“I never expected that after making changes to my shop, the crowd would come flocking. The turnover [of goods] also went up. And now, my shop is very busy,” said Mia, a retail shop owner.

Rismia “Mia” Hidayati, who owns Toko SRC Joyo Roto in Surabaya, East Java, recently changed her operational approach for her retail shop. Starting her small business in a 5-by-3-meter space, Mia reorganized the arrangement of her shop under the guidance of the Sampoerna Retail Community (SRC), aimed at traditional retailers in Indonesia, initiated by PT HM Sampoerna Tbk. (Sampoerna).

The SRC program was established in 2008 and has expanded to reach all provinces in Indonesia, with current members of more than 165,000 retailers from various businesses. Retail shop owners, under the guidance of the SRC, are provided with guidance and assistance to make breakthroughs that will eventually help them increase competitiveness. By joining the SRC their revenues have gone up by around 54 percent on average.

The traditional retailers in Indonesia, which are usually called toko kelontong, are categorized as micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs. Unlike major convenience store chains across the country, the location of these shops vary as some are considered neighborhood shops located in residential areas. The size of these shops can be as small as street food vendors. These retail shops are individually owned, just like Mia’s.

To grow her business, Mia had the idea to make durian treats by collaborating with her neighbor, a small wholesaler of durian. She also hired her friend who became unemployed during the pandemic to become a delivery courier for her products.

“The product is durian ice-cream. My neighbor’s small durian wholesale business was experiencing a decline. So, I thought, why don’t we make ice-cream from the fruit. The courier who helped out is my friend who lost his job during the pandemic," said Mia, whose business managed to help people stay afloat during the pandemic.

One of the qualities that is deeply rooted among Indonesians is the spirit of gotong royong or collaboration, adaptation and resilience. In addition to her shop which is now much more established, Mia has also built a boarding house (rumah kost) to be rented out to other people. Mia’s aspiration is to play a part in improving the quality of the lives of those around her, especially now that her business continues to grow. By joining the SRC, her mindset has now shifted to continue growing her business and to always have an eye for new opportunities.

Similar to Mia, Musrianto is a proud owner of the SRC Nisa Shop in Gresik, East Java. He started his business in 2008 and has a sharp eye for finding creative ways to sustain his business. He and his wife produce banana chips which are sold at other shops under the SRC community. As demands for his chips grew, Musrianto collaborated with housewives in his community to ramp up production and expand sales of the banana chips. With his collaborative spirit, he provides new opportunities to his community by opening a new source of income, beyond expanding his own business.

“I involve the neighboring housewives, who do not have their own source of income, to help with production," he said.

The banana chips business has now expanded to include cassava chips, breadfruit and taro, among others. Musrianto feels humbled that people see his business as a blessing for others.

Musrianto revealed that he wanted to become an SRC member after he saw the attractive and comfortable looks of the SRC member stores. His Nisa Shop officially joined the SRC in the middle of 2018. Since then, similar to what happened to Mia, the appearance and arrangement of the store has become neat and clean, which has positively increased his turnover. The space he occupied has tripled from 12 square meters to 36 square meters. He strongly believes that hospitality is an essential element in his business. With a smile on his face, he will always warmly greet all his customers with a hello and how-are-you.

Moreover, another member of the SRC is Toko SRC Nawang Wulan, which is owned and operated by Titin Suhartini since 2005. Before joining the SRC, she managed her shop in a traditional way where it was not neatly organized because she did not think it was important. When she joined the SRC in 2016, she followed the guidance to rearrange the store and pay more attention to cleanliness and lighting.

She then had an opportunity to participate in a gathering for retailers organized by the SRC in Jakarta. “I paid full attention to learn from other retailers. When I came home from Jakarta, I changed my shop again to expand my business. For example, I started a drinking-water refill service and opened various food booths such as tofu walik, juice and pok-pok (fried) chicken,” said Titin.

She handed over the management of the food booths to her son, as she expanded her business portfolio to also become a distributor of LPG and five brands of mineral water. Sharing her story with other SRC members, Titin said she was happy to be able to help fellow MSME owners so that they could also grow.

“I gave some suggestions to SRC shop owners. I told them how to make their shops attractive. I often help friends to lower the hanger. I went to their shops, and they said they wanted their shops to be like mine. So, I helped,” Titin concluded.

Mia, Musrianto and Titin will share more of their inspiring stories at the MSMEs for Indonesia event on Aug. 31. They will also talk about collaboration strategies to encourage business growth. Details of the event can be seen here.

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