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(UKWMS-31/1/2020) – Having your own business at a young age has become the dream of the millennial generation. Success at a young age is indeed excitingly challenging. However this is not something that is easy to realize because it requires a continuous learning process and creativity to realize when business opportunities arrive.
There are indeed many new business opportunities, especially in the field of creative economy. Its development continues to show an improvement. The contribution of the creative economy to Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last four years recorded an average growth of 9 percent. “The potential competitiveness of Indonesia’s creative economy cannot be separated from the uniqueness of natural factors, such as weather and biodiversity, as well as the rich cultural and historical heritage we have,” explained Dr. Wahyudi Wibowo, Coordinator of the International Business Management (IBM) of Faculty of Business, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University.
In order to be more aware of the developments, opportunities, and challenges of new business in the creative economy, Faculty of Business of WMSCU held a Public Lecture with the theme “Kitong Bisa Business!” (Kitong is from a local dialect in Papua that means we or us, and Bisa is an Indonesian word means can). Located in the Benedictus Auditorium of the Dinoyo Campus, the event presented Gracia Billy Mambrasar as the invited speaker. Billy is one of the seven young Indonesians appointed to hold positionas the Special Staff to the President of the Republic of Indonesia. Before becoming a special staff member, Billy was a social entrepreneur who founded the Kitong Bisa (We Can Do It) Foundation, which focuses on the education of children in Papua.
Billy explained that to start a business, people need to know the differences of a foundation, a company whose function is to make profit and a social enterprise. “Social entrepreneurship is a movement whose mission is not only to create profit, but also to make an impact,” said Billy. Looking back at his past before establishing the foundation, after he finished his undergraduate education, Billy chose a career as an engineer in an oil company. “After one year of work, I feel that my life is empty and bored. When other friends save their work for traveling, I save to make small classes for children to learn and play. Initially, there were only five people, but then the class grew to hundreds and even reached Java,” recalled Billy. Through his foundation, Billy knew he had a mission. He wants the name Kitong Bisa, because he wants the children believe that they can. They are free to be whatever they want to be.
Billy asserted that before making a social movement, a person must experience first how to be an entrepreneur and the difficulty of finding your own money. And there is always a risk when we get out of our comfort zone. He also advised the students who attended his seminar to participate actively in student activities, learn about leadership, be visionary or look far ahead, become problem solvers, find solutions and become agents of change, rather than become young people who only express anger and complaints in social media.
Summing up his talk, the man who once sold cakes during college shared some tips. “It’s up to us to make what kind of business, whether you are just looking for profit or becoming social entrepreneurs, it all depends on our vision. And when you already have a business idea or a social movement, immediately identify it by connecting with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and then immediately execute your plan and launch it to the public. Don’t wait too long, because other people may already take over,” concluded the man who had been an Indonesian envoy to talk about education issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States.
