THE Covid-19 pandemic has impacted most businesses to the point some of them nearly went under.
“Choctopbychedora” online shoe boutique entrepreneur, Che Idora Ismail is no exception as her business was also hit hard by the Movement Control Order (MCO), with sales slumping almost 80%.
The business downturn, however, did not dishearten this tough micro businesswoman who continues to take advantage of online promotions via personalities called ‘influencers’ and Facebook Ads until the company managed to recover its lost sales due to the imposition of MCO.
The MCO which was to contain the spread of Covid-19 outbreak in the country began on March 18 and is now entering its 34rd day. It is slated to end on April 28.
“The order was very slow at that time (MCO) but thankfully our sales recovered like what was before the MCO period,” she told Bernama, adding that her company generated between RM15,000-RM20,000 sales per-month.
Che Idora, who managed the company with the help of an employee said, “Choctopbychedora” which never received assistance from the government before this, had applied for Micro/i Kredit Prihatin funding offered by the Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN.
The funding aims to help micro-entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
“If we get the funding, we hope to increase the capital and spend more to increase our stock as well as promotion,” she explained.
The Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when announcing the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Measure (Additional) for the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) also announced the abolishment of the 2.0% interest rate for the BSN Micro/i Kredit Prihatin.
Under the financing scheme, BSN offers maximum financing of RM75,000 per-entrepreneur with a term of loan or financing ranging from one to 5.5 years to all micro-entrepreneurs in various segments. – April 20, 2020, Bernama
