Denpasar, Gizmologi – Don't underestimate the potential of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), because if they are properly fostered, these business actors can move up a class by taking advantage of the big opportunities to make money. One of those who saw this potential was Juragan DOKU.
Yes, with more than 20 million MSMEs spread throughout Indonesia, of course this potential would be wasted if it was not utilized. With the number of players continuing to grow, it certainly has a very positive impact on the country's economy.
Based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the contribution of SMEs to National GDP is 606%. This shows that MSMEs have great potential to be developed so that they can make a big contribution to the economy.
As a state administrator, the government has various programs that can help MSMEs to develop further. Fortunately, this initiative also received support from various parties, such as DOKU through the Juragan DOKU platform which collaborates with Rumah BUMN Denpasar which fosters the local MSME community.
This was expressed by Widhi Gede Budiman, Operational Manager of Rumah BUMN Denpasar, who admitted to feeling the benefits since collaborating with DOKU at the beginning of last year.
Since this collaboration took place at the beginning of last year, he admitted that he felt helped by the various workshops and seminars that were held. Moreover, the Juragan DOKU platform can help MSMEs in making it easier for customers to provide their products and services.
“From the development side, it really helps a lot. MSMEs feel the benefits. DOKU often holds training for SMEs, webinars every month. There is even a group for consultation, he said.
Regarding BUMN House, as the name suggests, this community is a program from the Ministry of BUMN for the development of MSMEs, where there is a coworking space, training for millennials, and various other programs.
“Each region is different. In Denpasar, BUMN Houses are under PLN (State Electricity Company). The UMKNs that are being mentored come from various types of businesses, ranging from handicrafts, fashion, culinary, to services,” Widhi said.
He also added that since its establishment in 2017, Rumah BUMN has mentored 986 MSME actors. Unfortunately, this number has decreased due to the impact of the pandemic.
“During the journey there will certainly be ups and downs. Now there are around 500 MSMEs left, because the pandemic yesterday was enough to cause MSME players to collapse. However, as you can see here now, many MSMEs are also growing their businesses,” he concluded.
DOKU Boss Makes Transactions Easier
One of the UMKM players fostered by Rumah BUMN whose business has skyrocketed is Ni Wayan Sri Mustika Dewi with her business unit called TSDC Store which is an abbreviation of Tanda Sayang and Cinta. Established since the pandemic, precisely on March 6 2020, now the business can pocket a turnover of up to hundreds of millions of rupiah with products sold online and offline.
“In two weeks, we can produce around 300 totebags. Sales are not only for the domestic market, we have also exported to Japan, America, Timor Leste and the Netherlands” he said.
The craft products sold by TSDC Store are indeed unique. The reason is, the material used is mondong tree trunk. Like rattan and bamboo, this wood is usually used for various household items, such as chairs, mats, and so on
By selling around 50 types of handicraft products, currently TSDC Store has 25 employees, 15 of whom are involved in the production section. Apart from individual buyers, this business also accepts orders from various agencies for souvenirs.
By being under the auspices of Rumah BUMN, according to Sri Mustika, her business received various training and development. Among them is how to adopt a technology platform such as Juragan DOKU in the TSDC Store sales line.
“We just use the Juragan DOKU application, then send the payment link to the buyer. Later, buyers can make payments that they want to make, such as transfers via bank e-wallet, virtual accounts, or QRIS. The process is easy, the money goes directly into our account within seconds,” he explained while showing off the Juragan DOKU platform display from his smartphone screen.
The same thing was experienced by Komang Gde Agustini who manages Jegeg Tri Busana, a fashion business that was founded in 2013 that sells endek cloth, kebaya, and traditional clothing for worship. Apart from opening shops around Denpasar, this business unit also often holds exhibitions at various hotels and this is where he felt the benefits of using the Juragan DOKU platform.
“Before using Juragan DOKU, we always brought a mica glass that displays QRIS for payments. Now, just bring your smartphone, no need to print QRIS anymore to display on the mica during the exhibition,” he said.
Uniquely, even though it has been established for 10 years, Jegek Kain Bali does not sell its products on e-commerce platforms such as Tokopedia, Shopee, or Lazada which are usually used by similar business actors. This shop prefers to use social media platforms for selling.
“With Juragan DOKU, it is easier for us to serve purchasing transactions on social media. Because you can directly send the payment link to the buyer. The transaction was very smooth and easy,” said Agustini.
In addition, Jegeg Tri Busana often opens booths simultaneously at several different exhibitions. The Juragan DOKU platform is considered to facilitate all payment transactions because one account can be used on several different devices.
“We no longer need to carry around lots of QRIS mica. You can do it from your own smartphone, as long as you log in with the account you have registered. Mika might often be left behind, but if it's a smartphone, you'll always carry it everywhere” Agustini concluded.
Then from the buyer's side, how easy is it to use the payment link from a merchant who uses Juragan DOKU? Gizmologi had the chance to try buying a loaf of bread from Memori Cake Bali, one of the MSME partners fostered by Rumah BUMN Denpasar.
Just by providing a cellphone number, you will immediately receive a payment link where as a buyer you can choose a payment method from Paylater, ATM/Bank Transfer (Virtual Account), Minimarket, E-Money, and QRIS. Because QRIS is considered simpler, this transaction was finally chosen, where a QR code that can be scanned is immediately displayed on the seller's smartphone screen. It's that easy!
Partnering with Various MSME Communities
Regarding DOKU's collaboration with the MSME community, Herunata Joseph, AVP of Business Development and Partnership SME DOKU said that his party is not only collaborating with Rumah BUMN alone. Even in Bali alone, apart from Denpasar, he said that the community in Jembrana Regency was also being fostered while observing developments for further cooperation in other areas of Bali.
“We have partnered with many communities throughout Indonesia. Some come from private sector organizations such as Sahabat UMKM and Mastercard Strive Indonesia, as well as national scale organizations such as Femalepreneur. Among campuses, there is also collaboration with Pelita Harapan University (UPH) and Binus, which have development institutions for students and academics who have businesses” Heru told Gizmologi.
According to Heru, in providing guidance to the MSME community, there are special challenges. Considering that the level of digital literacy in each community is very different, it is certainly necessary to take a different approach.
“For example, among students, they are usually critical and idealistic. So, we really have to know the background of the community we want to foster, after that we study the scale of the business. The curriculum is not the same for each community, because the level of understanding is different,” Heru explained.
With around 20 million MSME players in Indonesia, Heru does not have a grandiose target regarding the number of users of the Juragan DOKU platform. The party is more focused on how to continue to develop this platform, including its collaboration with the MSME community.
However, since its launch last July, DOKU claims that there are already more than 15 thousand MSMEs that have been connected to the Juragan DOKU service. In addition, there have been more than 200 million merchant transactions that have been processed.
Also read: Developing into a Payment Fintech Company, DOKU Starts Working on International Markets
In order to attract consumers to use the platform, DOKU has provided various thematic campaigns that can influence consumers to use it. For example, providing shipping subsidies, cashback, and discount programs by entering certain codes.
For example, in a campaign DOKU provides a subsidy of IDR 1 million, then the merchant can break down this value into various discount programs, starting from free shipping to the amount of discount received by the buyer.
“Merchants now have the flexibility to determine discounts for their consumers. This promotion certainly also educates all parties, where sellers know how to use payment links, from the consumer side they know more about how easy the transactions are,” Heru concluded.
