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‘It’s time to work together’: Comradeship among SMEs
Persistence: Fatimah, 62, tends to her small warung (kiosk) in the flood-hit Kayu Putih subdistrict in East Jakarta on Wednesday
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ersistence: Fatimah, 62, tends to her small warung (kiosk) in the flood-hit Kayu Putih subdistrict in East Jakarta on Wednesday. She established the warung with her husband, 68-year-old Rosuli, five years ago. They are among the many victims of the floods that have inundated many parts of the capital since New Year's Eve.(JP/Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman)
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are helping each other as many of them have begun to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their business activities.
Many small and medium companies, especially those involved in the retail sector, have lost their customers as people avoid going to markets or malls in compliance with the government’s social distancing policy.
Kania Annisa Anggiani, the founder of Chic & Darling, an all-women-run SME that creates and sells lifestyle products, reached out to her fellow business owners through her Instagram account, @kekekania, and offered to promote their products for free to her 36,300 followers.
“Right now is not the time to compete. We’re all in survival mode,” she wrote on her post on Saturday, while asking for owners to list their businesses in the comment section and saying that she would make a directory that could be passed on to the public.
As of Monday, the post had been flooded with more than 400 comments from small and medium business owners across all sectors who shared how the pandemic had drastically impacted their businesses.
Kania told The Jakarta Post on Monday over the phone that she felt compelled to support other businesses as she had seen her own enterprise struggle.
Her business saw a 30 to 40 percent drop in sales, and she mentioned how other businesses she knew had seen similar falls in sales figures, with some resorting to permanently closing down their shops while others had closed temporarily until further notice.
“As of this morning, 187 [brands] have been listed on the database,” she said, adding that some of the brands might be able to get a free media placement on Female Radio as the station had reached out to her saying it was interested in helping the businesses she had listed by advertising them for free on its platform.
In this spirit of camaraderie, Katharina Inkiriwang, cofounder of clothing line Masshiro & Co and a long-time investor in private equity, joined in to help out by offering a free crash course on the topic of “cash management during a crisis”, which the two businesswomen broadcasted on Instagram Live on Sunday. At one point, more than 100 people were following the discussion.
“The number one rule is to save cash,” she said to the online audience, adding that essential spending should still be prioritized but non-essentials, for example, marketing and expansion plans, could be postponed until the economy picked up its pace again.
Katharina called on business owners to target their loyal customers, who had been the backbone of their business success thus far. She explained the 80:20 rule, in which 80 percent of a business' sales are most likely going to come from the top 20 percent of a business’s customers.
“You don’t need to target everyone,” was one of her tips for businesses, in addition to renegotiating rent terms with landlords and readjusting owners’ and employees’ salary structures when necessary.
“No brand is going to survive the coronavirus crisis alone. It’s time to work together,” Katharina said.
Indonesia’s economy is built on the backs of small businesses. Based on data from the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, Indonesia’s SMEs account for 99.9 percent of total businesses, employ up to 97 percent of the total workforce and contribute more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Despite struggling to keep their heads above water, several SMEs are coming up with social initiatives to help their business partners, in this case delivery drivers, to gain benefit from their product sales. Some are appealing to their consumers to participate in the #traktirojol (#treatdrivers) movement.
It is a social movement that started online and calls for consumers, many of whom are staying home as the government has urged people to limit mobility, to not only order food for themselves, but also for their drivers.
Loka Padang, a restaurant chain that sells popular Padang food, now features a special menu for their takeaway customers.
Customers can order the Bahagiain Sobat Gojek (Make a Fellow Gojek Driver Happy) from the Gojek app and let the drivers know that the order is for them.
Bakmi Galaksi is also running a similar initiative. Customers can treat online delivery drivers for a meal by ordering Traktir Ojolmu (Treat Your Driver) on the GoFood or GrabFood platform and the driver will receive a box of rice with fried chicken and a complimentary drink. (ydp)
