Pamela Lim : COVID-19 Business Help #Herworldherstory

This is Pamela Lim's story as published in Her World Magazine.

To help the unemployed get back on their feet, the entrepreneur is offering a free e-commerce course

When I realized that many small businesses and people have lost their livelihood in recent months, I decided to provide a free e-commerce entrepreneurial course. I knew the way to survive is to go digital, as online businesses will grow even bigger.

Plus, the six-month course will bring new skills to the unemployed. They can set up their own online businesses and earn a new source of income.

I conduct the digital course with three other instructors under Cambridge Institute of Communication Arts, which I founded in 2017. This is my area of expertise: I have a Masters in Digital Medai and Masters in Business Administration.

To join, the students must agree to use their newly acquired skills to launch their online business within three weeks. So far, we've trained more than 300 people, out of which 15 student are sponsored.

They include chefs and women who have become sole breadwinners after their husbands lost their jobs, and family members of covid-19 victims.

The first three weeks of the course will see students and instructors brainstorm all kinds of ideas, before we create the products and build a system around each business. I encourage my students to think big and out of the box! Of course, the business has to be viable and creative, too! Some ideas include digital wet markets, home-based food businesses and offering financial advice to help others get through tough times. Each week, we'll guid each student one-on-one through the remaining months. I also oversee their initial months of operations. What motivates me is teaching people how to kick-start their businesses and bounce back!

I'm happy to see the students grow… helping them rethink problems, provide new solutions and be adaptable. One day, I'll look back and marvel at all the ideas we thought up during these times.