Turning Ideas into Marketable Products and Services
In collaboration with Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) and Citi Foundation, DNetwork has successfully conducted an entrepreneurship program in 2023 called Ready to Work: Green Entrepreneurship. This entrepreneurial program aimed to assist young entrepreneurs with disability to realise their business ideas into marketable products and services.
Ready to Work: Green Entrepreneurship started on the 22nd of February 2021 with 20 selected youth with disability who had diverse business ideas and came from different regencies in Bali. Participants received eight sessions of entrepreneurial training from February to May. This entrepreneurial training included an introduction to green entrepreneurship, planning for business strategy, financial planning, business implementation, and how to create a pitch deck.
These 20 participants were then required to create a business proposal (individually or as a group) and compete for grant funds of as much as 2 million Rupiahs per business idea and one month of mentoring sessions to establish their businesses. In the end, 13 people from 10 business ideas could successfully launch their businesses. From the mentorship sessions, participants focused more on researching and developing their products & services, building branding and marketing strategies, and preparing their pitch decks for the market day.
After five months of training and mentoring, the participants had successfully established their products and services. On the 14th of July 2023, 13 participants had the opportunity to showcase their businesses at the Annika Linden Centre.
Wiguna is a person with blindness and reduced function of hearing. He established Sunar Sanggita based on his interest in music. Sunar Sanggita offers music courses, a self-recording studio and entertainment for events. During the showcasing day, three people signed up for Sunar Sanggita’s music courses. Moreover, Sunar Sanggita gained some new networks for future potential events.
Gus Adit established Bali Mahasadu in 2018 as a massage clinic specialising in ‘blind massage therapy’. However, this year, Gus Adit finally made his dream come true to create his herbal products: herbal incense sticks, hot and aromatic massage oil, and red ginger powder. Ari, who is also a massage therapist (also recently married to Gus Adit), decided to be fully involved in Bali Mahasadu product development, from prototyping to brand development. During the showcasing day, Bali Mahasadu sold almost 100% of the products they prepared and received nearly IDR 1,500,000. Moreover, Bali Mahasadu received several invitations from the guests to get involved in a podcast and film, become speakers at a business event, and participate in product collaboration.
From her enjoyment of cooking food, Yuki established a culinary business called Yuki Camilan. Yuki is a young, energetic lady with low vision who loves cooking fried Indonesian snacks. Her specialty is lumpia (spring rolls), pisang goreng (fried bananas), and tahu isi (fried tofu filled with vegetables). On the showcasing day, Yuki could earn over IDR 900,000 and invitations as an event snack vendor.
Because of the high demand for incense sticks for Balinese rituals, Kartika took the opportunity to create her incense stick business called Dupa Kartika. Dupa Kartika is available in three fragrances: Mawar (rose), teratai (lotus), and cempaka (magnolia). During the showcasing, Kartika sold 58 boxes of her incense sticks and received IDR 1,160,000. Moreover, Kartika also received an opportunity to collaborate with an investor to produce her incense sticks in a big batch. With support from her teachers and classmates at YPK Bali, Kartika received many online orders that should be delivered within a week. Kartika can also empower her classmates to help her market Dupa Kartika.
Indah is a student from Special Needs School Number 2 of Denpasar. She has a high interest in make-up and a hairdo and has been voluntarily helping her school do make-up and a hairstyle for events and graduation. Because her friends requested make-up and a hairdo, Indah turned this demand into an Indah Dewi Make-Up business. Indah received much appreciation from the guests for her beautiful techniques in applying make-up and styling hair. Although she is a person with deafness, she can communicate well with her clients.
Crystal is an energetic student and has a high interest in fragrance. Assisted by her parents, she created her perfume brand using her name, Crystal Foo Perfume. Crystal Foo Perfume has 26 male, female, and unisex aromas packaged in 30 ml bottles. During the showcasing day, assisted by her teacher as a sign language interpreter, she sold 47 perfume bottles and obtained IDR 2,350,000 in one day. Crystal had the highest revenue on the showcasing day compared to other businesses.
Prima is a youth with physical disability with plenty of creative ideas. She created Annora PAS, which focuses on a craft made from popsicle sticks, such as coasters, bookshelves, and wall decorations. Prima sold seven products of arts and received IDR 112,000. Moreover, Prima received an offer from the Women with Disability Association in Bali as a tenant during their events.
Kopi Bayang became the most visited booth during the showcasing day. Initiated by Gus De and Jery, two best friends with blindness who are also fascinated with coffee, Kopi Bayang wanted to show people how baristas with blindness can brew coffee for their customers. Available in three ways of brewing: Aeropress, V60 and Vietnam drip, the Kopi Bayang team could sell their product for as much as IDR 935,000. Kopi Bayang also received several opportunities to get involved in a short film and to sell their products during several events, including an event created by the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs of the Republic of Indonesia.
Netra Bali Merchandise (NBM) is a business that focuses on environmentally friendly fashion from their materials and the printing process. Juli and Rivan also wanted to promote Balinese culture and scenery through the images printed on their t-shirts. NBM received IDR 600,000 from their sales on the showcasing day. Moreover, they also received some orders for custom-made t-shirts for groups, organisations, and companies.
Namira learnt how to use a sewing machine from her school, one of the special needs schools in Denpasar, and proceeded to make fashion products for her school project. She made bags of calico fabric for her business and added colourful drawings using a hand-print method. The guests bought as many as 40 bags, allowing TAS by Namira to receive a total revenue of IDR 1,020,000. Moreover, some guests planned to order hundreds of Namira’s products to be rebranded using their guests’ company branding.
