Women in Indonesia are capitalizing on social media outlets, online forums, chat apps and sales and marketing channels for their small businesses, be it selling homemade cookies or vintage, branded bags.

'€œConditions in Indonesia are really supportive of entrepreneurs because they don'€™t have to obtain many permits,'€ said Female Daily Network co-founder and CEO Hanifa Ambadar.

The Female Daily Network runs a group of female-oriented websites, such as femaledaily.com, in which women can share information through various forums. Femaledaily.com also offers online shopping.

However, the ease of setting up an online business means that many women take the plunge without having a good grasp of business basics.

Therefore, the Female Daily Network, in collaboration with life insurer Finansial Wiramitra Danadyaksa (FWD), recently gathered online female entrepreneurs together to share basic know-how in running their businesses, including those online.

The danger of absent targets

Hanifa pointed out that many women who started online businesses did so on a whim. As a result, many of them do not have business targets.

'€œEntrepreneurs must at least have a sales target for the next month and likewise set a revenue stream goal,'€ she said.

FWD chief marketing officer Benjamin Handradjasa added that targets helped gauge whether businesses were in good health.

'€œProfit and loss can only be calculated if there are sales targets to compare actual sales with,'€ he said.

'€œPeople view accounting as mundane and complicated because it involves calculating profit and loss, when in fact cash flow is essential to doing business,'€ he said.

Getting business basics right

The Internet should not only be used as a sales and marketing channel, but also as a tool to sharpen business skills.

Hanifa said female entrepreneurs should look for articles on business know-how. Entrepreneurs could also join online communities that swapped information on business skills.

'€œEntrepreneurs can post questions that will help them learn about profit and loss,'€ she said

FWD'€™s Benjamin suggested that entrepreneurs research business management tools.

'€œThe market is the customer that the product is targeted at. Meanwhile, value propositions are elements such as customer relationships that will drive repeat purchases,'€ he said.

He added that on the internal operations side, entrepreneurs needed to figure out the sources of their raw materials and marketing budgets.

Essentials: Female entrepreneurs gather up to learn basic know-how in running businesses.

Separate the accounts

Hanifa also mentioned the importance of keeping separate accounts. Since many online businesses were impromptu, starting capital came from entrepreneurs'€™ own pockets and as their businesses developed, entrepreneurs would often pump in more money from personal or families'€™ savings.

'€œHowever, it'€™s best that entrepreneurs keep business and personal accounts separated,'€ she said.

Keeping them separated mitigated the risk of draining personal bank accounts if the venture failed. Separate bank accounts also eased the splitting of profits between partners.

'€œWe know that capital is raised through various means, sometimes by having a friend inject capital as an active or silent partner,'€ she said.

Respect yourself, pay yourself

Online entrepreneurs commonly find themselves taking on a wide range of roles, from sales to customer service, and many forget to pay themselves a salary.

'€œAn entrepreneur must reward her own efforts,'€ Hanifa said.

She added that receiving a salary would say to the entrepreneur that she was running her business professionally.

'€œSetting aside a salary will also help prevent an entrepreneur from feeling tired, or from feeling that she has been working hard for the past six months for nothing,'€ she added.

Reach out to local residents

Female entrepreneurs with children have the additional challenge of keeping an eye on child care and the development of their businesses. Female entrepreneurs in Indonesia have an edge in juggling both responsibilities.

Hanifa added that Indonesian women were in luck as they had help in managing the household.

'€œThe social support system for mothers is highly supportive for those wanting to do business,'€ she pointed out.

Besides having babysitters and house assistants to help keep an eye on the children, women also have extended family members to call upon.

'€œA good number of women live close to their in-laws, with whom they can leave their children when necessary,'€ she said.