Surviving the Pandemic, Tips for MSMEs from Anjani Sekar Arum & Rachel Vennya

Surviving the Pandemic, Tips for MSMEs from Anjani Sekar Arum & Rachel Vennya

JAKARTA: The COVID-19 pandemic that has continued in Indonesia since early March 2020 demands micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be resilient. For many businesses, the focus is now placed on re-visiting and adapting their strategies.

Impacts of the pandemic have not escaped Anjani Sekar Arum, recipient of SATU Indonesia Awards 2017 in the Entrepreneurship category who is also an owner of Bantengan Batik and founder of Andaka Batik Gallery and House in Batu City, East Java.

“At the end of the day, this pandemic has forced us to be more creative. We avoided e-commerce in the past because we didn’t want the hassle, but now we must use online channels to survive. Since there have been zero tourists and no uniform orders in 2020, we’ve tried to come up with other designs using batik fabrics that hopefully appeal to the consumers, such as batik masks,” said Anjani, a graduate of Arts and Design major in the Faculty of Letters, Malang State University.

Anjani’s story to keep her business open amid this challenging time resonated with Rachel Vennya, a content creator and entrepreneur. They both shared their experiences in a webinar today (27/7) themed “Marketing Strategies for Home-Grown MSMEs” – a collaboration between Astra and GK|Hebat, a business accelerator company that has been working on empowering micro business owners.

Without visitors and with large institutions suddenly halting their programs where Anjani’s souvenir products would normally be required, her sales sunk by 80%.

She pivoted her business by going online and, to get sales back up, engaged photographers whose work have also been affected. With their photography skills, the photographers were asked to take pictures of her products and promote them to the photographers’ own network. The photographers will then receive commission for products sold.

“So, the photographers will only need to rely on their photographic skills and promote a product. Let’s say a product’s price is Rp1 million, we will then give commission to the photographer to express our appreciation. They can promote to any channel, as long as it translates to sales,” added Anjani.

From Rachel’s side, not only sharing her business strategies to stay afloat during the pandemic, the mother of two also shared about her fundraising activity for health workers and small vendors. In fact, she successfully raised billions of rupiah.

"I was surprised as well with how much we could raise in a short time. It’s such a positive thing to lend a hand to doctors, nurses, and other health workers by providing protective equipment that they require,” Rachel said.

The spirit that Anjani Sekar Arum and Rachel Vennya have shown to continue doing good for others is aligned with Astra’s mission of prosper with the nation.

For further information, please contact:

Boy Kelana Soebroto

Head of Corporate Communications

PT Astra International Tbk

Ph. 021-508-43-888

About Astra:

PT Astra International Tbk was established in 1957 in Jakarta as a general trading company under the name Astra International Inc. In 1990, for the purpose of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), the name of the company changed to PT Astra International Tbk, followed by listing its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker code ASII.

Astra has developed its business by implementing a business model based on synergies and diversification within seven business segments, consisting of: 1) Automotive, 2) Financial Services, 3) Heavy Equipment, Mining, Construction & Energy, 4) Agribusiness, 5) Infrastructure and Logistics, 6) Information Technology and 7) Property.

Astra conducts business operations in all parts of Indonesia under the management of more than 235 subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates companies, and was supported by more than 194.359 employees, as of June 2020.

As one of the largest national business groups today, Astra has built a strong reputation through offering a range of quality products and services, taking into account the implementation of good corporate governance and environmental governance. Astra always aspires to be the pride of the nation that participates in efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Therefore, Astra's business activities strive to apply a balanced mix in the commercial aspects of business and non-business contributions through 9 foundations and a variety of sustainable social responsibility programmes Astra Untuk Indonesia Sehat, Astra Untuk Indonesia Cerdas, Astra Untuk Indonesia Hijau and Astra Untuk Indonesia Kreatif.

Astra initiated the Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards programme, which has entered a decade this year, and has given recognition awards to 305 young Indonesians, consisting of 59 national level recipients and 246 provincial level recipients in the fields of Health, Education, the Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology, which are integrated with Astra’s wide range of community activities through 87 Kampung Berseri Astra and 645 Desa Sejahtera Astra initiated in 34 provinces throughout Indonesia.

For further information, please visit www.astra.co.id & www.satu-indonesia.com, and follow Astra through Instagram (@SATU_Indonesia), Youtube (SATU Indonesia), Facebook (Semangat Astra Terpadu) and Twitter (@SATU_Indonesia).