Tapping bookshelf business in Yogyakarta

Tapping bookshelf business in Yogyakarta

By Asep Pathulrachman

YOGYAKARTA (Antara): To one observant enough to spot the
business potentials in Yogyakarta, known as the city of students,
earning a living is not a difficult proposition. With some 10,000
secondary school and university students in the city, formerly
the seat of the Mataram Kingdom, Yogyakarta would appear to offer
great potential for the bookshelf business.

One person who grasped this is Warmin, 57, a resident of
Kertosari village, Rongkop subdistrict, Gunungkidul district, who
began his bookshelf business in 1979. At first he simply dabbled
in the business as a sideline, but as the years passed and he
began to earn a handsome profit he focused more seriously on the
business, including in the firm one of his sons and two of his
sons-in-law.

Warmin, who now spends much of his time around Bulaksumur,
close to Gadjah Mada University (UGM), began his business in 1979
with only Rp 900,000. After two decades of work he has one half-
permanent kiosk and three branch kiosks with a total turnover of
Rp 12 million per month. "Our earnings are not stable. However,
each kiosk will contribute profits ranging between Rp 600,000 and
Rp 1 million a month," he said.

Before running the bookshelf business, Warmin was a carpenter.
As a freelance carpenter, he often had to travel for work. "I
could not earn a living in my own village as a farmer because of
frequent droughts. Therefore I often came to Jakarta as a
carpenter to work on construction projects," he said.

Once, a building owner asked him to make a bookshelf and shoe
rack out of used pieces of wood. When he returned to his village,
he was hit by an idea: make bookshelves and sell them in
Yogyakarta to students.

A bookshelf made of wood and measuring 40 centimeters x 60 cm
x 10 cm is sold for between Rp 30,000 and Rp 35,000. If it is
varnished then it can sell for Rp 40,000.

Besides making bookshelves, Warmin also makes simple desks for
students. The desks measure 40 cm x 30 cm x 40 cm and are priced
at Rp 15,000.

"I know that students need such simple bookshelves and desks
because the rooms they rent are usually small," he said, adding
that when the new school term began he could sell as many as 10
bookshelves or desks a day.

Warmin no longer has this business all to himself. As many as
50 kiosks offering similar products can be found in eastern
Bulaksumur, between UGM and the Yogyakarta Teachers' Training
Institute, which is now known as Yogyakarta State University.

These kiosks offer bookshelves, desks, shoe racks, reading
stands for holy books and computer desks. Some kiosks offer the
products in two qualities: varnished and unpolished. All the
items are available at prices most students can afford.

Because demand for these products is high, the business is no
longer monopolized by carpenters. Practically anybody, including
people who formerly sold cigarettes or newspapers on the street,
can get into the business as long as they have a bit of interest
a small amount of start-up capital.

Sukiman, for example, is a former pedicab driver who now owns
a bookshelf kiosk. He said he decided to switch jobs because he
realized there was a good demand for bookshelves. While still a
pedicab driver, he used to deliver bookshelves to buyers almost
every day.

"I used three years of savings from working as a pedicab
driver to start this business. After working hard, I was finally
able to buy a simple kiosk and change jobs," he said, adding that
he earned more selling bookshelves than driving a pedicab.
Another advantage, he said, was that now he was able to stop
gambling, a habit he got into with fellow pedicab drivers,
allowing him to save more money.

The happiest time for Sukiman and his fellow bookshelf vendors
is when new students come to Yogyakarta because during this
period, usually between August and October, their kiosks are
crowded with incoming students.

Sales drop by a third after this peak period, Sukiman said.

On ordinary days, more desks are sold than bookshelves, at a
ratio of three or four to one. Selling a bookshelf, however,
generates a bigger profit, generally 50 percent, than selling a
desk, which has a profit of only 20 percents because the frame of
the desk has to be bought from framemakers in Dlingo, Bantul,
Yogyakarta.

With more and more kiosks selling bookshelves and desks,
competition is tough. To ensure the competition stays fair, the
kiosk owners have agreed to set up an association.