After marrying Khania Kendarsah, Sugeng Paijo, affectionately known\nas Jojo, decided to rent a 4x5 metre dwelling for around Rp500,000 per\nmonth in Cilacap, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Khania, who came from Sukabumi, West Java, had to give up her job as\na Human Resources Development (HRD) officer at a company to become a\nhousewife. At the time, Jojo, who has a physical disability, was still\nworking as a broadcaster for a well-known radio station in Cilacap.<\/p>\n
Finding the dwelling too cramped, Jojo and his wife moved into a\nrental house belonging to Jojo\u2019s mother in Tambakreja subdistrict, South\nCilacap district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no need to imagine its size, because it was just as\ncramped. Even the kitchen was only about three square metres. Very small\nindeed. Every night, once the children were asleep, my wife and I would\nproduce manggleng snacks. It was actually my mother\u2019s business, started\nin 2016, which my wife and I then developed,\u201d he said recently.<\/p>\n
As the business got going, the family wanted to expand and needed\ncapital. They then came across PNM Mekaar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an offer from PNM to grow the business. But because my\nmother was already elderly, it was suggested that my wife be the\nborrower. So Khania took the loan. The first loan was worth Rp2 million.\nIt may look small, but for us it was extremely useful. There was no\nother institution besides PNM willing to lend without collateral \u2014 apart\nfrom loan sharks, which we obviously refused. We had no certificates,\nbecause the land of the house we lived on belonged to a company. We only\nhad usage rights. So in truth we really had no collateral,\u201d he\nexplained.<\/p>\n
From that Rp2 million loan, the business got back on its feet. Khania\neven began rebranding the manggleng snacks under the Jajan Mamake\nlabel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that capital, from 2018 onwards we tried to build the brand\nwith attractive packaging. We also started selling through Instagram and\nmarketplaces. We sold on marketplaces to build public trust,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
At the start of 2019, Jojo left his radio job because he and his wife\nwere confident about growing the business. Moreover, he had already\nidentified another source of capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dared to step down because at the time I had a job as an event\norganiser for several major events in Cilacap. My thinking was that once\nthe job was done, I would have capital to develop the business my wife\nwas pursuing under the Jajanan Mamake brand,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
The script changed. From late 2019 into 2020, Covid-19 spread,\nincluding in Indonesia. The capital from the events work never\nmaterialised. Every event was cancelled. It was clearly a heavy blow\nthat brought them back to rock bottom. Yet Jojo and Khania did not give\nup. They intensified their marketing through social media and\nmarketplaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned out there was a silver lining when Covid-19 struck. Almost\neveryone was looking for food online. That was the turning point \u2014 our\ngoods sold like hot cakes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Despite all the limitations, social media proved capable of boosting\nsales.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funny thing is, because our Instagram looked neat and\nprofessional, many people assumed our business was already big. In\nreality it was very modest. We did not even have a display rack.\nProducts were simply kept in cardboard boxes. Looking back now, the\nstory is laughable, but back then it was a genuinely difficult period,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
At one point, two tour buses from Teluk Penyu wanted to stop by Jajan\nMamake after seeing the promotions on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey thought we already had a big shop, when in fact we were still\nselling from a small rented house. All we could do was say the premises\nwere being renovated and offer to deliver orders directly to the\ncustomers,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
From there they gradually gained customers, especially from the\nupper-middle class, such as hotel guests and tourists looking for\nCilacap specialities through the internet.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when many MSMEs were only just learning to sell online, we\nwere already accustomed to using social media and marketplaces. Because\nwe had no production capital, we asked customers to transfer payment in\nadvance before goods were produced. So in effect, the buyers themselves\nwere the initial capital for our business. At this point, PNM\u2019s role was\nextraordinary, because it was the only financing institution channelling\nfunds to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After manggleng, the couple moved on to other snacks: breadfruit\ncrisps, potato products, and wet goods such as brownies and frozen food.\nThe best-selling product proved to be breadfruit crisps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout our journey developing the business, PNM has always been\nby our side. From financing, to facilitating training, to marketing.\nEssentially from upstream to downstream,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the business gained greater exposure when Jojo took\npart in a competition programme called Juragan Jaman Now organised by a\nprivate television station. \u201cThe programme, broadcast in 2023, had an\nextraordinary impact. We received orders for breadfruit sticks as\nfinished products totalling between 1.5 and 2 tonnes. Most of the buyers\nwere sellers on marketplaces. Our product went viral at the time,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In fact, he added, demand for breadfruit sticks had already come from\nMalaysia, Australia and Taiwan. \u201cBut we were overwhelmed meeting that\ndemand. The main problem lies in the supply chain. Breadfruit is not a\ncultivated crop, and it is seasonal besides. So in the off-season, the\nraw material simply is not available. From there we began to think that\nthis product actually has export potential. But the problem remains the\nsame: supply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Not stopping at the small-scale food industry, Jojo and Khania spread\ntheir wings into craft production. Their focus was crafts made from\ngedebok, or banana trunks. For Jojo, banana trunk bark is not waste, but\ncan become a craft raw material.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis idea came from our experience with Jajan Mamake. When demand\nwas high but the raw material supply was insufficient. Well, banana\ntrunk bark could be an alternative because it is available everywhere\nand does not depend on the season. What is more, the products are\nguaranteed environmentally friendly. I started learning to process\nbanana trunks from various sources, including YouTube and Instagram. The\nresearch and development are still ongoing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The banana trunk fibre is processed until it resembles synthetic\nleather. Some parties have even shown interest in using the material for\nhotel slippers. When export orders come, they will be ready in terms of\nraw material and production quality, because the aim is indeed to enter\nexport markets.<\/p>\n
The products are quite varied, ranging from card holders to\ndecorative wallpaper, laundry baskets, waste bins and hats. Several\nproducts are also produced in collaboration with other artisans.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor marketing these environmentally friendly products, we are also\ntargeting the corporate market. Besides Instagram and marketplaces, we\nactively build relationships with companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Khania manages a joint business group (KUB) called\nWijayapura. The group empowers women in coastal areas around the Cilacap\nsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were given ecoprint training facilitated by PNM. The cluster is\nstill running today, and its members are also served by PNM financing. I\nmyself have received financing of up to Rp14 million,\u201d added Khania.<\/p>\n
Based on Jojo and Khania\u2019s calculations, the business built from\nscratch is now gaining momentum, with monthly turnover reaching tens of\nmillions of rupiah.<\/p>\n
\u201cJajan Mamake\u2019s current turnover is around Rp30 million per month\nwith six workers, all of them women. From the start we wanted to empower\nwomen, especially those who are the breadwinners of their families or\nsingle parents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For ecoprint, around 15 members are involved in the KUB, mostly\nwomen, and some are friends with disabilities. \u201cMost of them are PNM\ncustomers, because the group was originally formed as a PNM-supported\ncluster. The ecoprint turnover currently stands at around Rp15 million\nper month. The products are frequently showcased at various exhibitions\nand promotional events, including through collaboration networks,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
As for the banana trunk crafts, current monthly turnover is around\nRp25 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur market direction is mostly towards corporations, so sales are\nnot routine daily, but when a purchase comes it is usually in large\nvolumes. For example, we recently received an order from Baznas worth\nRp21 million for event souvenirs and training needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As a person with a disability, Jojo was also moved to pay attention\nto fellow disabled people in Cilacap. He then founded the Dipa Mandiri\nNusantara Foundation and its business unit, Dipa Craft. Although the\nfoundation was only established in 2025, the movement\u2019s embryo actually\nbegan in 2022.<\/p>\n
Drawing on his personal experience as a disabled person and his role\nas Head of the Inclusive Disability Services Unit for Disaster\nManagement, Jojo frequently held discussions with fellow disabled people\nabout the challenges they face daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I often gathered and talked with friends with disabilities, I\nsaw that there was actually plenty of assistance. But it was often\nunevenly distributed, poorly targeted, and purely charitable in nature,\u201d\nsaid Jojo.<\/p>\n
In his view, assistance that is merely charitable often breeds\ndependency. In the long run it can even create a mental block that\nhampers the creativity and productivity of people with disabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes feelings of low self-confidence emerge, a sense of being\nincapable, and in the end it is hard to progress. Yet they have real\npotential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Drawing on his experience in entrepreneurship, Jojo then sought to\nshare his knowledge and experience with the disabled community in\nCilacap. He wants people with disabilities to have the opportunity to be\neconomically independent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dipa Mandiri Nusantara Foundation focuses on the strategic\nissues of empowering women and people with disabilities. The foundation\nnot only provides skills training but also builds a mentoring system so\nthat participants can genuinely run businesses,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Jojo said one of the biggest problems facing disabled MSME actors is\nmarketing and capital. Many people with disabilities actually have\nskills, but struggle to grow their businesses due to limited capital and\nmarket access.<\/p>\n
To answer these problems, the foundation formed Dipa Craft as a\nbusiness unit and shared production space. In this system, the\nfoundation acts as facilitator.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide them with materials to work on, then we help market the\nresulting products. So friends with disabilities can focus on creating,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Currently, around 20 to 25 people with disabilities are actively\ninvolved in various production and empowerment activities at Dipa Craft.\nHowever, during the mentoring process, Jojo realised that the problems\nfaced by people with disabilities are far more complex than economics\nalone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are social problems, violence, even the need for legal\nassistance. That is why we have started working with various other\nparties to help with advocacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Jojo, the foundation, officially established in June\n2025, continues to grow through new collaborations almost every month.\nOne active supporting partner is PNM, which has helped absorb products\nas well as provide business training.<\/p>\n
\u201cPNM not only distributes credit but also provides mentoring from\nupstream to downstream. That is what friends with disabilities truly\nneed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Through Dipa Craft, Jojo and his wife are trying to build a blueprint\nfor an inclusive community development model in Cilacap. They want to\nprove that a business should not only be profit-oriented but must also\ndeliver social and environmental impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entrepreneurial mindset remains that of a business, but there\nmust be social and environmental impact. Hopefully there will be\nsuccessors and it can be sustainable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Besides building the joint enterprise, the foundation has also begun\ndeveloping a data collection system for people with disabilities at the\ndistrict level. Each area has a representative tasked with recording the\nnumber of people with disabilities, the types of disability, and the\nneeds they face.<\/p>\n
The data collection is accompanied by a verification process so that\nthe data held is genuinely real and more accurate. Because to this day,\naccording to Jojo, one of the main problems in disability issues is the\nscarcity of valid and evenly distributed data.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe foundation does not want to work exclusively on its own. We want\nto be a bridge or facilitator so that assistance from various parties\ncan be better targeted and have a real impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He gave the example of much assistance given with good intentions but\nunsustainable due to lack of mentoring. For instance, donations of\nsewing machines that ended up idle and unused.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not mean they do not care. Perhaps they simply do not yet\nknow the right way to help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For that reason, he hopes the inclusivity movement will not stop at\nshort-term handouts. For Jojo, people with disabilities need room to\ngrow, opportunities to work, and a sustainable mentoring system so they\ncan live independently within society.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/from-a-rp2-million-loan-to-empowering-women-and-the-disabled-1783925448", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }