IO – Global Entrepreneurship Index 2019 data reveals that the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia has increased from a mere 1.67% to 3.10% of 225 million people (the total population at the time). That’s a staggering leap from 3.75 to 6.98 million citizens. The creation of young, innovative young or millennial entrepreneurs is crucial, as this will help reduce the number of unemployed and revive Indonesia’s economy.
Through the ages, many young entrepreneurs have achieved glory in their teens. Some even started as young as Grade School! One of these is Almeyda Nayara, better known as “Naya Slime”. She started at the age of 9; she is now 14, and she has earned tens of millions of Rupiah a month from her business. In a recent webinar titled “The Importance of Entrepreneurship Skill for Kids”, Naya stated that she was first inspired to do business when her school held an Entrepreneur Day program.
“Thanks to Entrepreneur Day, I became aware that entrepreneurship is just the ability to recognize and optimize new opportunities. As my friends sold foodstuffs and stationery, I thought that I would like to sell a different product. In the end, I chose to sell a product known as ‘slime toys’. And my friends responded positively to it,” she said. “I learned that when we are starting a new business, the most important thing is to get rid of the fear and just try and start. When we pinpoint an opportunity, we need to be brave and just put out our product; we need to believe in its superiority and advantages.”
Naya emphasizes the need to learn sound money management in addition to creativity, innovation, and integrity, in order to maintain one’s business. She then explained her business’ very simple management: “I divide my money into four ‘pots’. Out of the 100% I earned, I will first pay my electricity bills and employees’ wages. After that, the rest goes to that ‘four pots’ – 25% for savings for the future, 25% for charity, 25% for materials, and 25% for unexpected miscellaneous expenses.”
Naya’s business has not always run smoothly. She has had her share of unpleasant experiences, especially during the pandemic: she was forced to shut down three of her offline stores and lay employees off. However, she did not give up. “I made up my mind to view this as part of my journey, and as a life lesson as well as business lesson. The circumstances forced me to learn to survive by doing things such as improving the quality of my products and making innovations with them. Therefore, instead of giving up, I kept looking for a way out, to survive and revive,” she said.
The “Importance of Entrepreneurship Skill for Kids” webinar is part of the 2022 EduFest held by the Sampoerna Academy, as a guideline forum for their student’ parents. By providing professional and entrepreneurial events like this, they are doing their part to help the students achieve a brighter future.
Maharsi Palupining Rini, National Principal of Sampoerna Academy Surabaya, declared “Sampoerna Academy also has an entrepreneurial event we call the ‘Business Week’. We do this to help our students learn how to analyze situations and think up innovative business opportunities. We are honing our students’ competence, integrity, open-mindedness, innovativeness, and teamwork skills from an early age. This is in line with the values of Integrity, Growth Mindset, Nobility, Innovation, Teamwork, and Excellence (IGNITE) that the Academy inculcates in all of its students. Naya shows us all that there is no age limit in entrepreneurship. Learning business from an early age is possible at home and in school. Furthermore, we hope to help students’ parents find the best way to introduce entrepreneurship to their children, to develop children’s skills, and to get tips and tricks on how to support children’s entrepreneurial talent and interests through the EduFest 2022 webinar,” she said. (rp)