PETALING JAYA, June 24 ― Sabahan Ridzuan Jamal quit his job as a supervising engineer last year as there were no income-generating projects due to the movement control order.
The 28-year-old planned to venture into the food and beverage industry after sending in his resignation letter, thanks to a friend who could help him become an agent to sell RM1 buns.
Armed with knowledge from a basic business course, Ridzuan began selling the buns in Penampang and Putatan by promoting them in residential areas.
Speaking to Malay Mail, he said his RM1 buns come in different flavours such as sugar bun, chocolate rice bun, chicken floss bun, buttermilk bun and sausage bun
“I’ve never ventured into the business field before so I was nervous as to whether customers would even buy my buns.
“But because they were cheap and tasty, people kept coming to my car booth where all the buns are sold.
“I remember selling about 350 buns on my first day as an agent, with some families buying 10 to 12 buns for their families.
“Eventually, the job became easier for me as I knew that no matter where I drove, as long as I promoted the buns, people would come.”
Being a newcomer in the food industry, Ridzuan said that he was prepared for it to be tough.
Doing well on a daily basis however, Ridzuan became hopeful that he had chosen the right path after quitting his engineer job.
“After three months becoming an agent and selling buns, I’ve realised that I’ve earned more as compared to my previous engineer job.
“More people started crowding my car booth and buying them in large quantities.”
Ridzuan eventually earned enough capital to open his own bakery and recruited eight workers to work in the bakery and to sell the RM1 buns in other areas such as Kota Kinabalu, Kimanis, Likas and Tuaran.
He has also employed SPM-leavers to work part-time in his bakery.
“Finding a job amidst a pandemic is so difficult, and one of the boys whom I recruited told me that his car was about to be repossessed as he lost his job and couldn’t pay for his bills.
“But luckily, his situation changed when he secured a job to work under me and he was able to pay for his car.
“I’m glad to be in a position to give people jobs,” he said.
He said that on average, his agents are able to sell about 5,000 to 6,000 buns daily and hopes to expand his business to other parts of Sabah.
For more info on Ridzuan's bakery, surf over here.
