Barsa Company: Not just a game, it's business for real

Barsa Company: Not just a game, it's business for real

The glaring sun over the skies of Sangatta, East Kutai regency, Kalimantan, was partly covered by clouds on that particular day in February. The blistering heat enveloped the entire city including one of the classrooms of the Sangatta senior high school (SMU Negeri 1 Sangatta).

However, the extremely high temperature did not seem to disturb the 20 students -- mostly first and second graders -- who were having a discussion. The topic seemed to take the students' minds off the oppressive weather: How to make a trade mission to Belfast, Northern Ireland, a success?

What? A trade mission? That's right. They were intensely discussing the plan in detail, as they were none other than the senior management of Barsa Company, established in September 2002 and run by some 25 students. Barsa -- an acronym derived from the name of the school -- was set up subsequent to the signing of a collaboration agreement between PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), the Prestasi Junior Indonesia (PJI), a member of Junior Achievement International and Sangatta senior high school (SMU Negeri I).

Through this agreement, KPC is providing its full support for the 25 students in learning the theories and gaining hands-on experience of entrepreneurship as envisaged by the Junior Achievement Global Learning of Business Enterprise (GLOBE) program run under the auspices of PJI. KPC's assistance also includes sending two students accompanied by a teacher to a foreign country to further their knowledge on the relevant subjects and to conduct real business, enter into transactions, etc., with another similar company participating in the Junior Achievement International program. This year, Barsa Company has started doing "business" with the U-Wood Company set up by the students of the Belfast Model School for Girls in Northern Ireland.

The "high level" talks in the classroom -- attended by the students' enthusiastic teacher, Tatiyana Ester Panjaitan, as well as by Muljadi Lukito Madilao from PJI -- finally came to the conclusion that the "trade mission" to Belfast must be made a success with continuous follow-up action being taken. From among the students, Amiruddin Ash Shiddiq and Dini Suryani -- accompanied by their teacher -- were appointed to represent the Barsa company in Belfast. The products to be promoted were some of East Kalimantan's specialities, such as wooden and rattan handicrafts, batik and local beads from suppliers working in partnership with the company.

Though intended as a model for study purposes, the students' company is in fact structured like a business organization in its true sense. It has a real board of directors: Amiruddin Ash Shiddiq is the president, Ramsida Sri Mariyani the vice president for human resources, Ami Utami the VP finance, Dini Suryani VP marketing, Armelda Rosa VP production and Rahadian VP information technology. The company's shares -- 200 of them at Rp 1,500 per share and 50 at Rp 16,750 each -- were offered to the "public" -- meaning the school's students -- and were all sold out.

Just like any other modern company, Barsa Company has a proper logo, bookkeeping system, management policies, bank account, e- mail address and so forth so as to facilitate it in conducting business with its clients and suppliers.

Samples of the company's merchandise were carefully selected by Armelda Rosa, the VP production, and photographs of the samples are given to VP IT to be sent to the prospective buyer: the Belfast Model School for Girls. For shipment, a major international courier company -- Federal Express -- lent a hand by sending the goods at discounted rates.

Barsa Company's first transaction with U-Wood in Belfast was quite large: 20 bags and 10 wallets made from local beads; 10 wallets made from skin wood (bark), 10 cups, 10 tissue boxes and 10 fruit dishes made from wood, with a total value of about US$500. The profit made was estimated at Rp 1.7 million.

In return, U-Wood offered them chocolate products, which the company declined for the time being as such products were not in great demand in Sangatta while the prices offered were too high for local consumers.

Doing business seriously, Barsa Company is thriving, as proven by another simple move: supplying the school's need for snacks, which has proved a tremendous success with 200 packages being sold within the first 15 minutes of the venture's launch. Based on this success, the company is spreading its wings in the snack business by teaming up with the Civil Servants' Wives Organization (Dharma Wanita) to supply the East Kutai administration's offices with snacks.

Expanding further, in March Barsa will supply 500 packs of soybean milk to the East Kutai administration offices every Friday and will become one of Star Air's sales agents for the Balikpapan-Jakarta route. Another sales plan in the works is supplying salak (zalacca palm fruit) taffy bearing the Barsa brand to the Matahari and Hero supermarket chains in Samarinda, Kalimantan.

Though the company is proud of its great success so far and the numerous bright prospects in the near future, its birth was not easy. Regarding the early challenges, Barsa's president Amir Ash Shiddiq recalled how he and his colleagues were looked down upon and jeered at by their fellow students when they started the snack venture. "But our teacher, Ibu Tatiyana, was always there, encouraging us and boosting our spirits all the way. And now, with this coming trip to Belfast ... a kind of a "trade mission", if you like, we are all gaining very valuable experience ... it will also enhance our spirit of entrepreneurship," said the second grader.

To Tatiyana, who constantly coaches the management of Barsa, the achievement of the students is the result of harmonious synergies. "The progress and success achieved have been mostly based on their courage to make a start. Acquiring customers and suppliers for Barsa, whom we treat and regard as partners, is also based on our open communications with them so that they understand us better. Hence their doors open much more quickly to us," she said.

The PJI's project is further facilitated by the full support given by the students' parents as reflected in what Lintarti Suranta, Dini Suryani's mother, had to say: "Although we did not fully understand the PJI's activities, we gave our full support to our daughter, Dini, from the very beginning ... and I think, as parents, we have been right in supporting her in these positive activities."

Above all for the PJI, the success of its project, as proven by the achievements of Barsa Company, has greatly depended on collaboration between a number of parties. "The PJI's program in the eastern part of Indonesia is a real breakthrough that has been made possible by the support of various companies, such as Rio Tinto, KPC and PT Freeport Indonesia. Everyone involved has been deeply impressed by the enthusiasm of the students in Sangatta, East Kalimantan. This proves that in all parts of Indonesia students have the same attitudes once they are given the opportunity to prepare themselves for business and entrepreneurship," said Marzuki Darusman, Chairman of the PJI project.

Amir Ash Shiddiq, the son of a lowly farmer from Samboja village, East Kalimantan, and his friends at Barsa Company truly bear out his words.