FUNDEMENTALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ENT 300)

CASE STUDY
BUSINESS NAME MAK JAH CORNER
ENTREPRENEUR NAME MAZLAN BIN ZAKARIA

PREPARED BY:
STUDENT ID 2020882886
NAME WAN FARA HUSNA BT WAN MD JAMAL
GROUP/CLASS THM1103CB

PREPARED FOR:
LECTURER’S NAME MADAM KARTINI BT MAT RASHID

DATE OF SUBMISSION:
30 OCTOBER 2021

1|Page
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………… 3

2.0. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….. 4

2.1. ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE…………………………………………………….. 4

2.2. BUSINESS PROFILE……………………………………………………………… 5

3.0. PERSONAL ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES (PEC’S)……………....7

4.0. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………… 11

5.0. APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………….12

6.0. REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….13

2|Page
 1.0.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this case study is to identify what kind of entrepreneurial competencies are
owned by entrepreneur. The person that I choose as my entrepreneurship source is Mazlan
Bin Zakaria the founder of Mak Jah Corner. Mazlan bin Zakaria, owns a shop that sells a
variety of Malaysian breakfast food. His answers, stories and information are based on the
interview that I had with him through the google meet and is provided in this case study. All
answers and names in the interviewee’s answers are written with consent. Furthermore, I was
able to study and identify the existence of the very specific problem that need to be solved by
the entrepreneur itself. Mak Jah Corner is one of the best place to go for breakfast in
Ampang, Selangor. The place is located in the middle of Ampang City. From the interview,
Mazlan possessed 4 main competencies which is sees and act opportunities, self-confidence,
Initiative, and assertiveness. As a results, his business has effected greatly, many celebrities
visited his shop after using specific technique and his intelligent that made him a successful
entrepreneur.

3|Page
 2. INTRODUCTION:
2.1. ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE.

“If you capable of knowing how to sell and build, then, you don’t have to worry about
becoming an entrepreneur”

- Mazlan Bin Zakaria, CEO of Mak Jah Corner.

In the past, most people were afraid to take the risk to start a business. Mazlan Bin
Zakaria, who are born on 30 September 1957 in Teluk Anson, Perak thinks otherwise.

Graduated when he was 17 years old, from Sekolah Menengah Jenis Inggeris Sultan
Abdul Aziz, this third of five siblings, had a vision in his mind to start his own business as he
could not afford to further his study. With the support of his friends and family, he was
offered a shop to start his business of selling a traditional kuih-muih shop. The shop started
with only just a few basic local food such as Karipap and Lepat Pisang.

RM20,000. That is how much Mazlan had saved up in his earlier years. Instead of
spending it for himself, He renewed his shop at the age of 30, to look modern and start to
experiment with a new recipe and start manufacturing a few malay cake.

Mazlan got married on 22 December 2001 at the age of 44. He continues to expand his
business as a shop owner. He is gifted with two sons and one daughter who are also interested
in business and entrepreneurship just like him.

Year 2021, Mazlan is 64 years old, owning a Shop in the center of an Ampang City that
producing and selling multiple type of Malaysian Food, Cake and beverages. Currently Mak
Jah Corner has 15 employees with 4 section in the shop which is, the Roti Canai sections,
Kuih- Muih Section, Baverages section and Rice Section.

4|Page
 2.2. BUSINESS PROFILE.

NAME OF THE BUSINESS Mak Jah Corner

BUSINESS ADDRESS No. 26, Jalan Kolam Air Lama, Ukay Heights, 68000
Ampang, Selangor
PHONE NUMBER 012-223 4423
WEBSITE https://www.facebook.com/makjahcafeampangjaya/
OWNER’S NAME Mazlan Bin Zakaria
FORM OF BUSINESS Food and Beverages
MAIN ACTIVITY Selling Kuih Muih
THEIR PRODUCT KUIH FROZEN : karipap, pulut panggang, roti canai,
cucur badak, roti bom, masalode, lepat pisang, kuih bom,
lepat ubi ,kastury.
Nasi lemak Mak Jah : Ayam goreng, sambal sotong, telur
mata, rendang daging, paru goreng, bergedil daging.
Lontong, Laksa pinang, Mee rebus, bihun sup, soto nasi
impit, roti jala, nasi impit + kuah kacang, pulut kuning ,
putu mayam , lasagna,bihun goreng, bihun goreng
singapore, kuey teow goreng, mee goreng.
Roti canai, roti telur, roti telur bawang, roti telur jantan,
roti telur cheese, roti telur planta, roti bom, roti canai
sardin, roti canai cheese, roti canai double cheese, roti
planta, roti canai bawang.
Kuih : Karipap, cara lauk, cara manis, cucur badak,
kastury, keria, ketayap, kuih bom, lepat pisang, lepat ubi,
masalode, pulut inti, pulut kacang, pulut panggang,

5|Page
 tepung bungkus, tepung gomok, tepung pelita, agar-agar,
sagu merah, bingka jagung, bingka labu, bingka pisang,
bingka ubi kuning, bingka ubi coklat, bingka bakar
berlauk, bingka bakar pandan, talam kaswi, talam keladi,
talam lapis, talam srimuka, talam tepung, talam ubi,
wajid, buah melaka, bakar bunga, pudding caramel,
lempeng pisang.
SERVICE OPTION Dine-in, Takeaway and contact delivery
OPENING HOURS 8.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.
DATE OF CREATION 1974
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 15

6|Page
 3. PERSONAL ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES (PEC’S)

3.1. SEES AND ACT OPPORTUNITIES

Mazlan has an entrepreneurship mentality since he is just a little kid. According to

the interview that I had with him, he still remember during that time, He got amused by the
adults around him who always going out in the morning to go and get a breakfast from the
nearest shop. He thought to himself that these types of shops must be making money from
people who are late to their work or don’t really have time to cook for themselves. Mazlan
started to loves the idea of owning a shop when he was young.

Similarly like any other new entrepreneur, Mazlan definitely went through some
challenge in order to start a shop. For him it was lack of resources and recipe. Back then, it
was easy to open a shop but so hard to maintain it. Mazlan always went to meet with a lot of
local experts in his village about food and beverage process in order to boost his shop quality
and was denied so many times, but he never give up to look for people who willing to teach
and learn from them.

In 1975, most shop that sells breakfast don’t have a variety of food to choose from
and the beverages is all coffee. This inspired Mazlan to create a shop that has a full menu of
Malaysian breakfast food and beverages in one place. Obviously, the idea is risky because
there will be a lot of wastage if the food did not sell. He thinks this as opportunities to start.

Mazlan also sees opportunities in the demographic of the place. A few office
buildings are located near the shop and as a result, the shop is always busy in the morning
because office workers who don’t have time to eat their breakfast at home can just grab
something from the shop. Mazlan definitely sees this as an opportunity to add a dine in
service in his shop. Because of this, his shop, start to get peoples attention from around the
area. He started to get a lot more sales than usual and gain a new customer every single day.

7|Page
 3.2. SELF CONFIDENCE

Mazlan Bin Zakaria, the owner of Mak Jah corner has already shown that
selfconfident by challenging himself to open his own business. During his teenage years,
most people his age are busy working building other people dream. But he believes in himself
that he can be where he is right now as an owner and build his own empire.

Mak Jah Corner has approximately 100 regular customers and new customers
coming every single day, this is the result of Mazlan that knows how to promote himself and
make a new connection. This is a key model for his own product and often a motivation in his
business itself. Furthermore, during the interview, Mazlan shared that he is very grateful to
have such a supportive family that are the reason of his self-confidence.

Mazlan had such a sociable attitude with everyone he met and because of this his
shop often appeared in many reviews on the internet. Apart from the delicious food, most
reviews from the critiques and customers are about how friendly the owner is and how
Mazlan remembered every detail about his customers.

In addition, Celebrities are always seen enjoying their breakfast at the Mak Jah
Corner. For instant, The Malaysian actresses, Elfira Loy stated in her vlog on YouTube, how
she recommended Mak Jah Corner as a breakfast hot spot in Ampang. Also, Malaysian
celebrity chef, Chef Wan visited Mak Jah corner out of curiosity and impressed by the
simplicity yet neat part of the shop and wrote a positive review on his Facebook account
about the shop.

Also through the interview, Mazlan shared that self-confidence is very important
in the entrepreneurship. It is one of the main reason how to make a business appear more
effective in public eyes.

8|Page
 3.3. INITIATIVE

Based on the interview that has been done, Mazlan Bin Zakaria has the
characteristics of an entrepreneur who takes the initiative. This is one of the important
competencies that needs to be applied by the entrepreneur while running their business.
Mazlan shared that he be able to find the solution to whatever challenge or issues that prevent
him from reaching his business goal. His intention is simple to gain more profit and to be
recognized as a successful entrepreneur.

In 2015, Mazlan noticed that his sales are slightly dropped due to the new western
restaurant next to his shop. Mazlan started to lose a few of his customer around lunch hour
because people tend to go to the western restaurant rather than his shop. Because of this,
Mazlan took the initiative to upgrade his beverages menu in his shop which is adding the cold
fresh fruit juice. Mazlan Chose this solution for this particular issue because most customer
who are coming during the lunch hour are office workers who walk from their workplace to
the shop. As a Malaysian, we all know how hot the weather is during the afternoon and
Mazlan use this as a way to tackle back the customer.

Mazlan always had an initiative attitude towards his business. In 2016, most shops
started to focus more on decoration and ambience, this sparks an idea for Mazlan to add a
musician to his shop. As a result, Mak Jah Corner will be having a basking on every weekend
consists of singer and guitarist. This will attract more people to go and check out the shop.

His shop now is part of the Ampang community. Everyone knows the place and the
person who owns it. The success that Mazlan achieved was a lucrative result because he was
not afraid to take the risk and work very hard to get customers for his sales. Mazlan continues
to use the business profits he earns as a capital to take the business further.

9|Page
 3.4. ASSESRTIVENESS

Mazlan is an entrepreneur who develops the assertiveness competencies since the

very start of his business. During the interview for this case study, he is extremely honest and
respectful. When asked about this, he said that it is one of his habits to confront problems and
issues with people directly. He said “it is always important to be 100% clear about what
others are talking about. Don’t pretend if you don’t understand something. It will just be a
burden for yourself.” Therefore, the interview for this case study went very smoothly and
relaxed.

Mazlan shared his experience of recruiting his employees based on how interest
they are. Most of his employees are not trained professionals, but they are eager to learn and
work really hard. He loves to have an employee that has the same page as him in business.
But sometimes, because of their lack of skills, Mazlan needs to express his feelings and
thoughts about their quality of work. This just showed that Mazlan is an entrepreneur who
are assertive, he is able to control his anger and able to maintain a comfortable relationship
with his employees.

Apart from that, Mak Jah corner Financial and accounting are handled by
Mazlan’s wife himself Jamilah Binti Yaakob. Mazlan undeniably grateful to have such a
smart wife to take care of his shop together with him. From time to time, there will be some
of miscalculating due to wastage and cancelled order that will be effecting the gross profit.

According to Mazlan, when the miscalculating in finance and account happen, he

will respectfully express his point of view to his wife in a way that is clear and direct. When
the arguments occur, he will listen to the views of others and responding appropriately,
whether in agreement with those views or not. This clearly showed his assertive behaviour for
maintaining self-control and admitting his mistakes and apologise.

10 | P a g e
 4. CONCLUSION

Ultimately, from this case study, I learned how important it is to have an

entrepreneurship competency. Entrepreneur who is willing to put everything in their business
will certainly get the recognition they deserved. Entrepreneur like Mazlan Bin Zakaria is the
prime example of how humble, kind and hard-working attitude will be paying off in the
future. Customers will feel positive around and want to do business with him.

To be successful and have a stable business often requires a great attitude from the
entrepreneur. This case study provides an overview how capability and knowledge of
entrepreneurship will affect their business and innovation. Having a positive entrepreneurship
competencies will help establish a good brand name and contributed change in practices in
their industry.

Entrepreneurship competency in this case study such as seeing and act opportunities,
self-confident, initiative and assertiveness surely shaped Mazlan and Mak Jah Corner to its
higher quality. Mak Jah Corner will keep on improving and changing to their objective
market and analysis the behaviour and higher cognitive process that involve placing the
company ahead aside from other competitors.

11 | P a g e
 5. APPENDICES

5.1. THE INTERVIEW WITH MAZLAN BIN ZAKARIA

5.2. ELFIRA LOY VLOG AT MAK JAH CORNER

5.3. CHEF WAN VISITED MAK JAH CORNER

12 | P a g e
 5.4. FOOD AND BEVERAGES AT MAK JAH CORNER

5.5. MAK JAH CORNER

6. REFERENCE

Ty Pedr (2019, September 10). United Kingdom. Retrieved from

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/assertiveness.html

Mak Jah Café Ampang Jaya Café HQ. Facebook account. Business profile retrieved from
https://m.facebook.com/makjahcafeampangjaya/

T Hussain. Journal on Attitude towards Entrepreneurship: An Exploration of Technology

Education Students. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1209794.pdf

13 | P a g e