Exabytes Empowers #WomenWeCan With the Launch of ‘Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes’ Initiative
Nurturing entrepreneurship in women across Malaysia and Singapore with a free website or online store to 100 women entrepreneurs
PENANG, 5 March 2021 – Southeast Asia’s leading cloud, eCommerce and digital solutions provider, Exabytes, launched Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes today in conjunction with International Women’s Day 2021.
The initiative aims to highlight the capabilities of women and encourages entrepreneurship by providing a platform for women entrepreneurs in Malaysia and Singapore to turn their business ideas into reality. Exabytes will be sponsoring a total amounting of RM350,000 and SGD350,000 respectively in the form of products and services for this initiative.
Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes is supported by YB Chong Eng, Penang State Executive Councillor (EXCO) for Social Development and Non-Islamic Religious Affairs, who was also present during the virtual press conference.
The Campaign
Exabytes, with 20 years of experience powering over 160,000 businesses worldwide to grow online, is set on its mission to showcase the talents and creativities of women while also shining a spotlight on #WomenWeCan.
Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes entitles a total of 100 selected women entrepreneurs to a free website or online store set-up.
These chosen entrepreneurs will be given an opportunity to not only create an online presence for their businesses, but help them reach a wider audience to increase their sales.
A full-time cookie baker, for instance, will be able to reach more customers beyond her location and with a website usage, it serves as a convenient platform for her to receive sales orders.
On top of that, the website can be built by incorporating their own brand identity, a vital element to reinforce a business image, making a business more memorable and helps to attract their target audience.
Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes provides a timely opportunity for women to materialise their dreams of starting their online business, considering that the eCommerce industry has been booming and continues to grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Founder and CEO’s Words
“Over the past year, the acceleration of digital adoption and shift to eCommerce has allowed for the creation of many new entrepreneurs.
eCommerce platforms give everyone an equal chance to attain better livelihoods for themselves, and that is what we want to achieve with Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes.
Through our years of experience digitalising SMEs, we have seen how simply setting up an online store or website immediately kickstarts entrepreneurial journeys.
Not only with Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes, our other initiative such as Sama-Sama Digital also has helped many SMEs in Malaysia to take the first step towards their digital journey.
Additionally, we have seen many success stories from our past initiatives whereby sales growth have increased since their business is digitalised”, said Chan Kee Siak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Exabytes during the press conference.
Success Stories
One of the success stories of women entrepreneurs from the recent initiative, Sama-Sama Digital, which is also concurrently running and open to Bumiputera SMEs, is woman-owned LLORA Bath & Body.
LLORA, owned by Ms Adrina Suhaidi, produces artisanal bath and body care products that are made from pure essential oil and plant extracts. Through their chosen plan from the Sama-Sama Digital initiative, their online store has led them to an increase of 40% in sales.
On the other hand, in Exabytes Singapore, Fleuriste Singapore, founded by Joan Chua is a school of floral design and a boutique florist in Singapore.
By having an online eCommerce platform, she was able to take orders and manage inventory through an efficient channel particularly during peak periods like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
She even added that Exabytes is a stable platform for hosting her website ensuring no downtime, which means no loss of income for her.
The Workforce
The societal expectation of women to be homemakers leave many at a disadvantage to seek work. In the second quarter of 2019, our country’s labour force was represented by 39.1% female (6.11 million) according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The number of labour forces for females increased by 49,000 persons and is proof of the efforts women take to earn income when there are limited avenues available to them to do so.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme, #ChooseToChallenge seems most fitting to the challenges women face in pursuing their dreams. Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes is an excellent initiative to show women that they can be the wives and mothers they want to be while also being the business owners they want to be.
Chan added, “Through this initiative, Exabytes is dedicated to empower and nurture women entrepreneurs in their journeys of building their very own businesses. We have experienced the successes of women who manage their families and businesses at the same time and we wish to expand this possibility to more women.
It is also important that the financial security and independence of women, especially those who are homemakers, are boosted and improved with the initiative.”
Women Entrepreneurship will run throughout March 2021 and is open to any woman entrepreneur in Malaysia or Singapore who has a registered business. The deadline to apply is by 31 March 2021.
For more information on Women Entrepreneurship with Exabytes and the eligibility for the initiative, please visit www.exabytes.my/awewe
