Agus Subekti, Kebumen's roofing tile 'king'

Singgir Kartana, Contributor/Kebumen, Central Java

Kebumen, Central Java, has long been known as a prominent center for roofing tiles that accommodates thousands of producers.

Yet, of these, few can be considered completely successful, measured by either business volume or the number of employees they have.

Agus Subekti Ponco Raharjo, 44, is one that many consider among the most successful roofing tile producers in the region. He employs thousands of workers and produces a huge quantity of tiles of different types and models. So successful has Agus been that people have nicknamed him the roofing tile "king".

"Everyone knows him here. He is the 'ruler' of the roofing tile businesses in Kebumen," said Rusdi, a producer from Sruweng subdistrict.

Rusdi was not exaggerating. Agus has a hand in numerous industrial centers in the region. Some 110 smaller roofing tile producers, which use manual molding machines, are under his authority. Some 10 years ago he used his company, SM Sokka, to foster their businesses. As such, Agus helps them with both working capital as well as marketing advice.

"They do consider me their foster father because I've been helping them with marketing and production costs," said Agus at his large, luxurious house in Pejagoan district immediately adjacent to his spacious showroom where he runs his roofing tile business, MS Sokka.

The company, says Agus, produces some two million tiles per month and they sell all of them. They comprise different types and models including morando, magase, palentong, palentong papak and kodok.

The price of each product varies, depending on size, design and packaging. Glazed morando, for example, is sold at Rp 1,900 per tile, while the unglazed version of the same type is sold at Rp 1,000 apiece. The glazing, says Agus, makes the tiles longer- lasting.

On the basis of their quality, many consider that MS Sokka products lead the field, which explains why most of its consumers are in the middle-to-top end of the range.

Agus' success in the business, however, did not just come as it is but was the result of hard work. He was in the business for over 10 years. He started by selling other people's products in 1994 in front of his house with starting capital of only Rp 1.5 million that he had borrowed from his parents.

"My basic principle in running my business is customer satisfaction. I only say my merchandise is good when it is truly of good quality. If it were bad, I would say so," said the father of four Agus.

That was his approach when he started his business, as it still is, even though, nowadays, the producers come to him to sell their wares.

Only three years after he started his business he established his own factory. He still acts as a broker for other producers' products. That is the way that he eventually established a lead over other producers, especially in the marketing field.

His position as foster parent of other smaller industries has indirectly given him control over the marketing of their roofing tiles. He has the right to market them under his foster parenthood scheme.

This may explain why out of the 3,000 roofing tile producers in Kebumen, only a few can be categorized as large-scale ones.

Many say that one of Agus' strengths in running his business is the way he looks for new customers and widens his business network. It is not surprising, therefore, that while many producers have suffered a significant decrease in business orders, Agus has experienced the opposite.

Agus believes that one of the reasons for the decline is the lack of an appropriate marketing strategy. Most are so focused on production that they neglect the marketing. As a result, roofing tiles can often be seen piled up in front of many showrooms, awaiting customers, which often leads to a drop in the price.

That has not been the case with Agus' business. He has invited many parties to support his marketing strategy. Truck drivers, bus drivers, goods vehicle drivers, for example, are among his indirect marketing agents.

If a potential customer is taking a bus to the industrial center to buy roofing tiles, the driver is pleased to stop the bus in front of his office, whose location is indeed very strategic.

If a transaction ensues, the driver is directly given a bonus according to the number of roofing tiles the customer buys. The driver then passes this news on to others, such that he indirectly advertises Agus' merchandise to other customers.

"Even during the economic crisis, when rival businesses collapsed, mine grew," he said, adding that he always tried to establish a strong position in the market before producing on a large scale. In that way, he avoided bankruptcy even during the darkest days of the economic crisis in Indonesia.

"So far, only MS Sokka has penetrated overseas markets. For others, even to market their product outside the town they sometimes only act as subcontractors," Tri Wahyuni, a producer from Jemur village, Pejagoan, said.

Agus' success can also be seen from his assets and the property that he owns. Apart from a spacious showroom and a luxurious house, he also owns trucks, private cars, antique motorcycles and a number of production sites. He also has marketing counters in almost all cities in Central Java.