Food caterer operates one-woman show from Kg Ayer

WHERE there is a will there is a way.

It is an age old mantra held dearly by micro-entrepreneur Salmiah Hj Tarang, who runs a home-based food catering business from the most unlikely of places.

As a Kg Ayer resident, she serves her customers who are mainly on land, and has to work twice as hard as her counterparts operating on land to haul her supplies in and out of the Brunei river.

"Most of my customers, when they found out where I live, thought that it's impossible. But I proved them wrong," said Salmiah, the founder of Harum Kindana Catering.

With the help of her children, Salmiah is able to run her catering business smoothly despite these hurdles.

"It would normally take an hour to actually transport my supplies and equipment from my house to the jeti," said the 38-year-old mother of four.

When asked why she would take the extra mile to provide catering services to her clients who are mainly on land, she said there is very low demand for catering services in the water village community.

"There is still a strong 'gotong royong' culture in the water village. When a family celebrates a function, the entire community would unite and lend their hands in setting up all the necessities required to organise the function," she told The Brunei Times.

"Its different on land. There is always a demand for catering and other services for wedding or religious functions," she added.

She said running a catering business is profitable, with a high potential for expansion and growth.

But as huge demand often translates to stiff competition, Salmiah found her niche in the catering business; she serves pure Brunei delicacies which she prepared herself.

"Most caterers I know hire foreigners to prepare the food. My customers often find it more appealing when the food is a Bruneian dish prepared by a Bruneian. That is my selling point," she said.

She said that business has never fared better this year, as she continued to rake in sales averaging at over $3,000 each month. To date, she has catered to more than 50 home and office functions.

Salmiah was one of the recipients of a micro-grant under the Brunei Economic Development Board's Youth Development Resources (YDR) programme last year, through her enrolment in the Brunei Islamic Religious Council's (MUIB) Zakat Asnaf programme.

YDR is a non-profit organisation aimed to help start small businesses managed by the underprivileged people of Brunei.

Through the grant, she was able to get reimbursement from her purchases of 30 units of foodwarmers and a couple food racks for her operations, worth $2,000.

She said that the grant has helped improve her business, as she was able to cut cost of up to 80 per cent, which was mainly on renting the said equipment.

"It would probably take me much longer to be able to invest on my own equipments," she said.

Salmiah is the younger sister of Serinah, another YDR recipient who runs a home-based bakery business.

"Our businesses compliment each other. Often times we share the same project. Her strength is on her healthy range of traditional cakes," she said.

In the future, Salmiah said she hopes to open up her own small office on land to store her wares in order to address recurring logistical issues.

The Brunei Times