WHEN the world came to a standstill due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mohd Saferizal Rosli was one of the thousands of people who lost their jobs. The e-commerce company he worked at for six years closed its warehouse in Kuching, Sarawak, leaving the 33-year-old "lost" for months.
Unable to provide for his family, Saferizal started to think of ways to make a living without relying on other people as it was a time when everyone was in need and homebound due to the lockdown.
"I don't remember how or what made me decide to sell sambal, my family's sambal. But it just hit me that this (sambal) could be the answer," said Saferizal, recalling the start of his e-commerce journey almost two years ago with just 10 bottles of sambal.
LIVING HIS DREAM
"Just like everyone else, I started small. I shared my sambal with close friends and family. Then more and more people started to contact me to order the sambal. I was a bit shocked. I honestly didn't expect that it would be such a hit and people would wait for the next batch," he said.
To test the market, Saferizal made 80 bottles instead of the usual 10 and to his astonishment, all were snapped up in less than a week. The sambal, branded as Sambal Kenyalang, comes in three heat levels — Ijo, Ngebeh and Loba (the last being the hottest).
Saferizal said news of his sambal spread like wildfire and he was getting orders from Kuching too. This made him want to promote the sambal to more homes.
He aspired to venture online, making Sambal Kenyalang available to a wider market.
MADE IN SARAWAK
Operating from home, Saferizal now has four 'employees' — his mother, sister and two friends. The duo, Mohd Burhanuddin Abdullah and Mohd Azhar Rajali, like him, were left with no work at the start of the pandemic.
Spending time online searching for ways to better serve his customers, Saferizal stumbled upon a virtual training workshop on digital marketing called Go Digital Asean.
"The trainer went above and beyond. After the workshop ended, she continued to check on my progress. On top of online marketing, she also taught me how to create my own website," said Saferizal.
Understanding the plight of other sellers, Saferizal decided to develop a multi-vendor website, allowing them to promote their products on his Hornbill Dream platform.
"Vendors can use my website to promote their products, control and manage their sales from it too," he said.
Currently, there are about 30 vendors from Sarawak selling products on the platform.
GROWING
Through the website, Saferizal is now able to sell about 800 bottles of Sambal Kenyalang a month and expand beyond Sarawak to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
"We have customers from Kalimantan too," he added.
Saferizal leverages an open-source content management system, WordPress, for his "Sarawak-made e-commerce platform". He also uses other plug-ins, including Google SEO, to help him measure his site's search traffic and performance.
DREAMING BIG
Saferizal had faced challenges after losing his job. But he finally found his true calling — setting up an online business, running an e-commerce platform, and at the same time, helping friends to have a better life.
"I am very grateful for what I have, my journey and all the people who've helped me to get to where I am today — a business owner and an e-commerce operator at the same time. I never thought it was possible but I am living the dream — the Hornbill Dream.
"I want to continue this effort and help more sellers in Sarawak join the platform and assist them increase their sales and reach out to more customers," Saferizal said.
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