Micro businesses to solve crisis

Micro businesses to solve crisis

From Bisnis Indonesia

Nobody can predict when the ongoing protracted economic crisis will stop. Meanwhile, the country's labor force continues to rise in number and the labor market can provide jobs to only 30 percent of it. Squeezed by economic difficulties, private and state enterprises continue to lay off some of their employees.

In such a situation, the right thing to do is to run a small private business, like what business experts such as Gede Prama, Hermawan Kertajaya, James Gwee and Syafei Antonio have often suggested.

I have my own experience in this respect. I was laid off in 1997 and faced a bleak future. For the next three years, all efforts to get a job became futile.

In 2001, I began a small business. I drew up a proposal for this business and applied for assistance to a number of government agencies, state-owned enterprises and foreign institutions in Jakarta. I could then run a small business producing active carbon from coconut shell charcoal and designing a website.

My friends, also laid off, run their businesses producing tomato sauce, soy-bean sauce, syrup, light beverages and mushroom crisps. The last-mentioned product is now exported.

JOKO YUWONO Semarang