Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) shows its commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs through its initiative called ‘TM Women Entrepreneur Programme’ or ‘Program Usahawan Wanita (PUW)’.
Entering its 4th edition this year, the PUW 4.0 – TM Dynapreneur Project, involves 20 high-potential women entrepreneurs nationwide from various industry backgrounds.
Present at the launch of the PUW 4.0 were Mohamad Yusman Ammeran, General Manager, Small and Medium Enterprise, Business, TM; Izad Ismail, Head of Corporate Responsibility & External Stakeholder Management, Group Brand and Communication, TM; and Padzilah Enda, Founder of Siti Khadijah Apparel.
According to Izad, “This programme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and capacity building of budding women entrepreneurs. We hope to give the boost that our participants need to support them in growing their businesses, create their own job opportunities and increase their profitability. PUW is also a platform for relationship building and networking, collaboration and providing the access to a wider market reach including via internet marketing.”
For this year’s edition, in line with Industrial Revolution 4.0, the participants were exposed to Big Data Analytics through a customised business solution called the ‘Dynapreneur Platform’. The solution will assist them in their day-to-day business decision-making; from tapping new potential markets to optimising stock levels and choosing the best suppliers. With the solution, participants are expected to be able to penetrate to wider markets and achieve higher sales through strategic data-backed business decisions.
This year’s programme also provided participants with a series of business coaching in an array of training modules to improve their business operations and boost their income. It also promoted the importance of online presence and visibility that contributes to cost-effective and increase in productivity.
This year’s PUW was held in conjunction with TM’s SME Accelerator Series III event. The event provided an avenue for local SMEs to source for practical solutions to their day-to-day fundamental issues and challenges, via the use of digital solutions.
TM has run the PUW for the past three (3) years since 2015, in collaboration with various parties including Persatuan Profesional Melayu Malaysia (PPMM) and 8Nite, a creative event and technology specialist. The women entrepreneurs were taken through a series of business training and analysis as well as a six-month programme of coaching by professional trainers and experts.
Since its inception, the programme has groomed more than 500 women entrepreneurs with business skills and other essential acumen to run a business efficiently and how to become a successful entrepreneur.
