Poultry businessman hits big success in used spareparts

Berchman Heroe, Contributor, Magelang, Central Java

When crises hit, almost everyone feels the bite. The blow is not only hard on wealthy business people, but also ordinary ones.

Small-time poultry businessman Tedy Hermawan also felt the pressure, losing the business he nurtured for years in Gondang Legi, Canguk, Magelang to the crisis in 1997. At that time, expense were more than what he earned from selling eggs.

"Then, the prices of chicken feed and medicine soared while the price of eggs in the market remained low," the 58-year-old man recalled.

Losing his business made him wrack every cell in his brain to find ways to survive.

With his little experience and knowledge in engineering, Tedy braved himself to make drastic change in the line of his business -- selling used car parts made in Japan or European countries that were imported through Singapore. And for that purpose, he transformed his chicken coop into a "showroom" for the auto parts.

Now, slowly, after five years, his business is showing promising progress.

He said that every day, dozens of people coming from Semarang, Yogyakarta and even as far Kalimantan and Papua visited his showroom. The displayed spareparts are mostly for Japanese cars.

In a month he collects between Rp 50 million and Rp 100 million. After the costs he spends to obtain the spareparts and paying his six workers, he's left with about a 10 percent profit. "Not bad," he said.

Although his showroom is located in a rather remote place, Tedy has no plans to open another showroom in a more strategic place.

The man -- who displayed small, light spareparts for cars to heavy duty machinery in his now spacious showroom, simply believed that his good luck stayed in the former chicken coop. And he felt grateful for his fortune.

The father of two claimed that all his spareparts, between 80 and 90 percent, were in good condition. He guarantees that they are original.

"In Japan, a car should be recycled after a certain period but in Indonesia, such cars can still be used," he explained as one source of his spareparts.

For some buyers, the presence of used spareparts are always good alternative to save money since brand new ones are certainly costly.

"These spareparts are still in good shape and work well," Tedy said.

His regular customers include some car repair workshops in Semarang, Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

"If our customers agree to buy used spareparts, I will come here to get what we need. Our intention is to fix cars with lower costs but at good quality. Customers like to be advised on how to cut costs," said Triyono, a repair show owner in Yogyakarta who comes to Tedy's showroom four to five times a month.

In buying his spareparts, Tedy travels abroad at least once a month, buying one to two containers of used spareparts per visit. The spareparts mostly depend on his customers' demands.

Though he buys the spareparts himself, still there's about a 10 percent risk of damaged ones. The damage usually takes place when the goods are packed and shipped.

"In case of damage, it will be my responsibility. However, I cannot have it changed with a better one as there's no guarantee of this," he said.