When Ms Jumaiyah Mahathir started a company offering halal food media advertising services in 2014, a number of tasks, such as accounting, had to be done manually.

In 2018, Halalfoodhunt launched an app that compiled a database of halal eateries, including restaurants and home-based or online businesses. This, too, required maintenance.

The next year, the company decided to pick up a number of tools to digitalise its processes and free up time.

The firm did this through the Start Digital programme, an initiative that provides newly incorporated small and medium-sized enterprises, or those that have yet to digitalise, with foundational solutions at low cost.

Ms Jumaiyah, 31, was able to make use of a number of software programs such as QuickBooks, an automated accounting system, and Mailchimp, a marketing automation software.

The firm, which has three full-time employees and a number of part-timers, also uses the Shopify e-commerce platform to sell food products during Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

The company received these solutions, called a Start Digital Pack, from OCBC Bank.

Revenue grew 30 per cent from 2019 to last year, said Ms Jumaiyah, who is the chief executive and co-founder of Halalfoodhunt.

"It takes our focus off administrative tasks, and we can channel our energies to sales and marketing so that the business can grow," she added.