How to Start a Small Business in Malaysia?

How to Start a Small Business in Malaysia

Malaysia is a country situated in South East Asia; this country has one of the best business environments. It is tough to resist the temptation to start the business in Malaysia and small business is a popular one. However, you have to follow some specific guidelines for starting a online small business in Malaysia. In this article, we are going to discuss the easy steps for how to start a small business in Malaysia in details.

Online Business Plan

Many startup business owners ignore the importance of the business plan, while this is one of the significant factors for beginning any new business. A good business plan helps you to visualize where your business is going. Your business plan should include the followings. Market study of the product or the service that you would like to initiate into the market.

  • Gather market data and check the existing competitors and their segment of the business.
  • Research on your potential customers and check their requirements and specific choices
  • Estimate the potential price that you would like to receive for your product or service
  • Estimate the required capital amount.
  • How much time you may provide to your new business?

Nowadays the internet is a great tool and you may find lots of potential samples and guidelines for writing a good business plan.

Choose a Right Business Vehicle

After deciding the business type, you should choose a business vehicle for your business. There are few options to choose from such as a private limited company (Sdn Bhd), Sole proprietorship and partnership. Each one of them got specific requirements, costs, and benefits and you need to research and choose the best one for you. Please note that a few restrictions may apply based on if you are a local or foreigners in Malaysia.

Financial Cost Analysis

Financial Cost Analysis

You should conduct a financial analysis of your potential business. Many people do this along with the business plan. However, this is better to do the financial analysis separately. Your financial analysis should include the next three years budgeting and the projection of business growth. You should analyze the detail cash flow for the business and include the auxiliary costs for the business. Your analysis should be realistic in nature and move along with your budget. Financial analysis helps you to reduce the unnecessary costs and prevents the surprise cost that may arise in the future. The startup cost for the business should be very low and this is the basic key for succeeding in small business.

Naming your Business

A good name is essential for any business and this is one of the hardest things to do. The name of the business portraits the image of the company and connects the customer emotionally with the business. The business name is the basic steps for any business and this makes your business unique compared to other businesses. Your business should have the right tone that goes with your product and services.

Select your Business Premises

A most small business starts from the home office scenario and this includes single person do the job. However, if your business requires you to meet customers than you should have a business premises or office space. This step is essential for any business and you should have the precise plan and research work before choosing your business premises. Your research should include the space requirements for your business, the location for the business. Does your business require a rural area or the popular city area? Do you need an office or a shop? Is the rental cost of the premises is within your budget limit? You also should consider the factors such as,

  • The availability of public transport in surrounding areas
  • Is there enough parking around your business?
  • Is there any nearby amenities available?
  • How is the security scenario?
  • Do you have enough space for future expansion for your business?
  • How easy for you to get skilled workforces in that area.
  • The distance of business from your home etc.

Source of Finance for the Business

Many small business owners start their business with self-financing or the financing from the family. If you are looking for another source of finance then you should plan and make all necessary consideration for the capital requirements for the new business. Usually, the findings for the small business comes from the following sources and these are,

  • Self-investment from the personal savings
  • Financing from the available personal asset
  • Government grant
  • Borrowing money from friends and family
  • Investors

Licensing Your Business

Licensing Your Business

Now that you have a business plan with a good business name, financial analysis, source or capital and business premises. The next step of starting a small business is to acquire business license from the local authorities or governments. The Registration and licensing requirements may vary based on the type of business you wish to conduct. Please note that the Registration and Registration is a separate procedure.

Regardless of the type of business you conduct in Malaysia, you have to register your business with local authority and then acquire the required business license. In general, case, if you are running a shop then must apply for the trading and signboard license even if your shop located in a shopping mall or inside a commercial building. If you are running a restaurant or small café with hall food then you should acquire a license of hall certification.

Know Workplace Laws

If your business requires you to hire employees then you need to know the work laws in Malaysia. There are many good resources available in online or in local bookstores where you may get the full details on this regard. Additionally, you need to know, how to hire good employees, interview technique and the code of conduct of the workplace.

Making a webpage for your business

Making a webpage for your business

Nowadays the general motto is, if your business is not available online then very soon you will be out of business. It is essential to develop a webpage for your business and this requires a domain name and hosting services. Your webpage should have all the necessary information for your customers such as the products you are selling or the services you are offering. Your website should have the facility that your customers may contact you from anywhere in the world anytime. You may do this by placing a contact us tab in your website and place the FAQ option. This may provide your customers with the general answers that you may hear from your customers. A successful website has the following features.

  • The domain name of the website should be attractive and easy to remember.
  • The pages of the site should be well design and very structured in nature.
  • You need to choose a good hosting server provider
  • The content of the site should be SEO based.
  • You need to fulfill the expectation of the users who visit your site.
  • Your site should contain all the helpful information
  • And finally, consider the security issues especially if you are running an e-commerce site.

Marketing for your Business

Marketing for your Business

Your business needs constant marketing and promotion work. You may begin the promotion work with your close friends, relatives, and co-workers. You need to spread the word that you are starting a new venture and you are selling and offering the services.

In next stage you may consider the paid promotion by using different online services such as the Google ads, Facebook advertisement, etc. you may also write good blog contents, press release and may provide give away products to the customers. This promotion work may go along with the sale such as you offer a certain amount of discount for the first few hundreds of customers on a specific location. 

Lists of Small Business in Malaysia

Lists of Small Business in Malaysia

There are many small business possibilities available in Malaysia. Here we are providing a list of small business in Malaysia.

Start a Small Restaurant or Café – Rich or Poor everyone requires to have food and restaurant and café can be a good business, to begin with. The capital requirements for the business may vary with the type of restaurant or café.

Cloth making or Fashion Services – Nowadays, people wish to get the different outfit on different occasion and cloth making and fashion services are getting popular day by day. Many small business owners are making a good living with this type of business.

Real Estate Service Agent – you may begin these types of business with a one time or a commission basis for consultation on houses, apartment’s rooms, offices etc. You just need a good contact and right information for running this kind of business.

Laundry Service Provider – Many working-class people do not have time for cleaning their clothes especially for the area where power service interrupted. If you have adequate area then you may start this type of business with very low investment.

House Cleaning Services – Many house owner or offices welcomes the professional cleaning service agency. You need to arrange with the firms and hire an employee for cleaning home office environments, cleaning the floor carpets etc. if you are able to provide good service then very soon you okay have a good audience.

Custom Jewelry Making - You can start making custom jewelry and sell the product to different gift shops, outlet etc. you may explore the e-commerce section and send the product to your customer by using the courier service.

Stating a Game Shop for video Game Playing – The Game shop is a popular concept for small business. However, you have to invest full time in this trend. Many people come to a game shop for playing computer, Nintendo, x box, etc. The shop needs to be well decorated, and you may charge the customer based on the location of your business.

Fish Farming – Fish is one of the popular sources of protein and in last years, many people grow their fortunes by cultivating the fishes. Fish got very low cholesterol and they are trendy among the customers. You have to have a land space and know-how for this type of business.

Apps and Webpage Development – Nowadays almost every type of business got a webpage and they need a developer for the development process. If you have the skill then easily you can start this business and make a website for others.

Daycare Center for the Children – If you love kids also love to hang with you, then you may begin a daycare center. Many working people like to have their child cared in a home environment while parents are at work. If your home has, unoccupied space, then you can start talking with your neighbors and friends and provide such services. Simple lift lets or handbills may work as well for spreading the message.

Computer Training Provider – The computer becomes part of our everyday’ s life and many people are willing to learn the computer for their personal and office uses. Probably in your neighborhood, you may find many computers illiterate. You need a spare computer and space. Then you can start training people full time or at weekends.

Electrical Wiring or Electrician – A modern society living on a building requires frequent electrical servicing and also requires to repair their electric machinery such as radio, TV, fridges, etc. so if you can repair small electronic machines or solve the problem in electrical lines, then you may earn a good living from it. The investment is very little for the tools and equipment.

Other Popular Small Business Ideas in Malaysia

In below the list provides few other popular small business ideas in Malaysia.

  • Gift Box Making
  • Beauty Parlor or Saloon
  • Event Management or Wedding Planner
  • Graphics Design
  • Interior Designer
  • Cyber Café Service Provider
  • Repair and Selling of Second-Hand Materials
  • Proof Reading and book publishing
  • Start a Poultry Farm
  • Candy Production
  • Candle Production
  • Pearl Culture
  • Making Plantain Chip
  • Making Aquarium Business
  • Video making Services
  • Toy making for Children
  • Phone and Electronics Repairing Services

How to start online business?

Well, any nature of business start up must complete legal formalities as like company incorporation and relevant business licenses. After then, the following must consider:

  1. Place
  2. Budget
  3. Plan
  4. Price
  5. Promotion
  6. Website
  7. Payment gateway

Place: Yes, although your business is online base but still, you must have a shop or physical place where customers can come to order. Physical presence make customers more trust on it. In case of online place, find a suitable place, social media or paid advertisement platform which is cost effective.

Budget: Every nature of businesses budget is required to operate whole process. Buy goods, physical place, website and promotion in online must a budget is needed.

Plan: To start an online or offline business smart plan always helps to reach in goal. Plan for start up, estimated cost, find a online platform, 3-6 months investment, target customers and so on.

Price: Customers like to buy quality products within discount price. So, price is major role of selling goods. Customers will come, ask for price and leave because of price comparison. Know your competitors to setup price.

Promotion: Keep budget to promote your products in social media or Google or suitable place.

Website: Build fresh, good looking website to display goods with description. Take pictures of goods and post in website. Ask customers to submit reviews who purchased any item.

Payment gateway: Contact payment gateway company to integrate gateway making facilitate online payment.

What business should I start online?

The following businesses can start online:

  1. Meat selling
  2. Laptop (instalment payment facility)
  3. Tour plan (Instalment payment)
  4. Air-condition & fridge service (receive order online)
  5. Cosmetics
  6. Games (Apps)
  7. Cloths
  8. Office & home furniture
  9. Specific food (not all items)
  10. Tree plantation

Business in Malaysia is profitable, but registering a business is a bit completed. As a foreigner, you may not know the complete procedures of the business Registration process. However, S & F consulting service is always there to help you out with the Registration of a company process in many countries including Malaysia. So, if you face any problems related to company registering, business advisory, account service contact S & F.

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