Local eatery goes global<\/p>\n
Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne, Australia<\/p>\n
The newly founded Indonesian Business Forum -- Melbourne (IBF-M)
\nhas been vigilant. It promptly took advantage of Sukyatno
\nNugroho's visit to Melbourne by inviting him to address a
\nbusiness seminar.<\/p>\n
The real purpose of Sukyatno's visit was to lend moral support
\nto the franchisees of EsTeler77's third and newest outlet in this
\ncity, Surono, and his wife Puspita, on their official opening
\nevent in late August.<\/p>\n
In the seminar, Sukyatno was in his element, playing fast and
\nloose with his audience and the media; he knew where to reveal a
\n\"secret\" and where to be elusive, where to be \"irreverent\" and
\nwhere to be 'humble'.<\/p>\n
The man is obviously media-savvy and knows it, too. You can be
\nmoderately irreverent when you are new on the scene, and
\nnonchalantly humble when the humility cannot hurt you.<\/p>\n
He gives the impression of someone with a great deal of
\nimpulse and gumption, who follows his intuition. As you spend
\nmore time chatting with him, however, you realize that there is
\norder in the chaos he presents on the facade.<\/p>\n
Sukyatno operates on a different level from that on which an
\nMBA graduate may feel comfortable.<\/p>\n
He can be reactive then proactive in hardly a blink. He reacts
\nto a seemingly bad situation and while staggering backward, spots
\nan opening miles away, and recovers his stance without hitting
\nthe ground.<\/p>\n
In 1982, after having his loan applications rejected by
\nseveral banks, Sukyatno was determined to prove that he could
\nsucceed without their help.<\/p>\n
\"We started selling in a tent. I'd leave home at five in the
\nmorning to buy all the necessary ingredients for es teler (a
\ndrink made of various types of fruit in a special syrup topped
\nwith a mountain of shaved ice). And everyday we'd never have any
\nleftovers,\" he said, adding, laughing, that the main ingredient
\nbeing ice, even if there were any, it would have melted anyway.<\/p>\n
Things were not plain sailing, nonetheless. Sukyatno and his
\ncrew had to shift each time the location was allotted for
\nsomething else.<\/p>\n
The continuous shifts only strengthened his resolve to
\nsucceed.<\/p>\n
\"When you learn to run fast, you become very fit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In 1987, when EsTeler77 had developed into a more
\ncomprehensive restaurant business, and Sukyatno had learned about
\nfranchise operation, he decided to implement it himself.<\/p>\n
Predictably, he improvised a lot. \"I couldn't do it by the
\nbook, because there weren't books around in Indonesian about
\nfranchise business then,\" he said, adding, \"and there weren't
\nthat many notaries who were well-versed in drafting franchise
\ncontracts, either.\"<\/p>\n
Convinced that franchising would become the new way of doing
\nbusiness, in 1994 he brought that brand into more upmarket
\nplazas.<\/p>\n
Like many businesses, his was affected by the May riots of
\n1998, but not defeated.<\/p>\n
Sukyatno went to Singapore to set up business.<\/p>\n
\"I went to Pasir Panjang market myself, in working shorts, to
\nshop for ingredients. Then I went to Marina Square and Orchard
\nRoad to hand out flyers. I'm very grateful to the Indonesian
\ndomestic helpers there who responded spontaneously to my flyers.
\nThey knew the name. They came in droves. It was they, who
\nlaunched the business in Singapore.\"<\/p>\n
Now the company has seven outlets in the Lion City, and one in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
This is the year to establish its foothold on Australia's
\nMelbourne. Sukyatno recalls how for weeks he sat in cafes in the
\nbusy Swanston Street, listening in on conversations of passersby
\nand concluding that there were enough Indonesians who would make
\nup his clientele.<\/p>\n
The second outlet followed shortly, in the inner suburb of
\nMalvern.<\/p>\n
Sukyatno has an established quality control system to monitor
\nthe 250 outlets all told, in Indonesia and overseas. They had a
\npool of monitors who conduct spot checks on the outlets. Apart
\nfrom that, the outlets' daily stock takes can quickly tell tales;
\nif there is a gaping discrepancy between the volume of sales and
\ncash intake, they will investigate the cause.<\/p>\n
\"And we always follow up complaints,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sukyatno celebrates being a graduate of the school of hard-
\nknocks, but does not necessarily disparage academic education.
\nHis own children go to university. He concedes to the necessity
\nto understand business management theory, especially in today's
\nbusiness world.<\/p>\n
Are we seeing the product of a singular determination to
\nsucceed combined with an irrepressible optimism? An inherent
\nbusiness intuition and luck, as well. And luck is what the IBF-M
\nhas yet to find ways to harness.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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