It has been a fruitful experience visiting Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Company and Jumain Sataysfaction Pte Ltd. I would like to thank the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry for organising the visits.

The two companies are excellent examples of how resilient and enterprising businesses can hold their own even in trying times. Other SMEs can draw lessons from their experience and success.

I am sure there are many learning points from these two companies. Let me highlight three of them.

First, a focus on customer satisfaction. Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Co is a good example of an SME that has a strong focus on customer satisfaction. The company is able to read changing customer demands and cater to their needs. Mr Mustaq, the Managing Director, understands that there are customers who need to make purchases even after normal operating hours. So, Mustafa is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Besides round-the-clock business hours, Mustafa also offers a wide selection of products that is constantly changing in tandem with customer preferences. The store stocks more than 100,000 items and boasts one of the largest selections of chocolates, rice and halal produce in town.

To give its customers the best value for money, Mustafa sources for the best goods from the cheapest sources. Its purchasing network includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

The second lesson: innovate all the time to stay ahead. Let's look at what makes Jumain Sataysfaction so successful. The business started way back in 1940, with the grandfather of the present owner. Through innovation and technology, this home-grown company has transformed a popular local hawker fare into a modern food manufacturing business. While keeping to the traditional recipe, the company launched new products like Satay Goreng to ensure that customers can enjoy satay anytime of the day and in the convenience of their own homes. It also experimented with non-traditional meat by introducing duck satay. These innovations were introduced after careful studies into the lifestyles and needs of their customers.

The third lesson: keep on reinventing the businesses model to keep up with the times. Ms Samsiah Suliman, CEO of Jumain Sataysfaction, is well aware that she cannot just rely on a good recipe and choice ingredients to keep her business going. She knows that to be successful, she needs to automate the manufacturing process. By embracing new technology, the company ensured consistent delivery of high quality, hygienic and tasty satay to its customers. It supplies up to 50,000 sticks of freeze-packed satay a day for local and overseas markets. The company is HACCP-certified and is relentlessly improving its quality and processes. It is amazing how the company has transformed a one-man satay stall into a $1.5 million business. Jumain's satay is now available in countries as far away as the Middle East and Europe.

The successes of SMEs like Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin and Jumain Sataysfaction show that our local enterprises have what it takes to make it big, not only in Singapore but also overseas. The government, through agencies like SPRING, has been stepping up assistance to help SMEs upgrade and enhance their capabilities.

Assistance given under SPRING’s Local Enterprise Finance Scheme (LEFS) and Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme (LETAS) has been on the rise. Last year, over 3,900 applications for LEFS loans amounting to $573 million were approved. Close to 4,900 applications for assistance amounting to over $83 million have been approved under LETAS. I hope more SMEs will tap these programmes to upgrade and grow. Ultimately, it is the SMEs themselves that have to make the effort to make the difference. Companies like Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin and Jumain Sataysfaction are but further examples of the enterprising SMEs we have in Singapore.

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