An Education-Based Approach to Asnafpreneurship Assistance: A Case Study in Wilayah Persekutuan

Informant profile

The informant is a male tailor who was born in 1978. The highest education he had was a Technical Certificate from Institut Kemahiran Baitulmal (IKB). He started as a tailor precisely after finishing Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). At that time, he worked with others. Prior to starting his own entrepreneurship career, he worked with an established tailoring company known as Wardrobe. The best achievement for him was to design a Baju Melayu for Shah Rukh Khan Datukship award ceremony in the state of Malacca (2008). He was offered to be a share partner in Wardrobe but he turned it down because of his dream to start his own empire. In 2010, he left the company and started his own business with the support from Wardrobe’s team. Until now, there has always been some collaboration between him and the Wardrobe.

He started his business in Kuala Lumpur, then moved to Ampang for a better rental rate which offered RM3,200 a month. Concurrent to Covid-19 issued in 2020, the company negotiated for some discounts but disagreed with the landlord. Thus, he relocated to the next shop lot which offered him RM2,500 a month. The relocation does not impact a lot to the company as it is within the same location.

The strength of this informant is the list of his loyal customers who consist of Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin, Dato’ Seri Ismail Sabri, Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali and many more. He is not a mere tailor but also a fashion advisor for his client in giving some counsel on how to look stunning and appealing. Thus, the word of mouth and peer recommendation are becoming the factors that made him known among top clients.

Currently, he has two (2) permanent staffs who are handling the normal order and daily operation. However, he also collaborates with other tailors for the big contract with the provision that the design is provided by him. Until now, all of his products are tailor made and no ‘ready to wear’ product is available. Roughly, in a year, the revenue of this informant is around RM400 thousand.

• Aged: 43 years old
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married
• Ethnicity: Malay
• Nationality: Malaysian
• Highest Level of Education: Technical Certificate, Institut Kemahiran Baitulmal
• Organization’s Name and Location: Fashion Designer, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
• Work Position: Business Owner
• Job Tenure (in current organization): 10 years (Current Business), 20 years whole experience

The Challenges

As regard to the challenges, the informant highlighted a few challenges that impacted the current practices of asnaf entrepreneurship in Wilayah Persekutuan. The first challenge for new entrepreneurs is in getting the trust from the clients. It is not easy to break through the market especially in the matured industry such as fashion. The rejection is among the regular situations that happen to the newcomers. However, there is no specific market breakthrough support dedicated for the new IKB’s graduates to enter entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, IKB’s graduates have some difficulties in getting their first job. The informant added that even there were employers among small tailors offering the job vacations but still there were cases that the employers failed to pay the salaries. End up those graduates failed to develop their experience in their related field and started to do something else. He mentioned that there were voices searching for the IKB’s alumni. The voices came from the government and authority on the output of IKB. Either this program is truly productive or vice versa.

He also revealed that as an asnaf entrepreneur, until present he was not offered even once by zakat authority to supply any job for them but instead it was offered to outside contractors. He believed that the zakat institutions have many opportunities to offer their asnaf entrepreneur as vendors, contractors or suppliers. These opportunities may develop their technical skills, increase their business profile and boost their marketability. It also may give a chance for the zakat institutions to really evaluate their output in terms of business entity and concept.

Another challenge as stated by him is the competition and rivalry with illegal immigrant tailors. They are offering cheaper prices as compared to the price offered by local tailors. He stressed that the immigrants can do that because they do not have to incur higher cost of business establishment and operation. On top of that, their cost of living is not as much as local because they are staying here without family and living at any place without considering the safety, comfort and health. At the same time, they are no longer competing in the open market only but also entering the contract market via collaboration with local parties.

Hence, he suggested that integrity (amanah) is very important in the entrepreneurship career. An example given by him is a scenario of a tailor with a customer who already measured the size and agreed with the design and material. However, the tailor changed the types with less quality material but the same colour. His expectation is the customer will not be able to recognize the difference but in reality his act is immoral even if the customer fails to recognize it. Might as well if he gets caught by the client. The worst is not loosing of that job but the bad reputation which can spread through word of mouth.

He disclosed his business secret that made him successful in this business. The feeling of gratitude (syukur) even on the small things is his business secret weapon. He trained himself not to envy and be greedy to the other parties. He believed in handwork and quality of the services. He told a story of himself whenever he needed to deliver an urgent costume to his client in the middle of the midnight. He went to the client’s house at 10 pm but was asked to entertain the needs of the clients until 2 am. He was surprised that the wife was loyally waiting in the car until that time without complaining. It means that they tried at their level best to satisfy the client. The feeling of gratefulness has given him the motivation spirit to feel content and not to complain with any challenge in doing his business.

Alternative entrepreneurship support

First of all, the informant emphasized on integrating the asnaf entrepreneurship ecosystem with the educational institution under the religious/zakat authority. He believed that it is important to connect the graduates from this educational institution into the ecosystem as it will give further value added for them to be more competitive in the market. It is not to pamper the asnaf but to guide them in a practical way thus the chain and multiplier economic impact will further enhance this ecosystem. He stressed further that the status of the participants in the ecosystem may not be static but evolve over time. At the earlier stage, they may become the recipient of the benefits but at the later stage they can become the benefits providers that assist the needs of the communities.

He also stressed the need for reducing the bureaucracy and lengthy process of assessment in getting the assistance. He explained that the compulsory training for the eligibility of the assistance which takes a longer duration may jeopardize the business operation of entrepreneurs. The period of 2 weeks is too long for an entrepreneur to attend the training. It will slow down the business momentum especially for those who are running the business alone. Majority of asnaf entrepreneurs are sole proprietors and yet to have any operational team. They are the business owner and they are also the business operator. In other words, the businesses will not run if they are not around.

The good relationship between customers and businesses is the element that needs to be promoted in the asnaf entrepreneurship ecosystem. He mentioned that based on his experience, good business relationships with the customers may convert them to become the patron of the company. This patron may go up to the level of becoming the founder of the business. At the early stage of the establishment, he started by borrowing the fund from his loyal customer who was getting his service while he worked with Wardrobe. He borrowed for RM10,000 only and after years of operation this amount was fully refunded. Even in this current scenario, if he needs to get instant support at any point of time these patrons may do the same. Therefore, the element of building a good business relationship in the ecosystem must be enhanced until it internalizes and becomes part of the culture.

He also mentioned that the public relation and media department of zakat institution should promote the businesses of asnaf entrepreneurs. The marketing and promotion also can be done through all the media channels either online or offline. He realized that the marketing effort through this channel can give different impact to the viewers as the promoters are the entities with integrities. Therefore, he suggested that the public relation and media should become one of the parties inside the ecosystem. At the same time, its function must be defined from the early stage of integration in order to avoid diversion from the main target.

He thought that patience is the core character of being part of the asnaf entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. The right implementation of this character may create the endurance and sustainability for the entrepreneurs. Herewith, the entrepreneurs can survive throughout any condition. It needs to be understood that the business environment is volatile even in the perfect ecosystem.

Important element that made business success

The informant required entrepreneurs to embrace punctuality as an element of Al-Qawiyyun in running the business activities. It is because entrepreneurs are dealing with others who have their own time and duty. Especially in serving those busy customers who do not have enough time to visit the shop. As a solution, He offered his flexibility to meet up with the clients at any place convenient for them. The most important thing is his punctuality to be at the meeting place prior to the arrival of his client. Time management is an ability that can be acquired by entrepreneurs through training and practicing.

Trust is built and integrated with the personality of entrepreneurs and it relates to al-amin. The informant experienced this himself in which his customers really want his personal touch in measuring and discussing the order. They are reluctant to deal with his experienced staffs and rather to postpone for another arrangement. This proved that trust is something that cannot be separated from his owner and the due care of it will maintain his integrity. However, he needs to be cautious that the breach of this element will take a longer period to cure. Therefore, he considered trust to be one of the elements under the concept of al-amin.

In another viewpoint, the informant suggested that the advisory and counsel approach is among the important skills that need to be adopted by the asnaf entrepreneur. In many cases, he uses this approach in advising the customers which sometimes come up with their own ideas. He gives his second thought on the suggestion and if necessary will come out with the product sample. His policy is to see that the customers are stunning by wearing his products. This skill is part of Al-Qawiyyu in which the willingness to share the knowledge and experience will enhance the quality of relationship and also will enrich further the knowledge of the proprietor.

The informant emphasized that treachery in any manner will not help entrepreneurship to success. The entrepreneurs should not collaborate with any party who has the tendency to act dishonestly. Even that collaboration may benefit him profitably but the hidden cost of being dishonest is tremendous and unquantifiable. The informant mentioned that it is not worth it for a good entrepreneur to embark himself into the deceitful activities. It will result in business and personality failure.

The informant mentioned that a good entrepreneur will have the right sense of human being. He puts the rights of staff superior to his in terms of salaries and wages. His argument is that the staff have given full commitment to deliver their responsibilities that allowed him to deliver the job. This job is entitled for the payment from the clients. It is not fair if he enjoys the payment but the staff are just getting the balance. He said that a good entrepreneur will be responsible for his commitment towards others over his own personal commitment. This sense is generated from a pure soul of a good entrepreneur and it is part of al-amin.

The informant suggested that an entrepreneur must be a tasker. He can act as a business owner and at the same time he also can become a general worker. He knows how a task should be conducted and he knows how to manage his own human resources. This is a special talent that is specifically owned by entrepreneurs and this can be considered as al-qawiyyun.

He considered that the most important element in an entrepreneurship is integrity. The most important integrity is as regards to the relationship with Allah SWT in terms of ibadah and akhlaq. It is not easy but it is achievable as long as the entrepreneurs keep striving for it. He also believed that there is no issue for a good Muslim to become a successful entrepreneur as long as he is truly implementing all the good characters of Muslims.