Fitrotin Nisak smiles. The 30-year-old says that her wares, crafted from tailor scraps, are not only popular where she lives in Pasuruan, East Java, but also in big cities in Java and other parts of Indonesia.

“I was surprised when I received orders from outside Java for laptop bags adorned with scraps worth Rp 2.5 million (US$205),” the mother of one said. “They said they knew my products from my Internet ads.”

High-speed optical fiber Internet is connecting nearly all the cities and regencies in the province, giving local micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) a chance to boost business growth and standards of living.

Fitrotin’s story is one of many. Starting work as a tailor altering clothes in Ngadimulyo village in 2010, she has been making headway in running her own business — thanks to Internet access introduced to her by a younger sister.

Employing her neighbors, Fitrotin previously could serve only a limited number orders. Now, she is considering how to hire more housewives through her business, which uses five sewing machines to meet growing demand.

The business is simple: Fitrotin has created dozens of products decorated with tailor scraps, such as pillow cases, laptop bags, handbags, tissue boxes, water dispenser covers. Prices range from Rp 40,000 to Rp 350,000.

The Internet however, has helped her to find out what kind of handicrafts are in demand outside the regency — and to expand her network, Fitrotin said. She’s currently fulfilling Internet orders from retailers in Surabaya, the provincial capital; the nearby regency of Sidoarjo and Jakarta.

Another Internet success story is Ida Widyastuti, who owns Roemah Snack Mekarsari in Sidoarjo.

Something’s brewing: The owner of Griya kopi Kaspandi, a small company in East Java, displays his grinder. High-speed optical fiber Internet is giving local micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) more chances to succeed. (JP/ Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
The 39-year-old also said that high-speed Internet in the province had changed the game for her business. “I can optimally promote my ‘Pisang Agung’ [banana snack]. I’m now learning to export snacks online.”

Ida, whose claims her annual turnover is currently in the billions of rupiah since starting in 2003, said she wanted to export snacks from East Java to overseas markets such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Middle East, where there are many Indonesian migrant workers (TKW).

From her home office, she’s helping out a collective of similar local businesses. “Snack-producing SMEs [working] in partnership with me have about 2,000 workers,” Ida says. “There are 300 farmers handling 300 hectares of banana plantations in Trenggalek regency, plus 160 estate employees. The domino effect is unimaginable.”

In Sidoarjo regency, around 171,000 people work for SMEs operating in 82 sectors. However, in other areas of the province, not all small business people are ready to go online.

Tjahjo Prihandaru, for example, has been producing cassava chips in Gebang district, Jember regency, for 15 years. He says he doubts that he could ramp up production to meet an expected bump in orders if he uses the Internet to tout his business.

“I’m going to improve my production management first before I venture to benefit from the Internet,” the 43-year-old said. “Once I use the Internet in the future, I don’t want to disappoint my customers.”

Fattah Jasin, who heads the East Java office for cooperatives and SMEs, says that the Internet has played an important role in the jump in the number of people employed by SMEs in the province from 4.2 million in 2012 to 6.8 million in 2013.

“The growth has been remarkable,” Fattah said. “The impact has been a major rise in East Java’s gross regional domestic product to Rp 1.01 trillion in a year. In Indonesia, such development has only been found in Jakarta — and East Java.”

Local tech blogger Enda Nasution says that East Java’s Internet-induced SME boom is a double-edged sword: Those well-prepared will benefit while the unprepared will have the tech boom backfire on them.

“Many SMEs aren’t yet prepared or aware of the tremendous effect of the Internet technology,” Nasution said. “They’re mostly jumping helter-skelter when asked to meet market demand within a short time. This should not happen in order to maintain consumer confidence.”

Fitrotin Nisak smiles. The 30-year-old says that her wares, crafted from tailor scraps, are not only popular where she lives in Pasuruan, East Java, but also in big cities in Java and other parts of Indonesia.

'€œI was surprised when I received orders from outside Java for laptop bags adorned with scraps worth Rp 2.5 million (US$205),'€ the mother of one said. '€œThey said they knew my products from my Internet ads.'€

High-speed optical fiber Internet is connecting nearly all the cities and regencies in the province, giving local micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) a chance to boost business growth and standards of living.

Fitrotin'€™s story is one of many. Starting work as a tailor altering clothes in Ngadimulyo village in 2010, she has been making headway in running her own business '€” thanks to Internet access introduced to her by a younger sister.

Employing her neighbors, Fitrotin previously could serve only a limited number orders. Now, she is considering how to hire more housewives through her business, which uses five sewing machines to meet growing demand.

The business is simple: Fitrotin has created dozens of products decorated with tailor scraps, such as pillow cases, laptop bags, handbags, tissue boxes, water dispenser covers. Prices range from Rp 40,000 to Rp 350,000.

The Internet however, has helped her to find out what kind of handicrafts are in demand outside the regency '€” and to expand her network, Fitrotin said. She'€™s currently fulfilling Internet orders from retailers in Surabaya, the provincial capital; the nearby regency of Sidoarjo and Jakarta.

Another Internet success story is Ida Widyastuti, who owns Roemah Snack Mekarsari in Sidoarjo.