses power through the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GOLOG is an online logistics and delivery platform that connects logistics users and service providers. They started out as a B2B only company but during this MCO period, they saw an opportunity and went into the B2C market, providing logistics and leveraging on their peer-to-peer platform, almost like a ride-sharing service for logistics. We speak to them on how they have stepped up and assisted various farmers and food producers in continuing their operations and more importantly, going online.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Friday, the Prime Minister unveiled the new Package Prihatin/stimulus package in hopes of preserving the economy and mitigating unemployment. Some of the initiatives introduced in the package include tax instalment and EPF contribution deferrals, additional allocations to the Special Relief Facility and micro-credit financing for SMEs. But are these all working? Recently one of our previous guests on Open For Business, Joachim Sebastian, the Managing Director of Everpeaks wrote an open letter, titled "A Letter to Our PM from an SME" on his portal; we managed to speak to him about it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.