Bahterau
Harbour planning and navigation — representing programme structure at Bahtera Usaha

Programmes

Three programmes, each built around a specific stage of business

The programmes are not a sequence. Each stands alone. The right one depends on where your business is and what questions you are working through.

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Methodology

How the programmes are structured

Each programme is built around the questions that actually arise at a particular stage of running or preparing to run a business in Malaysia. The material is developed from case situations in Malaysian businesses — not adapted from overseas curricula — and is reviewed against current local regulatory practice before each intake.

Before enrolment, every participant receives a written scope: what sessions are included, what materials they receive, whether there is an individual review, and what written output they leave with. This is agreed at the start, not negotiated afterwards.

If, after reading the programme description and scope, a participant has questions about fit, they can write to the faculty and receive a direct response. The school will note if a programme does not seem right for their situation and will say so plainly.

Precise scope

Written before enrolment

Malaysia-grounded

Local case material throughout

Small cohorts

Capped per programme

Starting a Business Properly programme

Programme 1 · RM 225

Starting a Business Properly

Duration: 7 weeks
Weekly commitment: One evening session + approximately 4 hours independent work
Includes: All sessions, templates, registration walkthrough, one individual review
Fee: RM 225

A programme for people preparing to register and open a business, taught before the first ringgit is committed rather than afterwards. The modules cover what each business structure actually exposes the owner to, the registration and licensing steps with the relevant government offices, how to open books from day one, estimating working capital realistically, testing whether customers will actually pay, and knowing when the honest answer is not yet.

What you work through

  • Sole proprietorship, partnership, Sdn Bhd — what each exposes you to and why it matters
  • SSM registration, licensing offices and the sequence to follow
  • Opening a set of books from day one — not after the first year of confusion
  • Working capital estimation and where first-time founders typically go wrong
  • Testing whether customers will pay before the investment is made
  • When the right answer is not yet — and what that decision looks like worked through properly

Typical week-by-week structure

1

Structure and liability. What each business form commits you to and what it protects you from.

2

Registration and licensing. Working through the offices, forms and sequences involved in the Malaysian registration process.

3

Opening the books. Basic bookkeeping setup, what to track from the first day and why the first year of records matters.

4

Working capital. Estimating cash needs, common underestimations and how to stress-test the numbers.

5

Market testing. Methods for testing whether customers will pay before capital is committed.

6

Individual review. Each participant's plan reviewed with a faculty member.

7

Not yet — and what to do with that. Working through the decision to delay and what changes would need to occur.

Poor fit note: This programme is not the right choice for someone who has already registered and is trading — the registration walkthrough and early-stage material will not address the problems they are actually facing. The second or third programme is more likely to help.
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Trade, Export and Supply Chain Practice programme

Programme 2 · RM 445

Trade, Export and Supply Chain Practice

Duration: 11 weeks
Weekly commitment: Two sessions per week + approximately 5 hours independent work
Cohort: Up to 18 participants
Includes: All sessions, document templates, supplier assessment exercise, one individual review, written trade operating note
Fee: RM 445

A practical programme for businesses buying or selling across borders. It covers where the risk actually sits under different incoterms, letters of credit and their alternatives, customs classification and documentation, how to select a freight forwarder and read their quotations, simple approaches to currency exposure, supplier qualification, and what to do when a shipment arrives short or late. Local case material is drawn from the port and manufacturing sectors in Melaka and southern Johor.

What you work through

  • Incoterms — which ones are commonly misread and where liability actually transfers
  • Letters of credit: how they work, when to use alternatives, and how to avoid common documentation errors
  • Customs classification, HS codes and the documentation required for Malaysian customs clearance
  • Reading a freight quotation and evaluating a forwarder on something other than price
  • Currency exposure and straightforward hedging approaches available to SMEs
  • Supplier qualification and managing the relationship when quality or delivery fails
  • Dispute handling and what to put in a contract before the problem arises
Poor fit note: This programme assumes the business is already trading or has a near-term plan to do so. Someone who is still planning their first product or service is better placed in the first programme before addressing trade and export questions.
Enquire About This Programme

Business Leadership Programme with Advisory Panel

Programme 3 · RM 810

Business Leadership Programme with Advisory Panel

Duration: 20 weeks
Weekly commitment: One full day per fortnight plus preparation
Cohort: Up to 12 participants
Includes: All modules, two panel presentations, mentor sessions, written panel reports, final documented business plan
Fee: RM 810

An extended programme for owners and senior managers of established businesses, combining taught modules with a standing advisory panel. Modules cover strategy, capital structure, governance for family-held companies, succession, professionalising a management team, and preparing a business for investment or sale. Alongside these, each participant presents their business twice to a panel of faculty and peers under a signed confidentiality framework, receives written observations after each presentation, and works the recommendations through with a faculty mentor.

What you work through

  • Strategy — defining where the business is actually going and what that requires
  • Capital structure — debt, equity, retained earnings and what each implies for control
  • Governance for family-held businesses — separating ownership from management, decision rights, and conflict resolution
  • Succession planning — how to approach it early enough for it to be useful
  • Professionalising a management team — when to hire, what to delegate and how to hold people accountable
  • Preparing for investment or sale — what buyers and investors look for and how to be ready

The advisory panel process

1

Each participant prepares a written summary of their business for the first panel presentation.

2

The presentation is made to the panel — faculty and fellow participants — under a signed confidentiality framework.

3

Written observations are provided to the participant within two weeks of each presentation.

4

Mentor sessions work through the observations and identify what to address before the second presentation.

5

The second presentation reviews what has changed and closes with a final documented business plan.

Poor fit note: This programme is designed for businesses that have been operating for several years and are working through strategic questions. It is not well suited to businesses in the first two years of operation, or to businesses that are in acute financial difficulty and need immediate practical help rather than structured discussion.
Enquire About This Programme

Deciding Between Programmes

If you are deciding between programmes

The programmes are not a sequence, but the table below may help clarify which is most relevant to your situation.

Your situation Programme 1
RM 225
Programme 2
RM 445
Programme 3
RM 810
Planning to open a business, not yet registered
Already operating and dealing with cross-border trade or export
Established business, working through strategy or succession
Planning to import from overseas suppliers
Family business considering the transition to professional management
Thinking about registering but not yet certain it is the right time

If your situation does not fit neatly into any row, write to the faculty. They will respond directly with their view on which programme, if any, is the right fit.

Fees

Programme fees

Programme 1

Starting a Business Properly

RM 225

7 weeks · All-inclusive

  • 7 evening sessions
  • Templates and worksheets
  • SSM registration walkthrough
  • One individual faculty review
Enquire
Programme 2

Trade, Export & Supply Chain

RM 445

11 weeks · All-inclusive

  • 22 sessions (two per week)
  • Document templates
  • Supplier assessment exercise
  • One individual faculty review
  • Written trade operating note
Enquire
Programme 3

Business Leadership Programme

RM 810

20 weeks · All-inclusive

  • All taught modules (one full day/fortnight)
  • Two advisory panel presentations
  • Mentor sessions
  • Written panel reports × 2
  • Final documented business plan
Enquire

Standards

Shared across all three programmes

Written scope before enrolment

Sessions, materials, reviews and outputs are stated in writing before any fee is paid.

Cohort confidentiality

A confidentiality framework is agreed at the start of each intake, binding on participants and faculty.

Data handled with care

Enrolment data is held only for programme management and not shared with third parties.

Faculty with operational backgrounds

Sessions are run by people who have worked in or advised businesses — not only academic faculty.

Written feedback at defined points

Observations are given in writing and kept by the participant after the programme ends.

Honest about poor fit

If the enquiry suggests a programme is not right for someone's situation, the school says so directly.

Next Step

Not sure which programme is right?

Write a few lines about where your business is and what you are working through. The faculty will read the enquiry and respond with a direct view on which programme, if any, is the right fit.

Send an Enquiry