How SMEs should prepare for GST?

SMEs should prepare for GST which will be effective from April 1st, 2015. – The Malaysian Times pix

Over the years, Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) always seek for effective cost reduction strategy to maintain their businesses and at the same time to provide quality services to their clients. Cost is always one of the major pains for many SMEs. A survey done by The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Malaysia (ACCIM) among 965 respondents resulted that 25 per cent of them responded that the cost for e-commerce is too expensive. On top of that, the implementation of the 6 per cent Goods and Service Tax (GST) which to be effective on 1st April 2015 will even increases the difficulty level on saving cost for SMEs.

Source: Economic / SMEs Census, 2011 by Department of Statistic, Malaysia.

There is a total of 645, 136 SMEs in Malaysia in 2011 and today there are even more SMEs which will be affected by GST. SMEs’ goal is to reduce costs and to chase growth. So how can SMEs save their costs when the 6 per cent GST is going to create another huge burden to them?

Undeniable SMEs include many strategies to reduce costs such as reducing manpower cost, suspend buying, control the electricity usage and more. However, these strategies can only be effective for temporary.  You could reduce manpower cost by asking your employee to work over time instead of hiring another new employee, you could limit stationery purchases and you could save energy at work such as switch off lights when they are not in use. But how long will these work? Instead of doing these short term strategies, why not trying a long term strategy such as sustainable shipping? Sustainable shipping is good for SMEs because it helps SMEs to improve its strategic position apart from reducing transaction costs. Furthermore, sustainable shipping is a long-term strategy which helps to build long-term customer relationship. When SMEs gain trust and loyalty from their customers and in turn they are actually helping their companies to save more cost on operation costs because it is easier to serve existing customers than  new customers. When customers have trust on one company, they are more likely to stick to one company.

EasyParcel.my is created to boost Malaysia e-commerce by providing sustainable shipping via web based courier service portal. EasyParcel.my provides innovative services to business companies which customized for SMEs and e-retailers because they usually find it hard to gain clients due to the limit of budget.

EasyParcel.my benefits SMEs and e-retailers to get local visibility at affordable prices. Apart from providing low shipping costs, EasyParcel.my is a platform which acts as a key part for SMEs to maintain business without affecting or sacrificing their core business and to ensure that they in turn are able to provide an even better service to their customers.  EasyParcel.my does not only help to reduce your production and operational costs but also help to increase your revenue. Either a single or a bulk order, EasyParcel.my provides you the best discounted shipping rates which help you to save up to 30 per cent of your freight bills!  However you ship today is how you can ship tomorrow, just a tone more easily!

For more info on about EasyParcel.my you may refer to Press Release (easyParcel) v.3.

Related: How EasyParcel helps Malaysian online merchants boost monthly income, ”I always send my parcel manually until I met easyParcel”, How to Place A Delivery Order using easyParcel