Kudos to enterprise in world of 'Lebaran' gift hampers
Kudos to enterprise in world of 'Lebaran' gift hampers
By Shanti Venkateswaran
JAKARTA (JP): Welcome to the world of gift hampers. Meet Nora Mediana, 23, student of Informatics Management at Guna Dharma, Depok, pride of her parents and the envy of her peers. For someone as young as Nora, what began as a craze for shopping three years ago, is today serious seasonal business in the highly competitive retailing of Christmas/Lebaran gift hampers.
As a teenager, she had seen how some of her father's business friends had trouble finding exclusive gift hampers of their choice. She quickly sensed a promising business opportunity and decided to take the plunge. Encouraged by her parents, who helped her with contacts, she quickly went into business, helped by her sister and some close friends who welcomed the pin money that came their way.
She contacted her father's friends to find out their likes and dislikes; her idea of a market survey. Started with her own money, today, Nora takes a 50 percent advance on all orders, with the balance becoming payable on delivery. No payment problems are encountered as all customers are known to her personally.
Preparation
About six weeks before Idul Fitri, Nora distributes catalogs to her regular customers. To prepare these, she first takes photographs of four or five types of hampers that she designs herself. A little imagination is all that is needed, says Nora. She also gets ideas from what she sees in shop windows. Copies of these photographs are made.
Next, with the aid of a computer, she prints as many catalogs as required and affixes the photographs. These are then hand delivered by Nora herself. Orders are usually received within a week of catalog's distribution. Work on the hampers begins immediately on receipt of orders. Hampers are also custom-made.
Together with friends, Nora works from home during the night to get the hampers ready in time for delivery before Idul Fitri. This way, the business does not interfere with studies. Moreover, the holidays that come with Christmas and Lebaran permit uninterrupted working. Lebaran is usually a busier time of year than Christmas. On the whole, the business takes up about 3 months in a year.
Contents for the hampers come from one store which gives her discounts, while the baskets are bought from the pavement basket sellers that abound in places like Cikini. Food hampers are not her style. She deals only in silver-plated wares and crystal items. This, she says, is to ensure the exclusivity that her clients want.
Priced between Rp 200,000 and Rp 450,000, her customers, she says with a grin, are very rich Indonesians who like to give gift hampers like other people would greeting cards. She wonders if some of her creations are slightly more expensive than even those at department stores. However, she is confident of client loyalty because of what she has to offer: personalized service and exclusivity.
With about five loyal customers who own business concerns, about 50 hamper orders per season, and a 25 percent profit margin, Nora nets a cool Rp 5,000,000 in profits at the end of a single Lebaran season.
Competition is keen and Nora has at times lost some of her customers to other student-competitors. At other times, she has had to turn down orders for lack of time. She has also considered quitting. When asked what her future plans were, Nora was not quite sure whether she wants to continue. She has her hands full at the moment and couldn't be more pleased with herself. She is content to make hay while the sun shines.