Catalytic push to create home-grown champions

Source from (Business Times): http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/HFHF/Article/

Published: August 27, 2012

MY recent one-week Hari Raya break was not a break one would imagine. It was filled with lots of activties, only that this time it was among family members. Work schedules which typically encroach into weekends sometimes did not permit me to catch up with family members on their latest development. In my most recent infamous Hari Raya Open House, one of them even took the opportunity to open a counter to sell "tudung" (head scarves)! No time nor opportunity was wasted!

I am happy to see that the acculturation of entrepreneurship now has infiltrated the young. Irrespective of age or gender, the world is now being introduced to a landscape where business once upon a time was only meant for school dropouts or leavers.

Today, the economic climate has changed as we now witness children, including those from rich corporate families who themselves are graduates, driving the business.

This new paradigm shift is very much welcomed as we wish to see a set of a new generation of young business leaders heading local conglomerates.

As one would imagine, starting a business is no easy task. In this ever changing economy, small businesses are presented with new forms of challenges that might limit their growth, if they fail to overcome it.

As a young entrepreneur, recognising the problems and finding solutions to the obstacles faced is the key to sustain in business.

In fact, without us realising it, more often than not, there are indeed opportunities that lie behind these challenges. Never give up and be afraid if you come across any challenges because "a challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it". Ray Davis

If it is of any comfort, in my interaction with international delegates across the globe, l found that irrespective of the geographical location one comes from, SMEs and small businesses everywhere and anywhere face the same issues and challenges - access to market, finance, infomation, technology as well as skilled human resource. What differentiate between them are the depth and breadth of each of those issues and challenges.

One common universal issue at any part of a business life cycle is of course getting the right and adequate funding. Although the government and financial institutions have made available funds for both startups as well as for business expansion, SMEs and small businesses still complain that they find it difficult to access to those funds.

These small businesses claim that it's almost like "money, money everywhere; but not a 'sen' I can access it". Yet, the irony is Bank Negara Malaysia reported that approval of business loans from both the commercial and development banks is about 84 per cent, not including those approved by Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia and TEKUN for micro-enterprises.

Another challenge faced by small businesses and SMEs is getting the right talent and retaining them.

Given the fact that the government has announced that the minimum wage for the private sector, I have come across many business owners taking the extra mile offering other benefits to attract and retain talents - including introducing annual bonuses, providing training as well as ensuring a conducive and supportive working environment.

These small businesses indeed have to compete head on with the "big boys" as they offer better remuneration and employment benefits.

Hence, to ensure that high potential growth firms get through the obstacles in the shortest possible time, the Catalyst Programme has been specifically designed to facilitate companies to emerge as home-grown champions.

The programme, which is the fifth of the six high impact programmes (HIPs) of the SME Masterplan, is intended to handhold and provide a comprehensive support to transform high growth firms to become the nation's gems.

It is designed to remove market barriers and provide targeted assistance to ensure that small businesses and SMEs expand and grow their businesses in the shortest possible time.

As we roll out this programme, current assistances such as the High Performing Bumiputera Companies (TeraS) by Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) and the Green Lane Policy for Innovative SMEs by Miti and Ministry of Finance (MOF) will be expanded to potential SMEs across all economic sectors and strategic areas.

The targeted approach in this programme will include providing potential SMEs with total support in the areas of bank guarantee, financing, procurement, talent as well as mentoring. To ensure that only the potential high growth businesses are selected to participate in this programme, selection process will leverage on existing diagnostic tools, like SME Corp's SME Competitiveness Rating For Enhancement (SCORE) as well as 1-Innovation Certification for Enterprise Rating and Transformation (1-innoCERT).

The Catalyst Programme will have a clear exit mechanism for firms that have achieved the intended results and for those who did not succeed.

To all businesses out there, I tend to agree with Mark Victor Hansen's views that "Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful."

So, let's get our acts together and take each step at a time. We hope that with full implementation of the HIPs stated in the SME Masterplan throughout the period of 2012-2020, more global champions will be created, and of course, more gems will be polished along the way!

Before I pen off and as we are still in the first week of Syawal, I would like to wish our muslim brothers and sisters a "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, ma'af dzahir dan batin"!

Datuk Hafsah Hashim is the chief executive officer of Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp Malaysia).