A Young Graduate In Sabah Made RM300,000 In Just A Year By Turning His Hobby Into A Career
What started off as a hobby is a now popular tourism product.
By Tang Ruxyn — 09 Aug 2017, 02:14 PM
All eyes are on a young entrepreneur from Sabah, following the success of his small business venture recently
Jubair Juhinin is the proud operator of one of the latest attractions in Ranau, the 'Arnab Village' (Rabbit Village).
Located at Kampung Purakagis, Ranau, which is about 104km away from Kota Kinabalu, the rabbit farm has emerged as a must-visit tourist destination in the district.
27-year-old Jubair has helped to transform the rural tourism industry in Sabah as locals and international tourists have been flocking to this place ever since it became fully operational in 2016, so that they could see and interact with fluffy rabbits in their natural habitat.
Jubair's story will certainly inspire anyone who is looking to turn their passion into a career.
Despite only having RM5,000 to start the business, he has managed to earn RM300,000 in just a year's time!
It all started in 2013 when Jubair reared a pair of rabbits at a family home in the village. The pet lover's enthusiasm saw him grew his furry family and eventually, with the encouragement from his family and friends, he decided to develop his hobby into a business.
The graduate of Aquaculture Science from the University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) decided to take the plunge and turned the place into an attraction starting with basic facilities and environmental landscapes using his small capital.
However, he remained optimistic in developing the farm on a 0.2 hectare land, and his efforts were not wasted as he managed to turn his hobby into a booming business.
It was reported that Arnab Village has generated RM300,000 in revenue through ticket sales within the past year.
Jubair has continuously put in a lot of effort and money to improve Arnab Village ever since it was first opened to public in August 2016
As one of the 10 local entrepreneurs that won the PitchBorneo competition last November, Jubair walked home with RM20,000, which he used to make improvements at Arnab Village, including upgrading the basic facilities for future visitors.
He said that more facilities will be upgraded gradually to ensure that visitors get to enjoy their trip here comfortably.
"The upgrading works include public facilities such as toilets, garden expansion, rabbit stables and building a souvenir shop. While for the third phase of development, we will focus on building restaurants and accessory shops."
"Besides that, we will build shoplots around villages to be rented by traders to sell craft products, food or related products to help them in generating income," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, visitors young and old will definitely enjoy getting up close and personal with the cute rabbits
Jubair told Bernama that there are eight different species of rabbits reared at this farm namely New Zealand White, Standard Rex, Mini Satin, Lion Head, Netherland Dwarf, Lop Ear, Anggora, dan Local Breed.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the farm and interact with the 400 fluffy animals, which are allowed to roam freely in the fenced area.
Those who want to record videos and take pictures with the tame rabbits can also do so here.
Jubair also told reporters that he aims to keep growing his furry family and house with about 1,000 rabbits at the garden early next year.
For those who are interested to pay a visit, admission fee is only RM5!
The following are the admission fees at Arnab Village:
• Children (Malaysian visitors): RM3
• Adult (Malaysian visitors): RM5
• Children (International visitors): RM5
• Adult (International visitors): RM10
Arnab Village opens daily from 9am until 5pm.
For more information, visit the Facebook page here.