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Shell LiveWIRE 2023 Sabah state winners with Murshidi (fifth left) and Musti Juin, operations manager for deepwater for Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd (sixth left).
AS the state where the programme was first formed, Sabah is celebrating its ninth year running the Shell LiveWIRE Malaysia 2023.
Five enterprises were awarded state winners from thie year’s entrepreneurship development initiative in the Sabah state finals.
Shell LiveWIRE is the flagship enterprise development programme of Shell. The programme strengthens local economies across the globe by promoting entrepreneurship and developing entrepreneurs.
This programme, which kick started in Sabah in 2015 and in Sarawak in 2016 aims to inspire young entrepreneurs to innovate and produce real business solutions that meet today’s socio-economic needs.
The five winning enterprises each received a start-up fund of RM10,000 from Shell. On top of that, they also receive a year of business coaching to develop their business plans into full-fledged businesses and access to the facilities and opportunities made available by Shell.
Furthermore, the winners will also be given the opportunity to connect with the global LiveWIRE ecosystem and share their knowledge with entrepreneurs around the globe, while standing a chance to compete in the annual Shell Global Top Ten Innovators Awards.
“It’s inspiring to see our local entrepreneurs striving to build their businesses, while empowering their communities by creating employment opportunities through their ventures,” said Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd reliability and engineering manager Danny Murshidi.
“Shell LiveWIRE enables entrepreneurs to connect with our global LiveWIRE ecosystem, which can further help them in flourishing their businesses, while contributing towards the socio-economic growth of Sabah and the nation.
“I truly encourage all budding entrepreneurs to grab this opportunity to be a part of our Shell LiveWIRE programme.”
The 2023 Sabah state winners Brutti Besi, Leonarcta, Southeast Asia Treasure, Grace Creation enterprise and Le Doux Coffee were part of over 60 participants who joined this programme.
They went through a comprehensive bootcamp, where 10 selected finalists moved on to the final pitching competition.
Here, the entrepreneurs were assessed based on their business pitches, which demonstrate their drive to grow their business ideas based on their comprehensive business plans and five winners were chosen thereafter,
Brutti Besi is founded by Lukmanulhakim Awaluddin and Siti Faznur Abd Khaleq. It is an upcycling waste materials company that targets to preserve Borneo’s culture by producing and crafting bespoke furniture by uplifting the local young artisan’s skill and income.
Leonarcta founded by Norsita Nordin and Nurashikin Aliuddin, has innovated a modern anchovy cage (floated) to ensure longer life span for the system targeting easier maintenance, providing more stock of anchovies to the market.
Southeast Asia Treasure founded by Radziah Matarsad and Siti Aishah Syazwani Sairin, has innovated a seaweed “Smart Culture” tool that can reduce the death of turtles and fishes that attack seaweed farms.
The “Smart Culture” tool is an environmentally friendly system that helps to improve farmers’ income in Semporna and all the areas that culture seaweed including Indonesia, Philippine, India and other seaweed countries.
Grace Creation Enterprise is founded by Rositinah Andahang and Mainah Himbulan to produce Sabah ethnic handicrafts, specifically originating from the Murut ethnic group. The company impacts the community surrounding various areas, providing jobs for the women within the area.
Le Doux Coffee founded by Badariah Abdullah Sani and Syed Mohd Nazrie Abdul Hata, provides coffee barista training focusing on youths facing unemployment, school dropouts and the underprivileged, encouraging them to be entrepreneurs by owning a coffee outlet or job opportunities as baristas.
Lukman (standing, second left), Faznur (seated, left) and the Brutti & Besi team.
Eye on Sabah’s bespoke furniture maker
AN industry that stands the test of time is furniture making. Thus, it comes as no surprise that one of the winners of Sabah Shell LiveWIRE this year is Brutti & Besi, a Sabahan bespoke sustainable furniture maker.
The group, which was founded on Devember 7, 2020, specialises in crafting custom-made pieces from wood and iron.
“We opted for crafting bespoke furniture because it offers the advantage of tailoring each piece to the client’s specific desires, ensuring a perfect complement to their space,” explained Lukman Awaluddin, one of the founders.
“The height, width, and depth can all be adjusted and customised to match the exact requirements. As Sabahans often say, ‘ngam-ngam ja bah’.”
Before starting Brutti & Besi, Lukman and his co-founder, Faznur, were compelled to shut down its car wash service in 2020 due to the global pandemic that affected countries worldwide.
“Nevertheless, we were determined to secure an alternate income for our team remained unwavering. This marked the turning point from a mere hobby of crafting simple furniture in the home backyard transformed into a fully-fledged, full-time business,” he added.
“We first learned about the Shell LiveWIRE programme through our acquaintances, such as Kebun Mama, Wagas de Asi, Farm Tokou, Tem Tem & G1FT, who have previously participated in it and shared their positive experiences with us.
“Inspired by their success stories and the opportunities that the program offers, we decided to explore Shell LiveWIRE further and eventually became enthusiastic participants ourselves.”
Some of Brutti & Besi’s handiwork.
Lukman said their journey with Shell LiveWIRE has profoundly transformed its business by fostering invaluable friendships and networking opportunities.
“Through this remarkable platform, we’ve had the privilege of connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs, mentors, and experts who share our passion for growth and innovation.
“These relationships have not only enriched our understanding of the business landscape but have also provided us with unparalleled support, guidance, and collaborative opportunities.”
Speaking on their greatest challenge we have ever encountered throughout the operation of Brutti & Besi, Lukman said it was striving to become the finest leader for the team.
“Guiding and paving the way for our team to stay motivated and enthusiastic in carrying out their tasks, while consistently offering solutions when they encounter roadblocks. Additionally, we endeavour to steer our enterprise forward, ensuring its continual progression.
“However, this endeavour is far from simple. We have faced a myriad of situations, both minor and monumental, each contributing to our journey of growth and resilience.
“Nevertheless, we overcome these challenges by studying the strategies and experiences of accomplished leaders which provides us with a valuable roadmap to conquer the challenges of becoming an effective leader.
“By learning their journeys, we gain insights into their decision-making, communication styles, and strategies for navigating complexities. Through this, we can accelerate our growth as leaders and address the unique challenges that arise on our path to success.”
Looking ahead, Lukman said that Brutti & Besi intends to elevate itself to a higher level by expanding its factory operations and introducing new divisions.
“This forward-looking approach is geared towards enhancing our overall efficiency and effectiveness, thereby enabling us to provide superior service to our customers and fulfil their evolving needs,” he said.
“While pursuing growth, our commitment to delivering high-quality products and services remains unwavering. We are thrilled to embark on this journey of growth and progress in the times ahead.”
On the biggest lessons he learnt on this entrepreneural journey, Lukman said it revolved around effective leadership within a group.
“When Brutti & Besi was initially established, we primarily relied on production, which involved day-to-day manufacturing, much like any typical enterprise.
“At that point, we believed that the most challenging aspect was facing clients, as their feedback was crucial for our production.
“However, we gradually realised that the true challenge lay in becoming effective leaders. Discovering how to uplift our team’s spirits at work to prevent them from losing motivation, finding ways to keep them joyful and content with their tasks, offering assistance and providing insights when they encounter difficulties and roadblocks – these are all areas we still aspire to delve deeper into, in order to consistently make progress.”
And his advice for budding entrepreneurs out there? Cultivate a resilient mindset, embrace continuous learning, and prioritise adaptability. Building a business is a journey filled with challenges and uncertainties.
“It is crucial to stay persistent in the face of setbacks, and to view failures as valuable learning opportunities. Moreover, the business landscape evolves rapidly, so never stop seeking knowledge and refining your skills.
“Being adaptable allows you to pivot when necessary and seize emerging opportunities. Remember, success rarely comes overnight – it is the result of hard work, dedication, and a willingness to evolve.”
By capitalising on the huge market potential for ancill fish, Leonarcta is not only fostering economic growth but also actively developing the community.
Ramping up the family anchovy business
ANOTHER well-known industry in Sabah is its dried anchovies, in which local company Leonarcta specialises in.
Founder Norsita Nordin explained that the business started in 2020 as a family initiative, and officially started operations on February 8, 2022.
Norsita explains that the business started in 2020 as a family initiative, and officially started operations on February 8, 2022.
“This is a family business and by capitalising on the huge market potential for ancill fish, we are not only fostering economic growth but also actively developing the community,” she said.
“Our goal is to become a company distinguished by its systematic operational framework.”
Using the Shell LiveWIRE as its growth platform, Norsita said she “learnt a lot about business, become more confident in the business I am in, and gain the invaluable support of the mentoring and fund.”
“I’ve encountered various challenges, such as the limitation in producing ancill fish products. However, I’ve found a solution through innovating the traditional ancill cage into a modern design, ensuring consistent and efficient dry ancill fish production.
“My future plans involve establishing two modern anchor fish cages and a processing factory for anchor-based products, with the overarching goal of becoming a sustainable and competitive company.”
The most significant lesson Norsita said she gained on her entrepreneurial journey is the importance of having unwavering confidence in the company’s potential to achieve greater heights.
“My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to join Shell LiveWIRE and gain as much business knowledge as possible.”
Co-founders Radziah (left) and Siti Aishah started culturing seaweed in 2009 at Pulau Omadal, Semporna, Sabah under Siswazah Tani Programme organised by the Sabah Department of Fisheries.
Tapping into the vast resources of seaweed
RADZIAH Matarsad of South East Asia Treasure is tapping into seaweed as a high impact industry beyond just food resources.
The Shell LiveWIRE winner said she started culturing seaweed in 2009 at Pulau Omadal, Semporna, Sabah under Siswazah Tani Programme organised by the Sabah Department of Fisheries.
“We only cultivate two varieties of Seaweed that are Eucheuma Cottonii (aring-aring) and Kapaphycus Alvarezii (tambalang). We also have a Lentifera Caulerpa (seagrapes/latok) as a side income.
“Other culturists have their own fish cage to make their income higher,” she explained.
“The seaweed industry is recognised as a high impact industry because seaweed is fully functional in the food industry, cosmetics and health, agriculture, agrotourism, textile, hardware, kitchenware and packaging.
“It is a loss if I am already in this industry but I will continue until my company grows more.”
The system is a combination of a seaweed farm, fish cage and seagrape pond.
Radziah heard of Shell LiveWIRE since it started in 2015 but at that time, she said she did not have any bright ideas to participate – until this year.
“I didn’t have any bright ideas until this year. I have an idea to help me and other culturists to maximise their income with low capital. The idea is ZieaH Integrated Culture System (ZICS). The system is a combination of a seaweed farm, fish cage and seagrape pond.
“We have to face turtle and fish attacks at our farm.
“Our production is always lower than we target because of this attack. We can’t cater to customers’ demand because of that.
“We also have to bear a loss because our seaweed production is lower than our capital.
“Because of this challenge, I came up with ZICS that helps us to reduce losses and maximise our production. The system is a combination of a seaweed farm, fish cage and seagrape pond.
“I will market ZICS to other fishermen and culturists in Semporna, Sabah.
“I’ll also sell it to fishermen and culturists in Tawau, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Kudat.
“At the same time, I will make a research and development (R&D) on this system to make sure it is more practical.
“After I cover the Sabah market, I will expand to Sarawak and states in Peninsular Malaysia such as Johor, Kelantan and Kedah to help them cultivate the seaweed there.
“After that, I will market my ZICS to Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Vietnam.
“I’ll upgrade my system more efficient and affordable to all my consumers.
“Then, I plan to market my system to American and African countries such as Tanzania, Sweden, Chile, Alaska and California that also cultures seaweed.”
On her biggest lesson learnt: “Don’t give up! We have to be patient. Entrepreneurship is much wider than business. The result is not in a blink of an eye. It needs all the energy and effort to make sure that we can achieve satisfactory results.”
And her advice to others? “We have to learn about entrepreneurs whether we are new or experienced. Every day, there are new trends and knowledge. If we do not learn, we’ll be left behind.
“I encourage entrepreneurs out there to join Shell LiveWIRE to polish their entrepreneurial skills to become bright ideas that can help boost the country’s economic activity.”
Badariah (left) and Nazrie (right) with the mock cheque.
Cultivating coffee culture
As Sabah is well known for its local coffee, it comes as no surprise that one of the Shell LiveWIRE’s winners is a coffee coinosseur.
Badariah Abdullah Sani of Le Doux Coffee is in the business of selling coffee and providing Barista Training Programme.
Having suffered at the hands of Covid-19, this became a turning point for Badariah and cofounder Syed Mohd Nazrie as it led them to start their journey to open a coffee business.
“We do understand how it feels when it comes to being unemployed and losing their job so this is inspired us to pursue this programme.
“I heard about Shell LiveWIRE from one of my friends and immediately apply to join this programme.
“At first, I don’t have any idea how things go, but I know Shell is one of the top companies globally and this is the best opportunity for us to gain more knowledge about business.
“We went through a course for five days and a lot of information and knowledge about business has been learned. We also have pitching sessions to enhance our confidence to talk in front of people, especially judges.
“After several days of learning, we need to compete with 10 more ideas and businesses to be a top-five and bring back RM10,000. Alhamdulillah! We got the chance to be in the top five.”
Some of the bestsellers at Le Doux Coffee.
One of the biggest challenge faced by Badariah in her course of work is reaching out to the unemployed in rural areas, “but we will try to collaborate with organisations and the government sector to get the data.”
“Our future plan is to open an academy for Barista Training Programme since the coffee industry in Sabah experiencing a growing interest in coffee consumption and the establishment of coffee shops in recent years especially in urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu.
“The biggest lesson I had learnt in my entrepreneurial journey is never to give up and never afraid to start a business.
“Once you have a plan, you can start taking specific actions to move your business forward.
“Waiting to make progress to take further action in business may mean missing out on opportunities. Taking risks can help you learn and grow as an entrepreneur.
“My advice for entrepreneurs out there is you must have passion. Passion helps you set a solid foundation for your business and establish core values.
“When you passion with your own business eventually you will never give up on what will you do.
“Since you are not giving up, you will put your full efforts to make things happen for your business.”
Rositinah started her business to help Murut women to get their own income.
Elevating the Sabah creative and culture handicraft experience
ROSITINAH Andahang from Grace Creation Enterprise started her beadwork craft business back in 2019 with her first group of community in Nabawan. She began with a basic beadwork workshop to teach women to create beadwork for their own use and sale as souveniers.
However, the pandemic put a pause in this until 2022.
“In September 2022, we arrange another beadwork workshop in Kg Labang, Sapulut, starting 19 communities who learn basic about the bead craft. After few month, the demand of the bead craft increases.
“So we conducted another workshop in Kg Balaron Sapulut, Kg Sandukan and Kg Binanding Pegalungan. Now, in total, we have 89 active community producing the beadwork handicraft.”
Rositinah said she started her business to help Murut women to get their own income.
“Most of the women in our communities are housewives,” she revealed. “They do not have the opportunity because of their education.
“We also try to educate people about the uniqueness about Murut motive that have their own meaning and story.”
And thanks to the Shell LiveWIRE workshops, Rositinah said she learnt plenty about improving her knowledge in growing the handicraft business.
“We got new networking with potential client and collaborator in the future. This program also help us to think further and shape our strategy for the future.
“The biggest challenge we endure during the pandemic when we only starting but because of pandemic, we cannot grow our business during that time. We overcome this difficulty by having though of never give up and be positive.
“We plan to increase our production and quality of our beadwork handicraft. We also want to market our products to whole Malaysia and International.
“Never give up and be positive. Get out from your comfort zone and try to learn as much as possible.”
Rositinah began with a basic beadwork workshop to teach women to create beadwork for their own use and sale as souveniers.
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