It’s been more than a year, time certainly seems to pass slower with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting businesses hard all around. But not all hope is lost as the opportunity for doing business is very much still there, and there might be even more once the MCO is over.
Although life has certainly taken on the new normal for better or worse, there are also new prospects like doing business online, content creation, and healthcare services seeing more demand. All of these make for some promising business opportunities!
With that being said, here is a list of 10 post-MCO business opportunities in Malaysia that you can keep an eye on and prepare yourself for now.
1. Healthy meal / food delivery service
Preparing your own meals can be enjoyable, sure, but between all the cooking and washing up, many people like working adults and parents just don’t often have the time nor energy to prepare meals on their own, much less eat healthily.
And once the MCO ends and everyone is back to working in an office, everyone will only have much less time on their hands.
What’s more, many people have been getting into more health-conscious lifestyles and developing workout habits since the pandemic started. People are preferring to eat healthily and that’s where your business opportunity lies!
If you have a heart for cooking and the food business, consider offering meal subscriptions, nutritious meal kits, home-cooked food, supplying organic food, or delivering food boxes on call, it’s a growing business opportunity these days and will likely remain so even after the MCO.
2. Cleaning service
If there’s one thing good about the pandemic, it’s the fact that people are becoming a lot more conscious about cleanliness and hygiene. Doesn’t matter if it’s at home, in the office, or in a restaurant, there’s a big demand for cleaning services nowadays to keep the virus at bay.
Plus, once the MCO ends, many shops and offices will be needing a clean working environment as business returns to normal. They’ll need cleaning services, and this is your business opportunity!
If you do start a cleaning service business, do take the time to decide which cleaning service you’d like to offer, such as house cleaning, office cleaning, or sanitation services. As COVID-19 will likely stay around for a while, there’ll likely be a need for cleaning services for some time.
3. Online reseller
Online selling has been a growing trend in the past few years, but with the pandemic, the number of people shopping online has skyrocketed. If you have a knack for selling things, then online reselling might just be your call!
In practice, reselling can take the form of selling various new and used items like sneakers, clothing, and handbags to others. Many people sell trendy clothes, beauty accessories, skincare products, and the like on Facebook and Instagram pages nowadays, you too can run a reselling business by asking to become a reseller from your favourite product supplier!
Fortunately, starting your online reselling business isn’t too hard, and there’s no shortage of online platforms to start one too, like Facebook Shops, Lazada, Shopee, and many more. You can even sell to customers from other countries through eBay and Amazon if you’re ambitious enough!
Above all, just make sure you’re reselling something that people want!
4. E-commerce
If there’s one good business opportunity that works both during and after MCO, it’s e-commerce.
Online shopping has become popular over the past few years, but the pandemic now has only accelerated the trend since many brick-and-mortar stores are closed. It’s not just a fad during MCO either – e-commerce is growing steadily in Malaysia and will continue to do so.
For this reason, if the idea of buying and selling things sounds good to you, then e-commerce is your way to go! Starting your business isn’t too hard so go and find a business niche that works for you.
5. Home care service / caregiver
Does serving people come naturally to you? Then turn your skills into a business by providing home care services or being a caregiver for the elderly!
In modern times, the number of old people around the world is going up; Malaysia’s 65+ population increases every year too. With their advanced age, there are many seniors that can use your help and support in their lives, such as with getting around, buying groceries, and the like.
There are many types of care you can provide in this business, like day-to-day assistance, 24-hour home care, transport services, and equipment for seniors. Great business opportunity aside, do be sure you have the proper licensing from the government so that you’re qualified to take care of seniors.
6. Preventive healthcare
With the coronavirus lingering about, the need to stay healthy has become bigger than ever before. And what better way to meet this demand than by offering preventive healthcare?
As a subcategory of healthcare, preventive healthcare focuses on preventing serious diseases and major health problems. Some services include giving people shots, providing supplements, chiropractic services, medical check-ups, cancer screenings, and so on. It’s safe to assume that people will be needing these more in current times with the pandemic around.
Fortunately, the business opportunities in preventive healthcare aren’t just for doctors and dietitians – being a supplier of healthcare equipment, new screening technology, and so on to relevant institutions is also a good way to get into the field. You can even start out on a smaller scale as a part-time job by selling nutritional supplements.
Whatever it is, just be sure that your products are approved or certified by the KKM before starting!
7. Online therapy
If you have the skills, qualifications, or interest in areas like counseling and therapy, perhaps you can look into offering online therapy (also known as teletherapy) services as one of your business opportunities!
Due to the lockdown, many people have seen their mental health affected in some way, such as from being cooped up at home for too long, disrupted careers, or just not adapting well to the new normal. As a testament to that, the Befrienders hotline has seen a surge in calls daily from Malaysians facing loneliness during the MCO.
Many folks can use some support in keeping their mental health up these days. And that’s where you can come in with teletherapy!
With the right setup and platform, you can readily provide teletherapy services to those who need them. But keep in mind that not everyone can be an online therapist – you’ll need to be trained and qualified if you’re taking on this line of work so do ensure you have the license to practice.
8. Video editing
Are you good with Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro? Do you have the know-how or great interest to string good videos together? If your answer is yes to both, video editing is your chance to make it big!
Video marketing is a huge deal these days, and statistics show that people watch an average of 16 hours of online video per week! With that many videos being watched on a regular basis, the demand for video editing is growing too.
As video editing is an art form of its own, you’ll need good attention to detail, time management, and of course, creativity to get in this line of work! You can start to look for business opportunities from brands by offering your services on Fiverr and Upwork if you’re not going for the creative agency route.
9. Content creator
Content is what makes the digital world go round. Cooking, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, food… There are an ever-growing need and business opportunities for quality content online.
As such, if you have the passion for creating interesting content that people will want to see, then perhaps you can consider making money from content creation. The fun part about this is that you can do all sorts of content from blogs, podcasts, and articles to web content, videos, and livestreams. The only limit is your creativity!
If you’re set on this as your business path, you can start out freelance or form your own dedicated content creation company. You can even branch out as creative agencies or production houses too as desired.
10. Electronics and mobile accessories
Everybody and their mother needs and uses electronics these days. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone without one, and this is why it makes for such a wonderful business opportunity!
In a business like this, you’re leveraging one simple fact – the demand for electronics is huge. Thanks to the lockdown, people have gotten more tech-savvy both for personal use and at work; basically everyone is investing much more time in electronics. Phones, laptops, cameras, tablets… there’s a want for these items and it won’t be stopping anytime soon.
In the same vein, consumer demand for mobile accessories like phone cases, earphones, cables, power banks, and so on have also increased.
With demand like that, starting an electronics or mobile accessories business can be quite profitable after the MCO ends and even in the future. It doesn’t have to be about selling either; you can even go for an electronics repair or service business if you have the skills for it.
Conclusion
Admittedly, many businesses have been affected by the pandemic and the MCO in more ways than we’d like.
But hey, the opportunity for doing business is still around during the pandemic, and there’ll likely be plenty more once things start returning to the way it was. Hopefully by then, the ideas above might prove useful in guiding you to your next big business opportunity.
