IPOH, July 20 (Bernama) — A single mother, who once had to pawn her gold jewellery and use her savings to venture into frozen food business, is now a successful entrepreneur.
Zaharani Abdul Rahim, 46, said with a capital of RM200 and some jewellery, she made a bold move into the frozen food industry.
“Before I ventured into this field, I worked in a machine factory but with a relatively difficult life at that time, I was determined to quit my job and try my luck in this frozen marinated mutton business.
“Two years ago when our country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, I along with other single mothers were looking for high-quality lamb from New Zealand to be used as test material for our recipes,” she told Bernama when met at her restaurant here recently.
To get where she is today and to ensure her business remains strong, she overcame various trials and tribulations including being left by her husband and cheated on by her close friend.
“My marriage did not last as I received a divorce letter during the movement control order (MCO). I have to raise my 12-year-old daughter on my own.
“Besides that, I once had a partner who planned to sell products but he disappeared when we were required to pay the advance for the premises.
“I had to bear it alone until I couldn’t pay for my house and car because I have to raise almost RM20,000 for the premises,” she recalled tearfully.
Fondly known as Kak Kiah, Zaharani said all the trials and tribulations before this had taught her to soldier on and leave the tough times behind that she is finally able to run a restaurant that sells her frozen products.
“Everything changed when I met my business partner Amir and he shared a lot of business tips, not to mention the help I got from some friends in ensuring that our restaurant, Kiah Kitchen, is always the choice of visitors.
“In this restaurant, I sell dishes based on frozen products and among the favourite menus among customers are ‘Nasi Kambing Bakar’, ‘Nasi Daging Harimau Menangis’, ‘Nasi Ayam Bakar’ and many more,” she added.
Zaharani said apart from ready-to-eat dishes, frozen marinated lamb products are also sold at the restaurant so that visitors can buy and enjoy it at home.
To date, she has marketed her products almost nationwide as well as providing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) services for their respective branding.
“We have expanded our frozen OEM services in seven states, namely Perak, Penang, Melaka, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Selangor. Our job is just to send the product to the premises and then the owners of the premises will brand it themselves,” she said.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
