Gorgeous Geeks digitizes Malaysian women entrepreneurs
KUALA LUMPUR: We are now living in a digital era. Digital technology is capable of changing the economy, government and all aspects of development.
About 90 percent of new jobs today require digital skills.
But almost 50 percent of the world’s population still cannot enjoy internet access, especially in developing countries and most of them are women.
The advancement of the internet can bring new opportunities for knowledge sharing and accumulation and can provide unlimited opportunities for economic development and social engagement through new tools and innovative thinking.
For that, Malaysian women need to be aware of the development of the computer world so that they do not fall behind in the development of the digital world.
The latest developments in digital technology lead to changes in existing business models and the creation of new ones, the introduction of new products and services and the improvement of business process efficiency which ultimately makes businesses more competitive.
To realize this goal, Gorgeous Geeks (GG) an NGO agency has collaborated with SME Corp Malaysia to recommend a program known as Women Netpreneur.
The main objective of this program is to ensure that women entrepreneurs keep abreast of changes in the emerging business landscape and follow the latest world developments such as megatrends that will permanently change business around the world.
This includes Industry 4.0, digitization and the collision of technologies, which is driving the rise in big data analytics, e-commerce and even financial technology (fintech).
This program which was generated by SME Corp started in 2013 but stopped for a while and was re-introduced in 2017 to focus on efforts in helping women entrepreneurs start and grow businesses online.
This program is implemented in collaboration with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) together with strategic partners such as Shopee, 11street, Lelong, Facebook, Buy Malaysia (MPay) and Global Halal Data Pool.
To date, a total of 2,280 female entrepreneurs have been trained through the Women Netpreneur program and of that number, 80 percent of the participants have successfully subscribed to the e-commerce platform to conduct business.
Gorgeous Geeks president Julia Koh said business owners need to ensure they don’t get left behind in the rapidly changing digital space.
The GG Netpreneur program will explore the latest trends, marketing and operational support to bring a high number of users to the women’s business platform as it can help increase more sales.
“We are very happy with the success produced by some women. It is good for participants to contribute to the country’s economic growth,” said Koh again.
She added that the epidemic of COVID-19 that hit the country caused the economy of various sectors to be affected, including women entrepreneurs.
Therefore, the objective of GG after the transition from pandemic to endemic is to re-empower the economy of the target group and improve the standard of living of women entrepreneurs.
“By undergoing courses and guidance, it can give participants (female entrepreneurs) confidence and be able to overcome challenges in business,” she said.
Among the participants of the program managed by Gorgeous Geeks is Cecelia Lagak.
Cecelia is the founder of CC Beauty who comes from Kapit, Sarawak.
She has been running his own business since 2015.
With the confidence and determination to enter a very demanding industry with several obstacles and challenges, the CC Beauty brand has grown in popularity and has been successfully exported to Indonesia, Beijing and Brunei.
Now CC Beauty already has Agent Stockists in almost every district and state.
The founder of CC Beauty has also received the Youth Entrepreneur of Hope Award organized by the Sarawak Bumiputera Entrepreneur Council Bintulu Branch.
This success boosts CC Beauty’s confidence, as the company has helped around 1,000 other traders in starting their businesses.
While participating in the training organized by Gorgeous Geeks, she learned more about the e-Commerce platform. He learned about other media and platforms for him to sell his products.
In addition, he can communicate better with outsiders.
During the program, he was able to make more friends and acquaintances with other participants. His website is now getting better as she has learned during the program.
Another Netpreneur participant, Noor Nisrinah Binti Ibrahim @ Kamaruddin, felt very lucky to be able to undergo training with GG.
According to him, six months after launching her extreme sports business, Zipline Sdn Bhd, he had to close it temporarily because the COVID-19 epidemic hit and caused the government to act by declaring a movement control order.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Nisrinah to change the way she runs her business for the sake of survival.
She realized that exploring the digital economy platform was the only way for her to market his business and it turned out that taking the Netpreneur training class was not in vain.
Participating in the class encouraged her to appear full of confidence.
Of course, the story that Celia and Nisrinah went through illustrates how online business is able to strengthen one’s own economy in addition to being able to increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
What is certain, a successful digital culture requires attitudes, values and behaviors to change thus reflecting the digital transformation agenda.
source – Astro Awani
