​From handmade soap to kombucha: How small businesses get their start on Instagram

Many small businesses that have found their customer base on Instagram in recent years. While Instagram has been putting in new features since 2018 to make the platform business-friendly, the number of small retailers on the site ballooned after COVID-19 "circuit breaker" measures were imposed, said experts. About half of Singapore’s 4.5 million social media users are on Instagram, estimated Dr Boey Yew Tung, senior lecturer from the marketing division of the Nanyang Business School. This forms a “sizable number of potential customers” for Instagram businesses, he added. With safe distancing measures in place, starting a business on social media is a “cost-efficient strategy” to keep customers front and centre, said Asst Prof Chen Lou from WKWSCI. She added that for businesses targeting millennials or Gen Z, or those who are tech-savvy, Instagram is a “very accessible and yet manageable” first step.