News From : DagangHalal.com (04 Mar 2010)
Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei Darussalam’s SMEs that are involved in Halal food, products and services have an edge over competitors in the global Halal market because they are already “embedded with the context of the Brunei Halal agenda”.
As such, they have a better understanding of the values of the Brunei Halal agenda, which reflects the core values of the Brunei national identity and Malay Islam Monarchy (MIB) philosophy.
This observation was made by Hajj Abdulhamid Evans, a senior analyst at Imarat Consultants, during the 2nd Halal SMEs Seminar at the Ministry of Industry & Primary Resources.
In his talk on the role of SMEs in the global Halal market, he shared some tips on how to be successful in business.
Entrepreneurs must have passion and expertise for the business, as well as a working business model.
When it comes to building a business, the most important asset is the people.
In light of this, it is important to “build the chemistry” within the core team involved in the business, he said.
However, he cautioned SMEs against “making a product and trying to sell it”, as most SMEs will fail if they do not have a “real” business plan and did not conduct a thorough research.
“It is easier to make what the customer wants to buy than to try and make people buy what you want to make,” he said, adding that businesspeople should be demand-driven, and not product-driven.
In addition to popular Halal industries such as meat and poultry, as well as Islamic banking and finance, there has been growing interest in other markets such as lab testing and pharmaceuticals. — Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin