Nasyitah Tan, Creative Director and co-founder of LOOMS, first met Dahlia in 2017. She shared her goal to turn the social enterprise into a sustainable one. However, she was facing a few difficulties:
– generating a revenue stream that was healthy and consistent
– finding the right talent to assist in business development
– having a brand value that increases outreach and customer retention
Revenue Stream
For a start, Dahlia advised Nasyitah to identify her stakeholders – primarily stay-at-home moms and corporate clients. Dahlia assisted Nasyitah to define the stakeholders’ roles and bringing her business forward.
With an expanding pool of customers, Dahlia prompted Nasyitah to rely on free project management tools such as Asana, which allowed her to track and manage projects and customers she liaise with.
Talent Recruitment
In a bid to recruit more manpower, Dahlia connected Nasyitah to our WSG Advisor, Manisah who recommended and assisted in grant application for Work Trial.
In February 2018, Nasyitah’s Work Trial application was approved. and she was able to hire more Contract Artisans. , In addition, Dahlia shared a scorecard template for Nasyitah to refer to when identifying potential candidates for full time positions in the company.
“I highlighted the importance of adding quantitative factors in choosing the right applicant to be on her team as it will affect her business productivity levels and progress as her company starts to grow. Hence, it was important to create a scorecard to ensure that participants are ranked and rated not just by qualitative criteria but also quantitative criteria,” explained Dahlia.
Manisah also recommended Nasyitah to tap on available platforms such as WSG’s Jobsbank for recruitment and connected her with a WSG officer to assist with future job matchings.
Sticking to a social cause
Nasyitah believed in the social cause she was supporting and wanted to ensure that the LOOMS brand voice was in sync with it. Hence, Dahlia recommended Nasyitah to set aside a budget and look into repositioning her brand such as having a new logo and strategies that align with her business goals.
In an effort to ensure that the company’s production line was authentic and true to its cause, Dahlia recommended Nasyitah to venture overseas and source for manufacturers who are socially responsible. In 2019, Nasyitah travelled to Indonesia to seek production partners who can create templated designs for her corporate gifts. This will reduce the time it takes for her staff to assemble the corporate gifts, freeing them to create the artwork that is uniquely LOOMS.