IO, Yogyakarta – Indonesia cannot rely on its continually-decreasing natural resources while its population continues to increase. There needs to be a breakthrough in order to grow Indonesia’s economy, one which is through the creative industry. The creative industry is even predicted to become the backbone of Indonesia in the future.
In order to push new businesses in the creative industry, the younger generation is invited to involve themselves, by birthing various creative ideas and implementing them in the real world. In order to push the creative industry further, the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Faculty of Social and Political Sciences’ (Fisipol) International Relation Students Corps (Komahi) in Yogyakarta, held a seminar titled “Developing the Creative Industry as the Foundation of National Growth” on Friday (16/11). The seminar was filled with speakers including Yayasan Kreatif Bangsa Head Lui Saruadji, Chicken Crush Co-founder Stevanus Roy Saputra, Bantu Ternak Co-founder Ray Rezky, and Alvin Photography CEO Alvin Fauzie.
The government’s support for the creative industry through its Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf), according to Lui, can become a stimulus for the younger generation to study business in the creative industry. However, entering the creative industry is not easy: it requires a high amount of motivation in order to become a successful entrepreneur. “Before being a creative actor, we must have clear and workable ideas that have additional value,” said Lui.
Lui stated that thinking creatively is tiring but for those who want to think creatively and want to execute those creative ideas will be able to overcome any hardships easily. “Creativity is tiresome and we think deeply.”
Speaker Stevanus Roy Saputra retold his journey as a culinary entrepreneur, a journey which he has been on since mid-last year. Currently, he owns 15 Chicken Crush outlets in various cities across Indonesia. According to him, the fried chicken business idea started from his experience seeing ayam geprek (crushed chicken) businesses explode in Yogyakarta. “We wanted to create food for the younger segment, from the place, menu to the chicken meat that is always fresh,” he said.
In running his business, Roy created a simple service system. His menu was also made simple but different from other fried chicken menus. “We created a new innovation making the prices cheap, there are some that are only Rp 4,000 per portion,” said the 24-year-old entrepreneur.
Ray Rezky revealed that his start-up in the livestock farming field had started since he was in university. He participated in the UGM Innovate Academy at the beginning of 2016 and was able to create his start-up which helps village livestock farmers sell directly to consumers instead of through various middlemen.
Although he admitted that the start-up hadn’t turned a profit, he is continuously developing it. He has an idea to invite a large number of people to help the livestock farmers and become investors in order to fatten the cows. “One cow can be owned by ten people; later we will provide a feed, medicine, and insurance package for the cows. Four months it is cared for, then sold and the difference will be paid out through profit-sharing,” he stated. (UGM Public Relations)