KUALA LANGAT: A 19-year-old student makes RM20,000 a month from selling Radio Al-Quran, an innovation he conceived when he was just 16.
Coming from a poor family of 10 with his father being the sole breadwinner, Muhammad Qais Amiri Jamaluddin knew he had to do his bit to help.
“My family was to be featured on BersamaMu, a TV3 programme that focuses on the hardship faced by the poor, but we decided not to appear on TV. That was how tough my family’s life was,” he told theSun in an interview.
He started to make money with his friends at the age of 13 by selling football jerseys at Stadium Shah Alam and at morning markets.
His fortune picked up after he started selling Radio Al-Quran. It is a radio that contains a memory card with Quranic sermons and talks.
“I began with a capital of RM300. I sold 10 units of the radio to the teachers in my school,” said the Kuala Langat community college student from Sungai Buloh.
“As Muslims, listening to this radio makes us calm and knowledgeable.
“I found that there is a market for people who want to use this for their families. They won’t use handphones as the battery would run out fast.”
His radio venture started as a family effort with his father helping to do quality checks while his sister did the packaging.
Muhammad Qais hit the mother lode when he put his product online. “Now, I have two part-time helpers who will answer customers’ queries on social media.”
And he still managed to excel in his studies and was selected as president of the entrepreneur club in his college.
Muhammad Qais now gets invited to speak to his peers and motivate them into starting their own business.
“I just like to talk and share my insights on how to do business in the hopes of inspiring others to go out there and do something worthwhile.”
His efforts to sell Radio Al-Quran was also noticed by Facebook. He was contacted by Facebook Malaysia and Facebook Singapore on how to improve his advertisements to get a wider reach.
“They called me three times to tell me how to improve my Facebook and Instagram advertisements to reach my target market. We have since been corresponding via e-mail to continue reaching out to the target audience.”
Muhammad Qais has diversified by selling thumb drives and is raising capital to start a bakery shop for his older sister.
“We have been surveying Sungai Buloh and we found that there are not many bakeries there. I will be the main shareholder and I will teach my sister marketing skills to promote her goods.”
He added he would like to give back to the community college when he becomes a full-fleged entrepreneur one day.
“I just want to help my friends and peers to achieve their targets and goals. I will be very happy to help others fulfil their goals.”
Muhammad Qais’ entrepreneurship was also noticed by Celcom and he participated in a Digital Bootcamp that was co-organised by Google Malaysia and the Education Ministry.
