SMEs turn to digitalisation amid pandemic

Kuala Lumpur: The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the way small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operate and they are compelled to look for ways to survive, including by adopting digitalisation in their businesses. 

Forward School founder and chief executive officer Howie Chang said the Covid-19 pandemic had given the company a steep learning curve to provide online live-training and remote learning to its students in Southeast Asia. 

Established in 2019, Penang-based Forward School is an edutech startup which aims to equip web and mobile developers with industry-ready skills required for the fast-moving tech sector.

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“On the positive side, I guess internally it has sparked a wave of innovation. It has definitely sped some of the things up which we already had in mind. For example, during the lockdown we released the virtual classroom.

“Basically it was a month-long initiative that we ran the entire April whereby we released three webinars per day during the tough period that we were facing. We have benefitted over 1,000 attendees from different parts of Southeast Asia,” he said.

Chang said this at a webinar titled “Accelerating Digitalisation during Covid-19” today, adding that the company had achieved a quick turnaround by implementing remote learning. 

“We learnt a lot. We have implemented certain experiences that we think good for students and all of our alumni graduated successfully,” Chang said, adding that the pandemic had compelled the company to improve on digital marketing.

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Datin Christine Bong, managing director of food and beverage (F&B) operator Brickhouse Sdn Bhd, said the shift in consumer behaviour had impacted the company badly as consumers were now looking to save money on goods and services.

“With the anticipation that the Conditional Movement Control Order being lifted, out-of-home consumption and business will eventually pick up; but it highly unlikely that we will be able to cover the costs so far this year. 

“With economic recession looming, it doesn’t bode well for F&B and events in the year to come,” she added.

Bong said the events and catering company was addressing key elements in its business such as seeking alternative channels of distribution including going for e-commerce.  

The webinar was organised by Digi.Com Bhd, in partnership with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp.

It was the 13th installation in Digi’s #BCDigitalisation Programme, which consists of a series of free webinars and online clinics aimed at helping SMEs mitigate the impact of Covid-19 by leveraging digital opportunities.