SME Bank 90-Days Biz Challenge, A Platform To Nurture Caliber Young Entrepreneurs

SME Bank 90-Days Biz Challenge program, held every two years and organized by SME Bank, an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, in collaboration with Polytechnic and Community College Education Department (JPPKK) of the Ministry of Education, continues to be a platform to nurture young entrepreneurs who are able to manage their businesses well and record consistent sales.

Aria Putera Ismail, Group President/CEO SME Bank said, “Collectively, the 20 finalists of SME Bank 90-Days Biz Challenge for this year have successfully garnered net sales of RM102,829.26 within just four months of the competition. This is a good start as the participants of this competition are still studying and they are not able to operate the business on full time basis.”

Aria added, “SMT Empire Resources from Paya Besar Community College, Pahang who was the 2015 champion, is still running their business even after graduation. So far, they have managed to record monthly revenue of between RM30,000-RM40,000. The 2017 champion, Annisaa Enterprise from Tawau Community College, also continues to sell chips and dried seafood with a total revenue between RM2,000 and RM3,000 per month. This is a positive development for the participants of this competition.”

To further expand the reach of the competition, starting this year, the 90-Days Biz Challenge was also opened to all Polytechnic students throughout the country in addition to the Community College students. The competition was organized through an online platform where participants have to submit their business plans through the www.YourSuccessOurStory.com portal. A total of 192 entries were received with the involvement of 768 students. This is an increase of 120% in participation compared to the 2017 edition.

In addition, participants were also required to upload the progress videos of their business twice during the competition, and the videos were open for voting by the public on the SME Bank’s Facebook page, in order to obtain additional points. The total number of 'LIKE' votes recorded during the competition was 101,768 showing an increase of 459% compared to the total ‘LIKE' votes of 18,194 in 2017.

To help the participants expand their businesses, SME Bank in collaboration with Astro Awani, produced the SUKSES@90-Days Biz Challenge TV program whereby it features the business of the 20 finalists. SUKSES, entering its third season is a TV program that showcases the success story of SMEs in Malaysia. SUKSES@90-Days Biz Challenge is aired on Awani 501 channel, every Wednesday at 9.30 pm from May 2019 to August 2019.

The selection of winners was done by a panel of judges who have extensive experience in entrepreneurship, comprising representatives from SME Bank, JPPKK, SME Corporation Malaysia, TEKUN, MARA, Johor Corporation and Bank Rakyat. The winners were evaluated based on marketing, financial, management and technical aspects. The results were audited by a professional auditor appointed by SME Bank.

The competition offers a cash prize totaling RM45,000, with the champion receiving RM20,000, RM15,000 for runner-up and RM10,000 for the third-place winner together with a trophy each and certificates of participation.

As an added value, all participants will automatically become a member of the SME Bank 90-Days Biz Challenge Alumni. To date, the Alumni has a total of 1,324 members. Members of the Alumni will be able to gain access to information on financing as well as the opportunity to participate in entrepreneurship programs organized by SME Bank, its ministries and agencies.

The prize presentation ceremony was officiated by YB. Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof, Minister of Entrepreneur Development (MED) and also attended by YBhg. Datuk Wan Suraya binti Wan Mohd Radzi, the Secretary General of MED.