How To Start an Online Business in Malaysia
Do you dream of working from anywhere? Are you an aspiring entrepreneur ready to kick start your journey? In this modern era, almost everything is online. What would be a better way to make money other than an online business?
Starting an online business is no easy task, nor is it a difficult one either.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to start an online business:
Step 1: Determine your business type
Type of Business
First and foremost, you have to figure out what do you want to sell online. The second step is to decide how do you want to sell them. Here are several ways on how you can make money online:
a) Physical Products/Items
In simple terms, you find a supplier, get their products, resell them at a higher price, and gain profit.
An example would be TheLovelyMadness, an online boutique specialized in women’s fashion and Ladies clothing.
You could either create a whole new website, use online marketplaces such as Lazada and 11Street or any social media platforms.
b) Affiliate Marketing
This method is basically advertising a business product and earn a commission from it whenever a user clicks on your referral link.
ProductNation is a good example of a website that uses affiliate marketing to earn money.
Affiliate marketing would work best on a blog, website or social media platform where you have a high number of visitors and traffic, as well as followers.
c) Selling Services
If you’re a master at one skill or even a few skills, why not put them to good use by providing these services to others at a cost?
An example of service would be copywriting. The owner of RinggitOhRinggit! does freelance writing on the side.
Starting a blog would be a great way to market your services or even any social media platforms.
d) Selling Advertisements
There are 3 ways you can use ads to earn money:
CPC(Cost Per Click)
– Based on the number of clicks a user does on an ad.
CPA(Cost Per Action)
– Based on the number of clicks and an action a user does (such as signing up)
Direct Advertising
– Based on the spaces you sell an ad around your blog or website.
A good example would be HongKiat, a blogger than gains around 4 million views on his blog every month. He uses ads to make money.
e) Selling Informational Products
You could also sell digital e-books or courses online based on your knowledge and information that you know thoroughly. If you love teaching or being a coach, this is a good way for you to earn money.
An example would be KCLau, he sells courses related to finance, a niche that he is highly knowledgeable at.
Udemy or Skillshare would be a great place to start. There are many users that use these platforms on a daily basis.
f) Selling Software as A Service (SaSS)
If you manage to create software that everybody uses daily, you are most likely to generate a very high income on a monthly basis.
Piktochart is one of the well-known SaSS for infographics and presentations.
Step 2: Register at Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)
The very first thing you should do after getting down the basics is to register your business with Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM). Without registering with SSM, you’ll be running an online business illegally.
Here’s a brief guide on how to register your business at SSM:
Since you’ve already decided on the type of business, you have to select among these 3:
i. Sole proprietor
– Business wholly owned by a single individual using a personal name as per his / her identity card or trade name. The fee would be RM30/year for your own personal name, RM60/year for a business name such as “Sterrific”.
ii. Partnership
– A business owned by two or more persons but not exceeding 20 persons. Identity card name can’t be used as a business name. The fee would be RM60/year as well.
iii. Company
– If you want to separate your entity for your business, you should opt for a company. Further information can be inquired from an SSM officer.
For further information on how to register a company with SSM, you may check out our guide here: A Complete Guide to SSM: All You Need To Know 2019 (Updated)
1. Business/Company Name
After that, you have to register your business name. You have to list down about 3 names, and SSM would approve one of it. This is different than your trade name, which you would have to register later on, as per details below.
Differences between Business Name and Trade Name
Business Name
Refers to the official personal name of the person or entity that owns the company, which is the legal name of your business.
For example: INFLUASIA SDN. BHD.
Trade Name
Trade names are used for advertising and sales purposes and where the public sees on signboards and your website.
For example: WORLD OF BUZZ.
For a more detailed guide on how to choose the best company name, take a look at our article here: Starting Out: Choosing The Best Company Name For Your Business in Malaysia
2. Name Availability
You can also search for your name availability on SSM’s website, just in case some of them are taken already.
3. Trade Name
Trade Name, referring to the proposed business must obtain prior approval.
4. Business Category
It’s important to make sure you fill up the SSM registration form correctly, based on the nature of your business. If you select a category that has nothing to do with your business, you may be faced with problems when applying for payment gateway.
Step 3: Setting up your website
If you aren’t using online marketplaces such as Lazada, you’ll need to create your own website.
Domain Name
This refers to the custom web address for your website. Your domain name can be the exact same name as your business. You’ll be able to make your domain name localized with a ‘.com.my’ once you register your business in Malaysia.
You’ll have to pay a certain amount of fee yearly or monthly to keep the domain name. There are many places you can register and buy your domain name; GoDaddy and NameCheap, to name a few.
Hosting Provider
To store all of your files needed on the Internet, you have to rent a space to not only store but display them as well.
Getting your website hosted costs money as well. You could get them at Hostinger or Shinjiru, to name a few.
Business Email Address
It’s more credible if you were to get your own customized email address based on your domain name, compared to a free email. Clients tend to trust a business email more compared to a free email.
A certain fee should be paid as well, however, most hosting companies would offer a business email together with their packages.
Step 4: Designing your website
There are two most important things to plan out once you bought a domain name, which is the design and content of your website.
Design
The design refers to the outlook of your website. You could easily use ready-made templates or built-in web builders that come with your hosting plans. However, if you don’t want to design your website yourself, you could always opt for an outsourced web design company or freelance web designers.
Content
Your content should never stray away from your business niche. Always stick to your business goals and put out quality content that matters to your readers. One of the ways to put out great content is to plan out a strategy.
Laws of Malaysia ACT 709 PDPA 2010
By law in Malaysia, all online businesses should comply with the new Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010. This should be included in your Terms and Privacy Policy page on your website.
Step 5: Advertising and Promotions
Congrats, you’ve successfully created your online business! It’s not that difficult to learn how to start an online business in Malaysia. Now, here comes the really hard part. There’s no point creating an online business that nobody goes to, right?
You’ll have to take the time to advertise and promote your online business. There are several ways to do it, here are a few:
Social Media
Nowadays, social media marketing is a huge trend and one of the best ways to promote your online business. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – choose which social media works best for you.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is basically aiming to rank your website higher in search engines such as Google. When people search for something on search engines, they tend to view the first few that pops up. It’ll be beneficial if your website is one of the top 5 in the list, or at least on the first page.
Ads
You could also buy ads and place them on your website. You’ll have to approach companies and other businesses to see if they want to buy a place on your website to display their ad.
Offline Advertisements
Aside from all the online marketing options, you can also advertise your website on newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and so on.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to start an online business in Malaysia, you could get started right now! Who knows you could be a successful young entrepreneur one day? Don’t give up so easily, you’ll be faced with many obstacles along the way, but don’t let that stop you from achieving your goals.