Going digital helped firm grow its revenue
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Halalfoodhunt chief executive and co-founder Jumaiyah Mahathir (centre), 31, flanked by managing assistant Nur Sarah Razali (left), 24, and sales executive Nur'Adriana Maisarah Abdul Rani, 21, at their office in Jalan Besar. In 2019, the company tapped the Start Digital programme to pick up a number of tools to digitalise its processes and free up time.
PHOTO: HALALFOODHUNT
Jolene Ang
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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.
