How furthering your education can help you start your own business in Indonesia

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Time and again, success stories of founders like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have shown that educational attainment doesn’t have to determine the trajectory of one’s career. Indonesia’s Ferry Unardi dropped out of a master of business administration (MBA) program at Harvard Business School in his first semester, but that didn’t stop him from establishing Traveloka, an online travel portal now valued at US$1 billion.

However, pursuing higher education before launching a company can help founders understand the ins and outs of business. In an MBA, for example, students are taught about how businesses should function in the fast-changing global economy – a crucial thing for companies to stay afloat.

As Elga Yulwardian, co-founder of customer engagement platform Ivosights, points out, “90 percent of Indonesian startups close down within their second year” because founders often don’t understand important business aspects.

A conducive environment

People can develop entrepreneurial skills and acquire business knowledge via experience or research, but the nurturing environment provided by university programs facilitates the learning process. These programs don’t just offer students a venue for the practical application of skills they’ve obtained, but also give students access to mentors and peers with industry experience.

Yulwardian knew little about running a business until he decided to enroll in a magister manajemen (MM) program at Prasetiya Mulya Business School. The program provided him with the proper learning environment, as well as network and know-how.

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It also developed his “entrepreneurial spirit” and gave him the confidence to start Ivosights in 2017.

MM programs act as a sandbox for innovation, where aspiring founders like Yulwardian can experiment and feel safe making mistakes.

Keeping up with current innovations

On top of picking up business concepts, startup founders must also figure out how to stay relevant in their markets. Keeping track of technological advancements and market trends helps businesses capitalize on the world’s increasing connectivity and changing consumer habits.

In 2013, Erikka Ferdinata was feeling disappointed about the performance of Ega Cipta Pratama, the interior design firm where he was working as a commissioner. Although the firm wasn’t losing money, Ferdinata was convinced there was a lot to be done to improve its processes.

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Seeking a solution, he enrolled in Prasetiya Mulya Business School’s MM program that year. What he found instead was the motivation to start his own company.

“I was inspired during a lecture about how technology is changing the way businesses work. This made me want to combine tech and my own background in construction to form a business,” he shares. Eventually, he came up with the idea for Bildeco, an ecommerce platform for building materials.

Before enrolling in the program, Ferdinata “felt like he was taking a walk in the dark.” But after finishing the course, he learned how to run a company properly and gained a better understanding of the “the business model canvas.” It also enabled him to widen his network and taught him how to pitch business plans to investors in order to raise funds.

Standing out from the competition

In November 2016, the Indonesian government announced an “ecommerce roadmap” that’s expected to create 1,000 “techno-preneurs” in Indonesia’s ecommerce industry with a total value of US$10 billion by 2020. The scheme also prioritizes small and medium-sized enterprises and startups.

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The government’s support and its plans to grow Indonesia’s economy are creating a more competitive market for startups, especially as entrepreneurs tend to pursue explosive growth rather than focus on profitability. With founders jostling for funding in a tech ecosystem that’s becoming saturated, it’s vital that startups find a way to stand out from the competition.

Whether this means reorganizing a business’ structure to work more efficiently, creating new product offerings to address customers’ pain points, or developing a unique selling proposition, Ferdinata stresses that founders who want to differentiate their company from rivals need to have a solid grasp on business aspects.

New Ventures Innovation is Prasetiya Mulya Business School’s new magister manajemen program, dedicated to equipping aspiring startup founders with the capabilities to nurture their visions into high-growth businesses. It is embraced by the InnovationHub, an entrepreneurial ecosystem that provides students with access to business networks and mentors.

Visit the Prasetiya Mulya Business School website for registration details.