While some of us are enjoying the quarantine and spending quality time with the family at home, there are still many who are struggling to try to make ends meet when their business isn’t allowed to operate.
A father of six from Seremban Negeri Sembilan, Mohd Hasrul Abd Hamid had to find ways to put food on the table for his family after the factory he worked in stopped operating due to the Movement Control Order (MCO). That is when he decided to venture into a new career by selling fish around Seremban to fend for his family.
He got into selling fresh fishes rather unexpectedly, telling Mstar that he was first only helping a friend to deliver fishes and distribute among the families in the neighbourhood.
Photo: Twitter Dania
“It’s actually my friend who supplies the fish, I just distribute them to families. My wife took pictures of me on the job and posted them on WhatsApp. From there, we started receiving more orders from friends. One of them made an order for five kilogrammes of fish.”
Photo: Twitter Dania
“When I think back on it, I didn’t want to make deliveries for just five kilogrammes so I started promoting the business on Seremban WhatsApp groups. That’s when I started selling fish,” he added.
Word got around on social media and WhatsApp groups and from selling 18 kilogrammes of fish on his first day, he managed to boost his sales to up to 62 kilogrammes by the third day!
Photo: Twitter Dania
He sells the fresh fish around Seremban without any extra delivery charge.
“I only sell one type of fish, which is the mackerel. I can promise you that they are fresh” he said.
His business was promoted on Twitter by his daughter, Dania, who shared the efforts that her dad had to go through to kick start his business during the MCO. The post has gotten more than 34K retweets with netizens cheering on the family.
Hasrul, who previously ran an online clothing business, said that the MCO had put a strain on him to provide sufficient income for the family. He has to be thrifty with his expenses and prioritises buying only the essentials.
“For me, I always place my children’s needs first, like pampers and food. We need to know how to manage our spending”
We wish Hasrul and his family well and that his business is thriving despite the MCO.
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
