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Buying decisions are more and more shaped by testimonials, written or spoken statements that are used to demonstrate social proof and build trust. When believed true, they are not only among the most effective marketing strategies or advertising campaigns, they are also among the salesperson?S strongest and most effective arguments.

Did you know that a study by Dutch research companies VODW consultancy and MarketResponse has shown that customers are prepared to pay 25% more when you have positive (online) testimonials? Compared to several years ago, more and more customers turn to the internet for research, orientation, buying and customer service. This of course brings new opportunities, especially for companies that keep their promises.

Part of this study was an experiment with three imaginary offers for a weekend getaway to Paris, all with the same features. The only difference being price, average rating and the number of reviews. The first offer was priced at 175 Euros (250 U.S. Dollars), had about 100 reviews with an average rating of lima.Lima on a scale of 10. The second one cost 200 Euros (285 U.S. Dollars), was rated 8.0 and had only a couple of reviews/testimonials. The third offer was 225 Euros (320 U.S. Dollars) and had a rating of 8.0 with around 100 reviews.

And the results? No less than 77% percent of all people went for the third option!

Just because of the high rating combined with the high number of reviews or testimonials, a price increase of 25% was justified. Apparently the customer values the unbiased opinion of other customers a lot more than messages broadcasted by the company itself. With the 2.0 world we?Re living in today ? A web of ?Likes?, reviews and online recommendations ? The one-sided monologue loses credibility day by day.

As I?Ve said before storytelling and word of mouth are among your most powerful and convincing selling tools, so use them. Which stories are told or written about you, your company or product? Set up a Google Alerts account and start monitoring today. Customers are not waiting for more information, more facts. What they want is to engage on a deeper level with your organization and your product or service. What your company needs is authentic, meaningful and inspiring stories, and who can tell them better than your most satisfied customers?

So how can you make testimonials work for you? First of all, make sure customers find written, or even better videotaped, testimonials on your website. Don?T make them look for it, they should be on your homepage or product landing halaman. Next, include some video testimonials or an interview with a satisfied customer in your sales presentation and make sure it?S creative, dynamic and entertaining. Not only will it make your presentation more interesting, interactive and memorable, it will also take your prospects on a journey into the future where they have already bought your solution and are enjoying the results. Visualization is a powerful thing!

Finally some ninja tips for successful testimonials:

* Make sure they are authentic and relevant to your prospects.

* Check your testimonials for spelling and grammatical errors.

* Include the name, picture, company and position of the satisfied customer (always ask for permission first).

* Use magnetic headlines to draw the attention.

* Select testimonials from different industries or perspectives, so that there?S something for everybody in your sasaran audience.

* Specific numbers work best. Don?T say ?One million? In revenue if it was $977,450.

* Don?T rephrase your customer?S words. They speak the language of your prospects.

Malaysia's economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2010. This is the highest in the country's economic growth since 2000.

The value of the wealth of the 40 richest person in Malaysia also grew to be USD62,1 billion by 2010, up USD11,1 billion compared to the previous year.

As quoted from Forbes, the position of number one and number two is still occupied by Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan, with their respective wealth USD12,lima billion and USD9,lima billion.

While Lee Kim Hua, who was the widow of Lim Goh Toh, founder of the Genting Group having the largest asset growth. Its assets grew because of the price of shares of Genting bolted when opening a casino in Singapore which is venture Sentosa Island began operation. Treasure wealth immediately rose to USD2,7 billion to USD6,6 billion.

And Chen Lip Keong also managed to double asset of gambling. His wealth grows more than doubled to USD375 million.

Here's a list of 40 richest people in neighboring States that:

1. Robert Kuok, treasures his fortune reached USD12,5 billion.

The father of eight children was getting a lot of profits from his business in the industrial sugar, palm oil, shipping and property. Kuok Group, has three main companies located in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The main source of revenues comes from Wilmar, oil palm companies in the world. But this company's share price plunged last year. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong real estate asset value and the hotel is up. Wilmar itself is controlled by the nephew of Kuok Khoon Hong, Singapore citizens who became the wealthiest man thanks to his ownership of 10 percent at Wilmar.

Dua. Ananda Krishnan, USD9,5 billion.

Maxis Communications owns the largest telecommunications company in Malaysia. Maxis has three chorus business, satellite Astro All Asia Networks, the management company and the company and the gambling Tanjong operator Measat Global telecommunications.

He also teamed with billionaire Kalanithi Maran India in developing the business of radio and television broadcasts. He claimed as a great philanthropist, he focuses on developing the talents of young generation with Malaysia do scholarships and specific programs in schools.

3. Lee Kim Hua, USD6,6 billion.

The widow of King Casino Lim Goh Tong, who founded the Genting Group in 1965 and went on to develop his business into a recreational park and hotel sectors. Genting shares leapt after opening the resort World Sentosa worth USD5 billion and casinos in Singapore in the past year. While his son, Lim Kok Thay has also been conducting his own successful business and become the richest person in Malaysia to-13.

4. Lee Shin Cheng, testifies to reach USD5 billion.

He is the boss of IOI Group which is one of the largest producer of palm oil in the world and one of the largest property developers in Malaysia. The Group employs more than 30 thousand employees worldwide. He grew up in a rubber plantation, adjacent to where his father ran a grocery store.

The father of six children, was quitting school at age 11 to work to help his family, by selling ice cream with a bicycle for four years before returning to continue his education completing. Now All of his children now works for his company.

Lima. Quek Leng Chan, USD4,8 billion.

The head of the Hong Leong Group Malaysia and has a number of shares in the company's largest physical properties listed on the Hong Kong Guoco Group. She also has ownership in a number of areas of financial services, property development and hotels throughout Southeast Asia.

6. Tea Hong Piow, assets totaled USD 4,7 billion.

The founder of the third-largest bank in Malaysia. Own one of the leading enterprise asset management in the country, she also has a license of Islamic insurance and have received permission to become a broker in Cambodia. He is also the largest shareholder in the LPI Capital, a general insurance company in Malaysia and Singapore.

7. Yeoh Tiong Lay, the amount of his wealth totaled USD2,7 billion.

He founded the YRL Corp. In 1955. His company also been doing a dual listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1996, and it was the first non-Japan Asia are listings in Japan.

8. Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary, with a wealth of USD2,lima billion.

Perusahannya, Malaysia Mining Corp till the Johor Port and the airport. Major won a contract to oversee the construction of Gamuda rail mass-transit system in Kuala Lumpur. He is the person who set the Albukhary International University, and made the Albukhary Foundations to support the education of poor families in rural areas each year.

9. Vincent Tan, assets totaled USD1,25 billion.

The father of 11 children was the owner of Berjaya Group, but his luck seemed to be lost over the past year because its stock price has continued to weaken. He is the owner of the site's social networking site and buy shares of Facebook Friendster.Com through his company, MOL.Com. Although he failed to get license for Sports gambling license from the Government. Don't like golf, and it's a hobby with scuba diving.

10. Tiong Hiew King, fortune was Rp1,dua billion.

He worked raw rubber processing in his teenage years in support of his family's finances before he built his business empire which focus on the business concessions to timber and oil palm plantations in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Media Chinese International media, he has published over 30 magazines and newspapers in North America, Southeast Asia and China.

11. Lee Oi Hian & Lee Hau Hian, with wealth USD900 million.

12. Azman Hashim, with a wealth of USD785 million.

13. Lim Kok Thay, USD665 million.

14. AK Nathan, USD600 miliar.

15. Mokhzani Mahathir, USD560 million.

16. William HJ Cheng, USD505 million.

17. Shahril & Shahriman Shamsuddin, USD500 million.

18. Kamarudin Meranun, USD495 million.

19. Jeffrey Cheah, USD475 million.

20. Anthony Fernandes, USD470 million.

21. Goh Peng Ooi, USD460 million.

22. Lau Cho Kun, USD450 million.

23. G Gnanalingam, USD420 million.

24. Chia Song Kun, USD400 million.

25. Lim Wee Chai, USD390 million.

26. Chen Lip Keong, USD375 million.

27. Yaw Teck Seng & Yaw Chee Ming, USD365 million.

28. Chan Fong Ann, USD330 million.

29. Chong Chook Yew, USD300 million.

30. Liew Kee Sin, USD255 million.

31. Ahmayuddin bin Ahmad, USD215 million.

32. Ong Leong Huat, USD200 million.

33. Eleena Azlan Shah, USD195 million.

34. Lee Swee Eng, with wealth USD190 million.

35. Tiah Thee Kian, with wealth USD170 million.

36. Nazir Razak, with wealth USD165 million.

37. Rozali Ismail, with wealth USD155 million.

38. Lin Yun Ling, with a wealth of USD150 million.

39. David Law Tien Seng, with treasures USD145 million.

40. Abdul Hamed Sepawi USD125 million, his wealth.

The rich people in China is growing rapidly along with economic growth. Many of the rich people in China are not affected to the volatility of the stock market.

The following is a list of the richest people in China, as reported by Forbes, Tuesday (dua/9/2011).

1. Liang Wengen. The amount of his wealth totaled USD9,3 billion.

Located at the top of the list, aka the richest man in China's Liang Wengen, owner of the Sany Heavy Industry which is a manufacturer of heavy equipment for construction needs.

A wealth of Liang Wengen leapt along with his booming property sector. He occupied the position of richest man after the previous year is in third position only. Where wealth leapt 58 percent to USD9,tiga billion.

Not only that, she also get the additional benefit of step up privatization effort Sany Group subsidiary.

2. Robin Li. Wealth reached USD9,dua billion.

Robin Li is owner of search engines on the internet. Whereas the last March, the character was named to be the richest man in China. Come down to whether he is because of his company's stock price plummeted.

3. Liu of Yongxing. His fortune reached USD6,8 billion, sector investments vary like property and more. He was once the richest man in China in 2008.

4. Liu Yunghao & family. Kekayannya reached USD6,6 billion. He focuses his business in agribusiness sector. In the previous year he was in position 9.

5. Zong Qinghou. Its assets totaled USD6,5 billion. Business investments in the sector of beverages.

6. Hui Ka Yan. His fortune reached USD6,2 billion, he focused on the real estate sector. He is the developer of the project spread out Evergrande, throughout China. His wealth grew along with the emergence of the property.

7. Wu Yajun & family. The amount of his wealth totaled USD5,9 billion. He also engaged in the real estate sector.

8. Zhang Jindong. The value of its assets reached USD5,6 billion. A rehearsal for a business is a retail business.

9. He Xiangjian Safari Park. Assets reached USD5,5 billion. Business investments are appliances.

10. Qiu Guanghe & family, own asset reached USD4,8 billion. He is doing business in the retail sector, its retail store named Zhejiang Polish. He had joined the new millionaires in China.

11. The Huiyan. USD4,5 billion. The real estate sector.

12. Zhou Chengjian. USD4,4 billion. The retail sector.

13. Ma Huateng. USD4,300. The internet sector.

2. Zhang Shiping & family. USD4,2 billion. The mineral sector and textile.

3. Wang Jianlin. USD4 billion. The real estate sector.

16. Zhang Xin & family. USD3,3 billion. The real estate sector.

17. Wong Kwong Yu & family. USD3,25 billion. The retail sector.

6. Chen Fashu. USD3,2 billion. The sector varies.

19. Lu Zhiqiang. USD3,1 billion. The sector varies.

8. Li Shuirong. USD3,08 billion. Petrochemicals sector.

21. Lu Guanqiu & family. USD3,06 billion. Business sector varies.

22. Zhang Zhirong. USD3 billion. The shipping sector.

23. Li Li. USD2,9 billion. The pharmaceutical sector.

24. Sun Guangxin. USD2,8 billion. Business sector varies.

25. William Ding. USD2,76 billion. The internet sector.

26. Huang Wei & family. USD2,75 billion. The real estate sector

27. Guo Guangchang. USD2,74 billion. Business sector varies.

28. Chen Jianhua & family. USD2,5 billion. Manufacturing sector

29. Hui Wing Mau. USD2,4 billion. The real estate sector.

30. Zhu Gongshan. USD2,3 billion. the solar energy sector

31. Zhu Yicai & family. USD2,26 billion. Business sector varies.

32. Chan Laiwa & family. USD2,23 billion. The real estate sector

33. Chu Lam Yiu. USD2,2 billion. The flavorings

34. Liu Zhongtian. USD2,01 billion. Sector metal processors

35. Shen Guojun. USD2 billion. The retail sector.

36. the Sze Man Bok. USD1,98 billion. Consumer production sector

37. Hui Lin Chit. USD1,94 billion. Consumer production sector

38. Gong Hongjia & family. USD1,93 billion. Electronic sector

39. Jack Ma. USD1,9 Mylar. The internet sector

40. Wang Muqing. USD1,8

Until a couple of years ago, Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City would have seemed a relatively humdrum fixture on the opening day of the Premier League football season.

It was an encounter containing an echo of better days, such as a memorable FA Cup final in 1981; a match between two grand old clubs for whom a finish in the top eight would constitute a satisfactory season.

Not any more. Last season, Tottenham beat City home and away and ended up pipping them to fourth place, thereby bagging the last place available to English clubs in the coming season's lucrative Champions League. The word "lucrativedanquot; doesn't have much resonance for City's owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan. He's not in it for the money. But he's certainly in it with the money, and fifth place, winning only a slot in this season's less exalted Europa League, offered more than a hint that success in football can't be bought, at least not immediately, not even for ?750m, the sum he is said to have sunk into the club.

So this afternoon's match, the 12.45pm curtain-raiser to the 2010-11 Premier League season and duly televised live by Sky Sports, assumes a much wider significance, pitting the richest club in the world, the plaything of a man whose family is some 60 times wealthier than the billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, against a club which, while not exactly paupers, reached the Promised Land of the Champions League by shopping for players in Oxford Street rather than Bond Street. That, and old-fashioned virtues such as teamwork.

As for the 37 Premier League games to come once referee Andre Marriner has blown today's final whistle, they will surely determine some truths about the now familiar but still frankly bizarre business of foreign moguls lavishing parts of their vast fortunes on English football clubs, another of which, Liverpool, might yet be propped up by Chinese, Indian or Middle Eastern billions. After all, men such as Sheikh Mansour and Abramovich didn't get where they are today by settling for second place, let alone fifth. Yet only one club can win the Premier League; only one club can win the Champions League. The single cast-iron certainty about English and European football over the next few seasons is that it will yield plenty of disappointment among rich and powerful men accustomed to getting their way.

Will one of them be Sheikh Mansour, a fellow so rich that last June, on the day he OKed the signing of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa for ?12m, he also made a ?1.4bn profit by selling an 11 per cent stake in Barclays that he had bought a mere seven months earlier, and so powerful that he reportedly has Barack Obama on speed dial?

His decision to make Manchester City his piggy bank is certainly an intriguing one, City having laboured for so long in the shadow of Manchester United. Moreover, City fans have endured more than their reasonable share of heartbreak these past couple of decades, even plunging for a season into the third tier of English football. They tend to be a lugubrious, Eeyore-ish lot, City fans, although whether this is because gloomy types are instinctively drawn to City, or because supporting City has imbued them with gloom, I'm not altogether sure. At any rate, scarcely had Sheikh Mansour completed his takeover in September 2008, at a stroke of the fountain pen transforming the club from perennial also-rans into serious trophy-hunters, than a City-supporting friend of mine phoned me and said, gloomily, "It's bound to end in tears ... It's City."

It might yet end in tears, but at least the eyes shedding those tears will have seen some extraordinary sights, notably some of the world's greatest players wearing the famous sky-blue shirt. Not all the great footballers wooed by Sheikh Mansour's chequebook have succumbed, the Brazilian midfielder Kaka instead deciding to throw in his lot with Real Madrid. But plenty have, among them Kaka's compatriot Robinho and this summer's ?25m acquisition from Valencia, the clever striker David Silva. That such players should join Manchester City shows the extent of the revolution that the sheikh, half-brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa, has wrought.

There was a time when City fans might have more reasonably expected their new owner to come from a well-known family in Aberdovey. But these are strange times in English football, and nowhere are they stranger than in Manchester, where United, for all their success, are now the poor neighbours. What United do have over City, however, is Sir Alex Ferguson, the finest manager of his generation and arguably the finest in the entire history of the British game. In Sheikh Mansour's short time pulling the City purse strings he has sacked one manager, the competent Mark Hughes, and appointed another, the suave Italian Roberto Mancini, who wears his blue-and-white scarf in an extremely fetching manner but has yet to prove that he is really up to the job.

The question worth very much more than $64,000 is, therefore: will Sheikh Mansour keep playing with his new toy if it doesn't bring him quite the joy he hoped, or will he throw it out of the pram?

It is perhaps an unfortunate metaphor, because he is said to be an engaging, decent, responsible fellow, with a genuine love for sport. He has won several long-distance endurance horse races over the desert sand, and inadvisable as it might be for anyone to beat him, there seems little doubt that he is a hugely accomplished horseman. Also, in a rare interview last July, he told Manchester City's official website that he had a "lifelong passion" for football, having played a lot himself in his younger days and become deeply involved in the running of the Al Jazeera club in Abu Dhabi. "Like any football fan I think I love the game for many, many reasons, not least of which is the feeling that success can bring," he said.

Splendidly, sweetly, he offered a parallel between his arid homeland and rainy Granadaland. "In Abu Dhabi, our heritage and culture are inherent to our values, and the way we live our lives. I think it's the same in Manchester. You certainly see that in the long-standing commitment of the fans for the club. As I have said, it was very clear that Manchester City was a sleeping giant of English football and waking that giant I think is going to be rewarding on a number of levels."

The man prodding the giant out of its slumber was born in 1970, the fifth of 19 sons of Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates. Twelve years before he was born, oil was discovered beneath the Abu Dhabi sand, transforming an economy that had depended largely on camel-herding and pearl-diving. But Sheikh Mansour's uncle, Sheikh Shakhbut, was circumspect about this new source of wealth, and the development of modern Abu Dhabi did not really start until 1966, when Sheikh Zayed seized power from his brother in a bloodless coup partly engineered by the British. By the time Sheikh Zayed died six years ago, the emirate was so rich that it was said that a $1 rise in the price of a barrel of oil would increase its wealth by $500m a day.

Sheikh Mansour, university-educated in the United States, was one of the chief beneficiaries of this wealth, becoming the UAE's minister for presidential affairs and chairman of First Gulf Bank, building a personal fortune estimated at ?20bn but with access to family money said to amount to ?550bn. He even married into money; one of his two wives is a daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, owner of the Godolphin horse-racing empire and ruler of neighbouring Dubai.

Sheikh Mansour had apparently been looking to buy a Premier League football club for some time before Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand, decided in 2008 to sell his stake in Manchester City. The rest is history, but far more engrossing than the past is the future.

A life in brief

Born: 20 November 1970, in Trucial States, Abu Dhabi.

Family: His father, Sheikh Zayed, ruled Abu Dhabi and was the first president of the United Arab Emirates. His mother, Sheikha Fatima, is chairperson of the UAE General Women's Union. His 18 brothers include Sheikh Khalifa, the current ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Education: He graduated in the United States with a degree in political science.

Career: Appointed chairman of the presidential office for UAE in 1997, before being appointed as the first minister of presidential affairs. He bought Manchester City FC in September 2008 and also owns a stake in Ferrari.

He says: "In Abu Dhabi, our heritage and culture are inherent to our values, and the way we live our lives. I think it's the same in Manchester."

They say: "The owner clearly didn't come in just to buy a bunch of players ? He came in with a vision, a project, something far more rewarding than just winning a trophy." Vincent Kompany, Man City midfielder

I just want to offer to you the opportunity to work together in coal business, especially if you own friends that looking for coal sourcing from Indonesia. I have good contacts some coal mining owners in Indonesia that produces many specs of coal from low rank calories of coal, medium calories, to high calorie. Even I also do good networking with some local big trading house that gathers coal from small coal producers in South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.

The coal producers ask to me to assist in selling their coal, and they will pay commision (fee) to person which him help in selling. My relationship with the coal mining companies (owners or directors) is good as I often meet them for special mision or just do relax time. In another time I have also ever done interview them for my business article. Among the coal specs whihcs my miners can supply are: Coal GAR 4200 Kcal/Kg, GAR 3900, GAR 4500, NAR 5500-5300 Kcal/Kg), NAR 3800, NAR 5000-4800, NAR 4700-4500, NAR 5700-5500 Kcal/Kg. Also coking coal can be supplied. My miners can do it from single miner.

The minimum order: 40,000 MT, and supply ability 400,000 MT / month. So, by this mail, I meant I want to propose you to synergy in the coal business, especially if you has trusted coal buyer. My coal owners will pay fee /commision for you and we can discuss about this. Don't hesitate to contact me via email or whatsapps if you have buyer.

wingdarmadi@gmail.com

Sukanto Tanoto is Indonesia's businessman that success in investing to more than 10 countries. Chairman and CEO of Raja Garuda Mas International, is one of tycoon in palm oil producers and pulp and paper business in the world.  Born in Belawan, North Sumatra, 25 December 1949, with original name Tan Kang Hoo, Tanoto now rebrand his busness as RGE (Royal Golden Eagle)  Group, RGE (Royal Golden Eagle) manages a group of resource-based manufacturing companies with global operations. Its work ranges from the upstream, comprising sustainable resource development and harvesting, to downstream, where our companies create diverse value-added products for the global market. RGE was founded by Sukanto Tanoto in 1973 as RGM. The assets held by RGE companies today exceed US $18 billion. With more than 60,000 employees, we have operations in Indonesia, China, Brazil, Spain and Canada, and continue to expand to engage newer markets and communities.

RGE group of companies are involved in the following business segments:

Pulp and Paper : APRIL & Asia Symbol

Palm Oil Industry : Asian Agri & Apical

Specialty Cellulose  : Bracell

Viscose Fibre  : Sateri

Integrated Energy Provider : Pacific Oil & Gas

He has mostly lived abroad, even to make its central headquarters in Singapore, Sukanto said that it does not mean his side ran out of the country, but rather seeks to develop the market and abroad. "We want to prove that we are not depend on facilities from the Indonesian Government. But we are also able to conquer the world, and a great competitor, "said Sutanto.

He mention Japan as example. Toyota search market in Indonesia with assembling cars. Did they had fled to Indonesia? No, they just look for the market in the country. So, he said, if we're expanding into overseas, no meant to escape, but attempting to grab larger market.

Who is Sukanto ?

Tanoto was declared as the richest man in Indonesia by Forbes magazine in September 2006.

Sukanto Tanoto's body resembled his mother pleads: firm and hard. Litle Sukanto like going to the seaside. Since childhood, Sukanto — who at the age of 12 years was fond of reading just about anything, including books about the American Revolution and war of the Worlds — aspired so doctors. "If I pass on to the Faculty of medicine, I become a doctor," he said. Because of the obsession, until the 1973-1974, he was still happy to use the name 'doctor Sukanto'.

But, when he was 18, his father, Amin Tanoto, in sick (stroke). The eldest of seven brothers then took over the family responsibilities: continued the efforts parents to sell gasoline, oil, cars and appliances. The work of an alien to him because he was always after school help parents while reading a book. And, from there Sukanto aka Tan Kang Hoo first learned business skill, including accepting reality and not give up under any condition, as well as finding a solution.

Moved from his hometown, Belawan, North Sumatra, he traded car spare parts, and then turn it into a general contractor enterprises & supplier. Sometime, Sjam, a Pertamina officials come from Aceh to him. to offer job as contractor. "Yes, I will" he said. He catch the chance. He build home, installing air conditioning, plumbing, tractor, and make the golf course at Prapat for Pertamina. "That's the technical school of mine," he said. To find building material, he got off Sumbawa, Lampung, at the age of 20 years.

Good at seeing opportunities, while imports of plywood from Singapore disappeared in the market, he founded the company in the field of wood, CV By Pelita, 1972. "Our country is rich in timber, why do we import plywood," he said. "I was the distribution," he said. While others have not made of plywood, he is producing plywood and changed the company name to be PT Raja Garuda Mas (RGM), with his main Director, 1973. Plywood branded Polyplex's imported into various countries of the European Market Together, United Kingdom, and the Middle East.

"I was one Strategy competition two step before people working on it," he said. When no one opens up a massive private estates, although at that time there have been foreign plantations in Sumatra, Sukanto, open palm oil plantations in a big way.

"After that we make Indorayon," he added. PT Inti Indorayon (IIU) that reforestation produce pulp, paper, and rayon, as well as being able to supply seeds superior tree pulp makers in the country. IIU had opposed the presence of community and environmental activists. Because the culprits, Lake Toba, polluted by waste pulp. As a result, the IIU was closed.

But, Sukanto picking lesson: learn from mistakes. "I learned from Indorayon, then I use in Riau," he said. In Riau, he opened Jungle Plant Industry and established a pulp mill was the largest in the world, PT Riau Pulp. Start up 1995, because of the crisis, incipient in 2001. In the vicinity of the manufacturer, together with non-governmental organizations, community development program making Sukanto for local residents. "I don't love the fish, but I teach fishing, that's what we're working on," he added. Among other things, the community development program: fattening cattle, road construction, and agriculture.

The other business, in Medan, he penetrated property business, by building the Union Plaza, then Thamrin Plaza. Not only in the country, he has spread the wings out of the country, with palm oil plantations co-owns the National Development Corporation Guthrie in Mindanao, Philippines, and electro Magnetic in Singapore, as well as a paper mill in China (which has now been sold to enlarge PT Riau Pulp).

Since 1997, Sukanto choose living in Singapore with his family, and took up headquarters in the country. His obsession, want to be entrepreneurs in Indonesia who compete in the global arena, at least in Asia. Its primary purpose, according to him, "How can we capitalize on our advantages, in order to compete, at least in the arena of Asia?."

Now, in addition to the business, he was about to write a book about how entrepreneur facing the crisis. "I want to do it is to research how entrepreneurs in Europe that survive, at the First World War, Second World War. How America businessman was passing through a crisis of the 1930s. How entrepreneur-businessman in China, the time when the Communist regime, changes in, how they were to survive. I'm also going to learn how entrepreneurs-entrepreneurs through Latin America crisis, which in Brazil, "he added. "What is the crisis that gave rise to seedlings-seedlings entrepreneur that is new," he said.

Until now still read books Sukanto hobby. Books about anything, whether business or non business. "Everytime I go, I bring a book," he said. "If rose travel, if not sleeping, yeah, see," he said. Its benefits, according to him, in addition to update their knowledge, as well as helpful at all in daily social activities and business. Another one, the man who mastered two foreign languages, Chinese and United Kingdom, was happy to learn. He followed courses at Insead, Paris, at MIT, in addition to stay as participants PPM, Jakarta. Until now he sometimes took time off to attend short courses. "My career one more: professional student," he said. Two-three weeks he was on leave to go to Harvard, Tokyo, London School of Economic, to update knowledge. Lastly, 2001, he attended the Wharton Fellows Program, United States, over the past six months, to learn a dotcom.

"If I am in business, the key to success: I think, act, learn, read, listen, look," he said. "Second, if I do not know, I asked. I also don't feel hesitate tell my failure, "he said. In addition, the handle: do the right thing, do the thing right. Do the right thing as a guideline on the management pattern. Do the thing right has an emphasis on the importance of an action. "My Principle, business and politics should not mix," said Sukanto who love listening to light classical music.

Within the space of five years, Asian budget carrier AirAsia has grown quickly, helping to shake up the airline business in the region. With its fleet of 30 Boeing 737-300 aircraft and 15 Airbus A320s, the no-frills airline currently flies to more than 45 destinations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Macau, China, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

AirAsia?S seen by many as a ?Blue ocean? Company as it was based on the Southwest Airlines model of quick turnarounds and low-cost fares. Although Group CEO Tony Fernandes says he hasn?T read the seminal book by INSEAD professors Chan Kim and Ren?E Mauborgne, he says AirAsia has sought to exploit blue oceans.

?What does the market want? Nine times out of 10, when you go for what the market wants, it?S something that?S different. That?S why invariably everything we?Ve done is kind of blue ocean, except for AirAsia X (AirAsia?S new long-haul operations) which is completely blue ocean. But we weren?T the first to invent low-cost travel, we weren?T the first to invent a low-cost hotel. We?Ve taken it to another level, but we?Ve been a bit Japanese in taking it, and adapting it, and making it better for our part of the world.?

Fernandes says AirAsia X is expected to start long-haul flights to the UK in September. Virgin has just taken a 20 per cent stake in the new carrier.

Branding has been key to AirAsia?S success ? Along with its low cost operations ? And the airline?S CEO has been branching out into budget hotels and online financial services. Often described as Asia?S answer to Richard Branson of Virgin, Fernandes also started in the music industry before moving into the airline sector.

?Many Asian companies don?T value branding as much because they don?T see it in the bottom line straight away,? Fernandes told Knowledge. ?It?S something that even I have to explain to my board time and time again, that the fruits of branding are over five years.?

And his advice to would-be entrepreneurs: ?Go with your gut, give it your best bet and you may fail, but don?T give up.?

Just three years after starting up, Babytree.com, a social networking site for parents in China already boasts some 12 million visitors, a mammoth feat by any standards.

Co-founded by Allen Wang who is also the chief executive officer, and backed by Matrix, a venture capital firm in Boston, Babytree.com has been hailed the Chinese equivalent of Facebook for kids and parents.

But Wang is modest about his company’s success. “We don’t actually have a secret ingredient as to why we’re growing so quickly and to such a scale.” He does however allude to two things that may have contributed to the site’s stickiness.

First, he says, is the site’s attention to product detail to make the customer experience as seamless and as pleasant as possible. For example, Babytree’s uploading feature allows parents to upload not just one, but numerous photos at a time. This has proven to be so popular that the site is the largest photo deposit site in China for young parents, with the total number of pictures stored today standing at around 100 million.

Wang reveals he’s come up with an optimum number of 50 photos because he believes that if you “turn up the volume too much” and enable parents to upload photos by the hundreds, then the idea becomes in their mind unmanageable, even though it is still relatively easy.

Word of mouth also helped to boost traffic to the site as Wang says he has not really been spending marketing dollars at all. He reveals that the average monthly spend was “less than US$10,000” and that “it’s probably a fraction of that right now.” Instead, he focuses on getting people to talk about Babytree in places where they congregate, for example in online chat rooms online as well as offline events.

But perhaps it is Wang’s Google background and his philosophy of “launch many, launch early” which he picked up from the internet search giant that has really put Babytree on this trajectory. Since its inception, Babytree has launched more than 40 products ranging from the picture uploading mentioned earlier, to blogs and online sales of baby products.

His prior experiences at Yahoo! and Procter & Gamble (P&G) may also have served as inspiration. “To some degree, I do agree that my experiences at P&G, at Yahoo! - and my last professional large scale-experience was with Google in Asia - they all have taught me many things, among which is paying attention to your users, which is P&G’s mantra of consumer advertising. They’re launching many products and launch them early and test them against (their) users.”

That approach however does not seem suited for China. “I have to say all of those combined are not adequate to win in China, and I’m still learning this part which is to act very fast, learn the local ways and compete effectively with a low budget, against ‘scrappy’ entrepreneurs who are just ready to do anything … to take over the leadership position from your side.”

This, he explains, accounts for why multinationals like Google have a hard time in China, and why competition especially in the internet domain, is fierce. He reasons that though MNCs bring with them unsurpassable talent, it is not the right kind of talent that can “fight and win in the local environment”.

A plausible solution is for MNCs to recruit local Chinese. “I think actually that what kind of people you use, you have the courage to open up the floodgates and say ‘let me actually recruit people that I may not know very well, but they have proven themselves as successful people running local businesses’, versus people who are educated in the West, who have relatively very low local knowledge - that’s a key part.’”

Though Wang has clearly mastered the art of going local with Babytree, he has attracted international attention from P&G and Kimberly-Clark, whose adverts along with other MNCs, account for 60 per cent of Babytree’s revenue.

And he is not showing any signs of slowing down, though he says he is not quite ready to pursue the IPO route. “We are profitable … Going IPO is, frankly speaking, not our top (priority). Our first and foremost agenda is to push it even bigger in terms of the reach and our coverage. There are after all 15 million babies born each year in China, (multiply by) six, we’re actually talking about 100 million families with a kid every year following into our age range, and many of them in the coming years will get online. So the total population following in this age range will quickly exceed 70, 80, 90 million, and we’re still just reaching just a small fraction of that population.”

Business school students have changed since Julie Meyer, the venture capitalist who is chief executive and founder of Ariadne Capital, did her MBA in the late 1990s. Then, no-one wanted to start their own business, she thought. Financing them, though, seemed more attractive to many.

?I used to joke that if you wait long enough, your entire group becomes a venture capitalist,? She says. ?Now it seems to be that, if you wait long enough, your entire class at INSEAD becomes entrepreneurs because everyone wants to work for themselves.?

Meyer made her name through First Tuesday, a networking lembaga for entrepreneurs, which she sold for 50 million pounds in cash and shares to an Israeli company in 2000.

One of the lessons she learned from First Tuesday was that many entrepreneurs wanted to bypass venture capitalists. Often, the most attractive investors were other, successful entrepreneurs. Hence Ariadne Capital - which she founded in 2000 as a way to pool the capital and experience of successful entrepreneurs who want to help the next generation of start-ups.

Fifty entrepreneurs have backed the company. They invest capital, time and their networks. Ariadne?S key sectors include digital media and entertainment, as well as software and life services such as finance, e-health and digital homes.

She recently launched Entrepreneur Country, a networking and events business, with the tagline ?Where breakthrough moments triumph over near-death experiences?. The motto expresses the entrepreneurial journey. You have to persist against all odds, she says. That?S what success is - it?S when people persist when normal rational people would just give up.

Meyer has enormous skill in spotting promising new ventures at an early stage. She was one of the early advisors in the internet telephone service Skype. She saw potential in Espotting Media, which launched pay-per-click internet advertising 10 years ago. She regrets that the firm didn?T have enough money to capitalise on its potential and the advantage it had was lost to companies like Google.

Ariadne sees about 60 entrepreneurs a month. Sometimes Meyer sees smart people who can analyse forever but are paralysed when faced with incomplete information. Meyer says she can tell quickly whether an entrepreneur would be successful.

They think big, Meyer says. They never lose their ambition to create a category-defining firm.

They are inviting you to a journey that they are going to make, whether or not you participate.

Ariadne has invested in a number of promising ventures at an early stage, such as SpinVox, which turns spoken messages into text that can be emailed or sent as an SMS message to a mobile phone. Busy people can then quickly scan a page of text instead of spending hours wading through voicemail.

SpinVox had massive ambition, Meyer says. Sometimes the only time she could sit down with the chief executive, who had to travel almost constantly, was on Sunday mornings ? And she?D find 60 people working in SpinVox?S offices then. That impressed her.

However, to be a successful technology entrepreneur is to recognise that technology is, in many ways, secondary. Meyer looks for companies that make money from the way people use technology and have the potential to be world leaders.

The great technology companies are great marketing companies, she says. Focusing on marketing, not sales, is key. Sales follow if the entrepreneurs understanding and interpretation of the market is accurate.

?Probably one of the most painful experiences I have ever had was doing the marketing for the Motorola PowerPC in the technology sector,? She says. The Motorola chips were more advanced than rival products. However, Intel had better marketing skills, and trumped Motorola.

Meyer?S advice to big companies in general is to be worried by start-ups. ?David really wins in David and Goliath battles,? She says. ?You?D better not take that person for granted and underestimate them because the mantra of every successful entrepreneur is ?Think big, start small, and move fast.?? (Source: INSEAD)

Look closely at the top 100 Global Brands, according to Interbrand and BusinessWeek, and you?Ll see many European and North American favorites that have given great products or services over many years. What you won?T see on that list are many Asian firms, apart from some notable companies in Japan and South Korea.

Why, in a burgeoning region that?S merk-crazy, have very few homegrown favorites earned world-group recognition? What will it take for Asian companies to rise to the level of global superstar

?The Challenges of Building Global Asian Brands? Panel at the INSEAD Leadership Summit in Asia offered some insights into these and other questions, with the focus being on regional companies traditionally focused on trading, operations and technology, rather than marketing. The panel agreed that the chief marketing officer must be just as involved in the company as the CEO and other leaders in the 'C-Suite'; and that a strategic view of marketing within most Asian companies is long overdue.

Martin Roll, VentureRepublic

Panellist Martin Roll (MBA ?99D), CEO of VentureRepublic and author of Asian Brands Strategy, says branding in Asia is no longer a luxury; it?S a necessity. ?Most Asian business executives think that a brand is just an appendix, just a strategy that is a logo, that is a corporate ID,? He stresses, adding that this needs to change because low cost today is a level playing field.

Roll says that for Asian brands to go global, three things must happen. First, Asian executives must instil a global mindset within their companies. It?S not just about a new logo and printing new business cards, he notes. Secondly, Roll says a chief marketing officer (CMO) should replace some of the engineers and financiers in the boardroom. Finally, he believes that Asian companies need to look within. ?So you really have to ask yourself very hard,? Says Roll, ?If I am going to create another sports shoe brand or an IT merk or a hospitality merk, what makes that truly different in a very, very over-communicative world??

L?Oreal Chaired Professor of Marketing (Innovation and Creativity) at INSEAD, Amitava Chattopadhyay, says there are historic reasons as to why Asia has looked to western brands. ?Consumers, by and large, have been in the West because Asia, leave aside Japan, has not really had a flourishing economy with a large number of people in the middle group who are able to buy brands. And the people that did buy brands, the top of the pyramid if you will, they were highly westernised, often-Western educated and valued Western things,? Says Chattopadhyay. At the same time, he agrees with Roll that Asian companies have focused on operations, technology and manufacturing, with not enough attention being paid to marketing.

Chattopadhyay notes that economic changes in the region over the past twenty years have led to a larger consumer class for the first time, creating a historic opportunity for local and regional brands to expand. In order for that to happen, companies need to understand and develop their brands and then articulate this within the company and to consumers. He says that he has acted as a consultant to company executives who have had to ask their marketing departments what the merk stands for. So if the company?S leadership and ?Foot soldiers? Don?T understand what the company?S branding is, there?S little chance that consumers will have a clear idea.

Gyehyun Kwon, Samsung

Another panellist, Samsung?S Head of Global Communication, Gyehyun Kwon, emphasizes the importance of Asian regional economic growth that could annually hit eight per cent, as compared to three per cent in the US and Europe. ?We believe this Asian region is really the powerhouse to drive the world economy. So, in a way, we have some of our global headquarters in Asia, especially Korea. We have a relative advantage because of the location and we understand the Asian economy quite well,? He says.

Kwon notes that Samsung took a huge risk by developing new products during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It also established its global brand by sponsoring the Olympics at a time when the company was almost broke. But that gamble paid off and gave the company an international marketing push and brand presence.

Kwon though has an unusual take on merk and merk value. ?You know, I would like to share Samsung?S notion about the brand,? Said Kwon. ?We believe the brand itself is not important. What is really an essential factor: compositions of a brand value and we believe the first one is technology value because we are a manufacturing company. The second is the product value. The third is marketing value and the fourth one is reputation value,? He concluded.

Rajesh Hukku, i-flex solutions

The process of building a dunia merk has three stages, says Rajesh Hukku, chairman of i-flex solutions of India. Get people around the world to become customers of the brand; show them that the quality and reliability is better than competition; and create the success story over and over by building solid company leadership that understands the merk and how to communicate it.

Hukku?S company grew out of the Y2K scare, during

which companies from abroad outsourced their perangkat lunak concerns and projects to India. He believes his success came as a result of mastering the three stages.

But what about building brands for business-to-business sales? An umbrella merk may work well, but ?The merk has to become reference,? Says Hukku. ?(It?S) important to say that XYZ Company uses it; a reference, of who your customer is, is important. Benchmarks are also very important, but you have different messaging that still needs to get out, in the business-to-business markets.?

When asked what advice he would give to Chinese manufacturers on branding,

he says: ?10-20 years ago it was based more on loyalty. I think our children and grandchildren will change (that). It?Ll be more about the quality and the merk experience, not whether or not Tiger Woods wears (the products),? He adds.

(INSEAD Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay)

Di bisnis peralatan presentasi, nama Soedjarwo Budiono sedang berkibar. Ia sukses mengantarkan perusahaannya PT Indovisual Presentama -- agen Proxima, NEC, ASK, dan Panasonic -- merajai bisnis peranti presentasi. Soedjarwo mendirikan perusahaan ini awal 1999, bersama lima sobatnya, yakni Kodrat Budiadji, Hamzah Junaid, Ong Madian, Hartono Lim, dan Muhammad Nazaruddin Anwar. "Sekarang kami market leader di pasar peranti presentasi," ujarnya.

Soedjarwo dkk. mendirikan bisnis keagenan bidang ini lantaran sebelumnya tak ada perusahaan yang khusus menggarapnya. PT Datascrip, misalnya, memang menyediakan perlengkapan presentasi, tapi hanya bagian kecil dari bisnis besarnya di bidang penyediaan perlengkapan kantor. Demikian pula, beberapa pemain lain. "Kami berani karena sangat fokus dan terspesialisasi," katanya.

Enam sekawan ini dengan bulat menunjuk Soedjarwo sebagai nakhoda Indovisual. Lewat urunan, mereka berhasil mengumpulkan total dana Rp 600 juta sebagai modal memulai usaha. Uang ini antara lain dipakai untuk menyewa ruangan di Menara Gadjah Mada Lantai 18 (Jakarta), yang tentu saja tak bisa dibilang murah.

Indovisual betul-betul harus merangkak dari bawah. Pada awal beroperasi, roda bisnis perusahaan ini hanya dijalankan dua orang, Soedjarwo dan Kodrat -- saat itu keduanya menjabat General Manager. Indovisual ketika itu juga baru berbisnis selaku sub-agen atau subdistributor, yang bertugas menjualkan produk dari beberapa agen lain, bukan sebagai agen atau distributor tunggal. Maklum, perusahaan ini masih seperti bayi yang baru belajar menyusu dan merangkak.

Titik cerah makin terlihat ketika Indovisual dipercaya menjadi distributor proyektor merek Proxima (dari AS) -- setelah sempat ditolak beberapa prisipal lain. Waktu itu, Indovisual sengaja melamar Proxima karena melihat kinerja pemasaran distributornya di Indonesia kurang bagus. Tawaran Indovisual disambut baik manajemen Proxima. Maklum, bisnis Proxima sedang tak bagus. Hanya saja, kala itu Indovisual belum diposisikan sebagai distributor tunggal karena Proxima telah lebih dulu menggandeng PT Lusavindra.

Setelah dua tahun berjalan, Indovisual ternyata mampu menunjukkan prestasi mengesankan. Karena itulah, perusahaan ini memberanikan diri meminta manajemen Proxima menjadikannya distributor tunggal. Ternyata, dikabulkan. "Itu tonggak pertama kami dipercaya sebagai agen tunggal," ujar Soedjarwo mengenang.

Kepercayaan dari Proxima tak disia-siakan manajemen Indovisual. Hal ini dibuktikan, tiap tahun Indovisual memperoleh berbagai penghargaan dari Proxima sebagai distributor terbaik. Tiga tahun berturut-turut sejak 2001, Proxima ditahbiskan sebagai penerima The Top Sales ASEAN Award.

Bahkan, tahun 2002 dan 2003 Indovisual menggaet The Top Sales South Asian for Proxima. Setelah itu, manajemen Indovisual mulai melebarkan portofolio bisnisnya dengan mencari prinsipal lain agar bisa memiliki lebih dari satu merek kuat. Lamaran sebagai distributor ke beberapa pemilik merek lain pun dilayangkan. Tak sia-sia, Indovisual kemudian dipercaya juga mengageni merek NEC, ASK, dan Panasonic.

Menurut Soedjarwo, selain persoalan memperoleh kepercayaan prinsipal, tantangan muncul dalam mengembangkan pasar dan mencari pelanggan. Selain harga proyektor masih relatif mahal, pasar juga belum melihat peranti ini sebagai kebutuhan pokok perusahaan. Kala itu, masih lebih banyak orang yang memakai overhead projector (OHP) -- proyektor jenis lama yang masih memakai slide.

Layanan pascajual menjadi perhatian Indovisual. Contoh terobosannya, pertama, menyediakan suku cadang dan unit cadangan (pengganti) proyektor. Jadi, bila proyektor pelanggan mengalami kerusakan dan tengah diservis, aktivitas tak perlu terganggu sebab dipinjami proyektor oleh Indovisual. Kedua, Indovisual memberikan jasa servis gratis selama proyektor itu berfungsi, ditambah garansi suku cadang selama dua tahun.

Ia merinci, tahun 1999 Indovisual mampu menjual rata-rata 25 unit/bulan. Kemudian, tahun 2000, naik menjadi rata-rata 55 unit/bulan; tahun 2001, 100 unit/bulan; tahun 2002, 200 unit/bulan; dan tahun 2003, 300 unit/bulan. "Proxima dan NEC adalah dua brand proyektor yang kami pasarkan saat ini," tutur kelahiran Bojonegero, 27 Mei 1969 ini, seraya menjelaskan harga proyektornya per unit Rp 9-50 juta. Soedjarwo yakin pihaknya kini memimpin pasar di bisnis ini.

Pernyataan Soedjarwo tampaknya tak berlebihan. Bila dilihat dalam konteks korporat, saat ini dengan beberapa merek peranti presentasi yang diageninya, Indovisual merupakan yang terbesar. Namun, bila dibandingkan langsung brand-to-brand, penjualan terbesar di Indonesia masih dipegang merek Infocus yang diageni PT Triyaso Telekomindo.

Di bisnisnya, Indovisual bersaing dengan Computa (Yogya), PT Triyaso (Infocus), Grup Galva, Datacrip (Canon), dan PT Metrodata. Sebenarnya, selain Proxima, NEC, ASK, Canon, dan Infocus, di Indonesia beredar pula produk peranti presentasi merek Toshiba, Sony, dan Hitachi. Hanya saja, posisi pasar merek-merek ini di Tanah Air relatif belum kuat.

Indovisual yang memiliki sekitar 220 karyawan juga memasarkan peranti presentasi lainnya, seperti plasma display, conference system, monitor, OHP, kamera digital, dan notebook. "Hingga saat ini kami masih konsisten memasarkan peranti presentasi," kata Soedjarwo seraya mengungkapkan, omset perusahaannya sudah mencapai puluhan miliar rupiah -- tanpa mau menyebut angka pasti. Perusahaan besar yang menjadi pelanggannya, antara lain, Arta Boga Cemerlang (Grup ABC), Grup Astra, PT Telkom, Mattel Indonesia, IBM, Goodyear, Nestle, Schlumberger, PriceWaterhouse-Cooper, Vico Indonesia, dan Indosat, ditambah beberapa institusi pendidikan seperti Universitas Indonesia, Institut Pengembangan Manajemen Indonesia, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Universitas Bina Nusantara, dan Institut Teknologi Bandung.

Kisah bisnis menarik lainnya:

Kisah Sukses Dramatik Masri Nur, Pengusaha Ulet Pendiri Hotel Syariah Pertama di Medan

Pasangan Ini Sukses Membangun Jaringan Resto Takigawa

Kisah Sukses Pendiri Red Bean Resto

Kiprah Lima Sekawan Besarkan Bisnis Pendidikan BSI

Robin Wibowo dan Bisnis Furniture Mewah Veranda

Mengelola Bisnis Kampus Ala UGM

Rahasia Sukses dan Strategi Pemasaran Wim Cycle

Teladan Kepemimpinan Di Balik Kebangkitan Perusahaan Tekstil Gistex

Strategi Sukses DataOn Memasarkan Aplikasi HR

Investor luar negeri cari mitra lokal untuk kongsi bisnis

Over the years, there have been misplaced allegations made by various parties accusing the Indonesian palm oil industry of being unsustainable and unfriendly to the environment. These issues represent the concerns of various parties in Europe and around the world on the sustainability of the Indonesian palm oil industry. Rather than reacting to those attacks, the Government of Indonesia has taken consistent measures to ensure that all palm oil companies implement sustainable plantations, while promoting its downstream industries.

Currently, Indonesia maintains 21 million hectares of protected forest out of the existing 133 million hectares of forest across its islands. The protected forest keeps high biodiversity where the wild animal live freely. Indonesian oil palm plantations area in 2009 occupied 7,8 million hectares and in 2008 was 7,3 million hectares. From this amount, about 3,8 million hectares originated from forest while the remaining come from conversion of other uses.

Investment in palm oil industry in Indonesia is very prospective, in particular for the downstream processing industries. According to research, Indonesia was predicted to gain the higher share in capturing this market opportunity, 50 % of the world market. Total investment required for CPO plants development, in particular downstream industry of palm oil by 2020 is estimated US $ 567 million – 750 million.

Dr Yusof Basiron

For many years, the aviation industry has been criticized for its high carbon GHG emission. Of the total global emissions, 56 % comes from burning of fossil fuels and 17 % from agriculture. The aviation industry alone contributes 649,000,000 tonnes of GHG emission annually which represents 2 to 3 % of the total globally! The Boeing Company and other aviation industry operators held a Forum in Kuala Lumpur recently to explore new sources of renewable biofuels for the aviation industry.

In comparison, calculations reveal that emissions from the oil palm industry are indeed very small. The world oil palm area of 14 million hectares is only 0.25% of global agricultural land. Therefore, the GHG emission from the oil palm industry is 0.25% x 17% or 0.04% of the total dunia GHG emission. At the country level, Malaysia?S oil palm cultivated area of 4.85 million hectares represents 34.6% of the world?S oil palm cultivated area and hence its GHG footprint is 34.6% x 0.04 % or 0.014% of the global GHG emission. Even doubling the cultivated area for oil palm in Malaysia would see a negligible increase of its GHG footprint to 0.028% of global emission.

The negligibly small GHG footprint of the oil palm industry has attracted the aviation industry operators (hence their presence in Kuala Lumpur for the Forum) to consider the use of palm oil biofuel to help reduce emission levels from the aviation industry. As indicated above, doubling the production of palm oil in Malaysia will not add much to the carbon footprint of the oil palm industry, instead, it will provide 18 million tonnes or 8.6 billion gallons more of potential jet biofuel. Total consumption of aviation fuel per year is estimated at 70 billion gallons. A 12 % replacement of the world aviation biofuel can be achieved if the Malaysian production can be doubled to cater to this demand.

The road map for inclusion of biofuel in aviation fuel begins modestly with an initial blend share of 1 % by 2015. This could be increased gradually with an improvement of 1% additional biofuel in the fuel blend annually so that GHG emissions will be maintained at current levels despite exponential growth in future dunia air travels. Malaysian palm oil potentially fits the road map due to its ability to replace a moderate (12%) percentage of world aviation biofuel demand. Palm oil from other sources could also be considered until a long term plan by the aviation industry to meet its target replacement of 50% blend of biofuel in aviation fuel is achieved.

Such large demand for bio-renewable aviation fuel can be supplemented if the biomass generated by the oil palm industry can be harnessed for conversion into aviation biofuel. Palm oil makes up only 10 % of the biomass produced by the oil palm tree. The remaining 90% (dry weight basis) can be partly converted into biofuel using BTL technology or bio-refinery which is being developed rapidly around the world.

Only palm oil can provide a solution for practical consideration. Other oilseeds cannot produce the quantities envisaged because of the inherent low yield per hectare per year of between lima to 11 times less than that of palm oil. Figure 1 below shows countries capable of supplying excess vegetable oil into the world market which are limited to Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil producers. With doubling of production through productivity and hectarage expansion, and employing other palm biomass for further conversion into aviation fuel, the availability could well meet the future target of having 50% blend of biofuel into the aviation fuel mixture.

Figure 1

Palm oil meets the certification criteria for sustainability as many producers in Malaysia have volunteered to participate in the certification schemes and have obtained their certificates from certifying bodies such as the RSPO and ISCC. A minor obstacle to the successful implementation of the aviation biofuel plan is the relatively high cost of biofuel in comparison to petroleum derived aviation fuel. Lack of an excess supply from other vegetable oils and a high demand for palm oil for food will cause market forces to price palm oil above petroleum fuel. Otherwise, palm oil will be burned as fuel. This will ensure that its price will remain above the price of petroleum fuel and petroleum price will be the floor price for palm and other vegetable oils.

With the planned expansion of oil palm production, the necessary increase in supply to meet the needs of the aviation industry can be achieved. The food versus fuel debate does not apply as the main consideration is which profitable crop to plant on a scarce available agricultural land (large areas of degraded land not under forest reserves) where oil palm can be grown. Non-food oil crops such as jatropha can also be grown on degraded land but it yields only 20 % that of oil palm and is far more expensive to produce thus making it a much less attractive solution.

Consumers worldwide must be willing to pay the cost to reduce carbon GHG emission from the aviation industry. Plans by EU to impose carbon tax on the aviation sector are a step in the right direction. It is imperative that the money raised goes to compensate farmers who toil to produce the extra supply of raw material for the aviation fuel industry. Currently, much emphasis has been placed on the certification process for sustainability that the administrative charge consumes up to 80% of the money raised to incentivize the production of renewable biofuel. Ironically, the cost for employing auditors and paying for membership fee of certification bodies is more than the rate of compulsory research funding imposed on the Malaysian palm oil industry!

New opportunities for an increased supply of palm oil based aviation biofuel can be realised through more research and allocation of funds. However, if the cost of certification is higher than the investment in research, and if the carbon tax benefits only the bureaucracy, this will result in a slow development of aviation biofuel from oil palm sources. Development of aviation biofuel from other vegetable oils will be next to impossible. Oil palm is the only viable solution in the long term.

The choice is limited for the aviation industry. It cannot harness hydro, wind or solar power to fly jet planes. Most other plant biomass has low output to input energy ratio of 3:1 compared to 9:1 for oil palm. Oil palm is the best and only choice so far until miracles occur or algae technology becomes successful. Even petroleum fuel is not the most viable choice in the long term; its supply is finite and the topping point curve (Fig 2) shows that supply will start to decline in a few years from its peak. By then almost everything will be expensive except sustainably produced raw materials such as palm oil if future development in production capacity is well planned with adequate upfront investment in R & D.

Walaupun disergap sejumlah pemain asing, Wim Cycle bertahan menjadi pemimpin pasar sepeda, & bisa meraih omset pada atas Rp 150 miliar per tahun.

"Wym Cycle ... Heeeboooh!" demikian penggalan akhir iklan sepeda terdengar jenaka. Meski iklan itu sporadis ada pada teve, lantaran bunyi dan visualnya khas & menarik, poly orang yg mengingatnya.

Wim Cycle ternyata nir hanya heboh sebatas pada iklan, akan tetapi juga kinerja pemasarannya. Produk sepeda asal Surabaya ini hingga kini bertahan menjadi pemimpin pasar di Tanah Air. Tahun 2002, ia bisa meraih penjualan 350 ribu unit. "Wim Cycle memang masih market leader," ujar Johny Rusdiyanto, staf pengajar Universitas Surabaya.

Prestasi Wim Cycle, tentu, menjadi catatan menarik. Perusahaan ini berdiri akhir 1970-an, sudah 25 tahun lebih. Sederet perusahaan homogen yang lahir pada masa itu, sebagian besar telah mangkat , tergoda bengisnya persaingan industri sepeda. Maklum, karakter persaingan pada usaha ini relatif rumit. Jorjoran diskon & harga merupakan fenomena yg lumrah. Pasar sepeda jua sulit didekati dengan pendekatan pemasaran massal, sehingga biaya pemasarannya lebih besar . Apalagi, di sektor ini amat gampang para pemain skala mini ikut masuk meramaikan pasar. Misalnya, bengkel-bengkel sepeda itu mampu menggunakan gampang merakit & menjual belasan unit sepeda baru.

Tak hanya itu, serangan dari pemain asing yang berkecimpung di bisnis ini pun tak kalah hebat. Sebut saja dua pemain kawakan dari Jepang, PT Federal Cycle Mustika (FCM), & PT Toyo Asahi Bicycle. FCM, amat agresif memasarkan produknya, dan sepeda merek Federal yg dipasarkannya sekarang sudah merambah hingga ke pelosok, bersaing ketat dengan Wim Cycle.

Ditambah kenyataan, secara keseluruhan citra produk sepeda makin surut, terutama sehabis hadirnya alat transportasi yang lebih otomatis, mudah & modern, yakni sepeda motor. Maka, manajemen Wim Cycle, PT Wijaya Indonesia Makmur Bicycle Industries (WIMBI), wajib sahih-sahih cerdik menghadapi situasi pasar yg sangat keras.

Dari sisi harga, sebenarnya harga jual Wim Cycle relatif sama menggunakan produk sepeda terkini lainnya. Seperti istilah Ali Sadikin, Manajer Pemasaran WIMBI, harga produknya Rp 310 ribu-1,8 juta per unit. Jika dirata-homogen, kurang lebih Rp 745 ribu/unit, relatif sama dengan rata-homogen harga produk lain. Sepeda merek Federal contohnya, juga dipasarkan seharga sekitar itu. Manajemen Wim Cycle nampaknya sengaja tak memakai taktik harga sebagai sennjata andalan buat memenangkan persaingan.

Namun, jika diamati, ada sejumlah elemen krusial yang sukses dikembangkan dalam pemasaran Wim Cycle. Pertama, berdasarkan strategi membidik target. Wim Cycle membidik konsumen usia 8-15 tahun, meski kelas usia di atasnya jua dilayani. Dengan strategi ini, Wim Cycle mampu meraih konsumen yg selalu baru. Selain itu, pemilihan sasaran pasar ini juga sebagai deferensiasi yg menguntungkan, buat menghindari perang menggunakan sepeda-sepeda yang dibuat pemain lokal di masing-masing wilayah yg rata-rata menyasar segmen dewasa. Apalagi, membuat sepeda untuk orang dewasa lebih gampang dibanding sepeda remaja & anak-anak, karena tidak membutuhkan banyak aksesori dan mainan.

Strategi targeting tadi kemudian dipadukan menggunakan strategi produk. WIMBI berusaha memosisikan sepedanya sebagai produk yang dinamis, kreatif, muda dan modis (fashionable). Tak heranlah, produk-produk Wim Cycle terlihat lebih ngejreng dan warna-warni, cocok dengan kesukaan anak-anak & remaja. "Kami ingin membarui karakter sepeda yg terkesan tua dan stagnan," ujar Ali. Tak berhenti di situ, produknya terus jua diperluas & diremajakan, agar sesuai menggunakan tren gaya & harapan konsumen.

Kini, WIMBI mengembangkan 3 jenis sepeda: BMX, MTB, & Mini. Masing-masing jenis dibagi sebagai 7 varian berdasarkan ukuran. Masing-masing berukuran memiliki aneka ragam model berdasarkan rona, desain stiker dan desain kerangka. Belum termasuk perbedaan varian, lantaran beda aksesori, seperti: bel elektro, reflektor, tas, & sebagainya.

Total, varian produk Wim Cycle 100 lebih. "Ke depan, kami tetap bermain pada model. Di sana masih terbentang luas huma kreativitas baru," Ali mengungkapkan. Dari sisi berukuran ban, kini WIMBI memiliki varian 12, 20, & 16 inci, 18, 24 dan 26 inci. Dari tahun 2000, WIMBI bahkan memasuki segmen pasar baru, yakni sepeda roda 3 (three cycle).

Nampaknya, manajemen WIMBI sengaja mengakibatkan taktik produk sebagai elemen pemasaran yang paling diandalkan. Tak heran, dari sisi produk, Wim Cycle dibuat benar-benar beda. Pengembangan produk baru dilangsungkan dalam siklus yang cepat, ditargetkan selalu mendahului kompetitor. Manajemen WIMBI menerapkan tip unik buat melahirkan penemuan produk baru.

Menurut Ali, pihaknya berusaha terus mengamati tren produk sepeda tidak hanya level pasar Indonesia, akan tetapi juga pasar internasional. Caranya, minimal dua kali pada sebulan, pimpinan puncak WIMBI -- kini dipanggul sang generasi kedua, Andee Widjaja -- mengunjungi keliru satu menurut empat negara: Taiwan, Amerika Serikat, Inggris atau Kanada. Tujuannya, mengumpulkan ilham & konsep produk baru.

Sekarang, bila di rata-homogen, jarak kelahiran antarproduk Wim Cycle tak lebih menurut tiga bulan. Artinya, tiap tiga bulan sekali setidaknya lahir satu produk baru. Malahan, berdasarkan Ali, terdapat kebijakan internal: dalam satu tahun Wim Cycle harus melahirkan desain minimal 60 contoh yang diejawantahkan pada bentuk variasinya. Hanya, Ali mengakui, tak seluruh produk dilempar ke pasar. Sekitar 83% nir dilahirkan, lantaran dievaluasi nir sesuai dengan ciri pasar.

Melahirkan produk dengan daur cepat dan inovatif misalnya itu jelas tak gampang. WIMBI sendiri melakukannya karena tidak punya pilihan lain, demi menyesuaikan karakter produk Wim Cycle yang modis, dan buat menghindari kejenuhan pasar. Maka, agar merangsang lahirnya pandangan baru inovatif, secara internal WIMBI berusaha membangun atmosfer korporat yg bergerak maju & merangsang keluarnya pandangan baru inovatif. Misalnya, kepada para karyawan diberikan akses Internet, supaya bisa menggali ide & objek inovasi. Kemudian, disediakan juga majalah desain motor & mobil, serta majalah Troyley Design. "Kami ingin para awak desain & pemasaran nir mandek," ujar Ali.

Bisa jadi, langkah penemuan yang dilakukan WIMBI dengan meningkatkan kecepatan lahirnya produk baru terkesan ambisius. Sebenarnya, langkah itu dipilih manajemen WIMBI berdasarkan pengamatan & pengalaman masa lalu. Jika dikilas pulang, lebih kurang pertengahan 1980-an, industri sepeda mulai menerangkan indikasi-indikasi kemunduran.

Tepatnya tahun 1976, pasar sepeda menghadapi fenomena bangkrutnya puluhan pemain yg sebelumnya aktif menggarap pasar. Pasar tidak lagi menyerap. Beberapa penghasil sepeda berkapasitas besar yg masih bertahan, tahun-tahun itu mulai mengambil kebijakan penciutan skala bisnis (downsizing). Tak urung, Hendra Widjaja, pendiri Wim Cycle yang ketika itu bergelut di bisnis suku cadang sepeda, juga terkena dampaknya, yakni bisnisnya yg berbendera CV Indonesia Makmur bangkrut.

Pasar sepeda waktu itu lesu. Ironisnya, persaingan yang terjadi justru makin ketat dengan hadirnya sejumlah produk sepeda yg dipasarkan kalangan industri rumahan. Sepertinya, tidak ada jalan lagi ke depan selain berganti usaha. Melihat kenyataan itu, Hendra berusaha tidak patah arang. Tak ingin larut dalam kesedihan lantaran bangkrut, Hendra kemudian terbang ke Kanada, Inggris, Alaihi Salam dan Taiwan (pusat sepeda dunia). Bukan untuk rekreasi atau melepas penat, melainkan mencari wangsit usaha baru. Ia mencoba mengamati perkembangan usaha sepeda di luar negeri. Dari sinilah Hendra menemukan konklusi krusial, yang kemudian ternyata menyuntikkan motivasi baru yang membangkitkan bisnisnya.

Dari perjalannya itu beliau menyimpulkan, sebenarnya jenuhnya pasar sepeda di Indonesia bukan semata-mata faktor eksternal: persaingan ketat atau daya beli warga yang tidak mendukung. Namun, diakibatkan para pembuat yg kemarau penemuan. Produsen tidak mampu melahirkan produk-produk yg mampu merangsang tumbuhnya permintaan baru. Produk sepeda hanya itu-itu -- kecil, jengki & kumbang -- menggunakan ekspresi warna yang cenderung kelam (hitam atau hijau tua). Maka, dia menetapkan masuk ke usaha sepeda dengan konsep baru, produk sepeda yg memiliki kesan belia, fungky, bergerak maju dan modis.

Tahap pertama, diproduksi jenis BMX 20 inci, mengikuti tren perkembangan di luar negeri. Hendra sadar, untuk menyukseskan pemasaran bukan pekerjaan gampang. Dari segi permesinan tidak ada masalah, lantaran sudah memiliki mesin memadai dan modern, didatangkan berdasarkan Jerman dan Taiwan, berkapasitas produksi 60-100 ribu unit/bulan. Tantangannya, justru bagaimana pihaknya mampu kreatif dan inovatif, agar produk-produknya lebih modis, berbeda menurut kebanyakan sepeda lainnya. Juga, bagaimana cara mengomunikasikan, lantaran saat itu media iklan cetak & elektro belum lazim dilakukan pemasar sepeda.

Tak terdapat cara lain , penetrasi pasar dilakukan perlahan-lahan. Sebagai langkah awal, ketika itu tiap bulan sengaja diproduksi 10 unit saja. Produk itu diperkenalkan langsung pada 10 agen dan beberapa toko sepeda terutama pada Surabaya. "Ternyata, respons pasar luar biasa, sampai kami kewalahan melayani," Ali menuturkan. Tidak menyia-nyiakan momentum, setelah itu pemasaran Wym Cycle bak tancap gas. Distribusinya segera dibentuk merata di semua Nusantara.

Tak sanggup dilupakan, sebenarnya kinerja Wim Cycle yang terus remaja sampai kini , tidak lepas dari taktik komunikasinya. Langkah promosi yang dilakukan cukup mengena, baik promosi above the line juga below the line. Iklannya mencerminkan produknya yg fungky & jenaka. WIMBI jua mendukung lomba-lomba balap sepeda. Bahkan karenanya lalu muncul kesamaan pasar baru: mengakibatkan sepeda sebagai sarana adu ketangkasan. Kecenderungan itu tentu saja berdampak positif bagi WIMBI.

WIMBI menyelenggarakan pula kegiatan fun bike, lomba ketangkasan contohnya BMX Game, & bermitra dengan sekolah-sekolah dalam pensponsoran. Dari segi promosi, dibanding penghasil lain WIMBI termasuk berani tampil terbuka, tidak sekadar bergerilya melalui jalur distribusi. Tiap tahun tak kurang dari Rp 6 miliar dikucurkan buat kenaikan pangkat .

Di lini distribusi, manajemen Wim Cycle pun melakukan perubahan fundamental, terutama soal sistem keagenan. Rata-homogen pembuat menggunakan contoh kuantitas bonus, akan tetapi oleh WIMBI diubah menjadi sistem insentif poin. Caranya, tiap kali dealer -- sekarang jumlahnya 150 dealer -- mengambil 50 unit sepeda, maka memperoleh 1 poin (1 unit sepeda). Cara ini dipilih, lantaran menggunakan mekanisme kuantitas diskon justru membuat pasar tidak terkendali. Masing-masing dealer berlomba mengejar omset tinggi, sehingga harga di pasar gonjang-ganjing.

Dengan sistem baru tadi terbukti pemasarannya lebih lancar. Sejak tahun ke tahun penjualannya makin meningkat. Bila dirata-rata, 95% produk WIMBI selalu diserap, 5% sisanya terserap tapi secara perlahan. Tahun 2002 berhasil mengantongi penjualan 350 ribu unit. Atau, 31,8% pangsa pasar sepeda -- realisasi produksi sepeda nasional 2002 sebanyak 1,1 juta unit per tahun (Depperindag). Omset ritel Wim Cycle sekitar Rp 260,75 miliar. Nilai itu relatif masuk akal, karena WIMBI juga meraih omset menurut ekspor, bahkan sekarang mencapai 20% nilai pasarnya. Ekspornya tak kurang ke 19 negara -- ke Arab Saudi, Jerman, Belanda, AS, Yunani, Kanada, Inggris, & negara-negara Eropa. Di Kanada misalnya, sejumlah ritel kenamaan misalnya Canadian Tire, Sears, Bay, Eaton's, & Toys R Us adalah pelanggan setia WIMBI. "Tahun 2003 kami targetkan total penjualan 450 ribu unit," ujar Ali optimistis.

Bila disimak, sebenarnya langkah Wim Cycle mirip Benetton yang sukses meremajakan bisnis garmen. Ketokohannya dalam meremajakan bisnis sepeda bisa menjadi pelajaran. Hanya saja sebaiknya  pasar Wim Cycle diperlebar, jangan hanya segmen anak-anak (usia 6-15 tahun),

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Bagi yg melihat sebelah mata bisnis garmen & tekstil di Jawa Tengah, agaknya wajib menyambangi Setiawan Santoso. Pemilik PT Rodeo ini menerangkan bahwa wong orisinil Semarang pun sanggup menyebarkan bisnis garmen berskala besar , dengan kinerja yg baik. Rodeo tiap tahun meraup omset US$ 10 juta.

Bukti keperkasaan Rodeo, pada antaranya, dipercaya sejumlah perusahaan multinasional menghasilkan merek-merek garmen top global. Lotto, Fila, Esprit, Guess dan Warner Bross, merupakan nama-nama merek yang pernah ditanganinya. Bahkan, Rodeo juga sukses berbagi merek sendiri dengan posisi dan awareness cukup bertenaga pada pasar nasional. Terutama, merek Point One, yang tergolong ngetop dan poly tersedia di hampir semua toserba terkini.

Bisnis garmen memang bukan mainan baru bagi Setiawan. Sejak mini dunia tekstil menjadi bagian hidupnya. Orang tuanya adalah pedagang kain yg membuka toko pada kurang lebih Pasar Peterongan, Semarang. Awalnya, beliau hanya meneruskan bisnis toko kain kecil warisan orang tuanya itu. Tetapi, makin lama bisnisnya makin berkembang, sampai kemudian ia & orang tuanya membuka toko garmen. Seiring perkembangan tokonya, dia juga mulai mengimpor garmen dari Hong Kong dan Singapura, meski dalam jumlah mini . Hal ini terutama buat memenuhi permintaan pada tokonya. Produk impor tadi pula dijual pada Yogyakarta & Solo.

Tahun 1978 keluar kebijakan pemerintah yg mempersulit impor. Setiawan terpaksa berpikir keras agar tak kehilangan usaha. Ternyata, embargo ini justru mendorongnya membuat produk garmen sendiri. Ia mengangkat 2 karyawan buat membantu produksi pertamanya, pada rumah kontrakan. Modalnya hanya satu mesin jahit dan mesin obras. Semua ia lakukan sendiri, baik pekerjaan pemotongan, penjahitan, pengiriman maupun jual-beli kaus. Bahan baku diperolehnya berdasarkan Semarang, Bandung & Jakarta. Untuk memasarkan produk, ia memilih nama merek Rodeo (jenis olah raga menaklukkan sapi liar -??? Red.), supaya mewakili jiwa anak belia, segmen yg beliau sasar.

Ternyata bisnisnya berkembang. Karyawannya bertambah, dari dua sebagai empat orang, 10 orang, & seterusnya. Setelah sebagai industri rumahan, tahun 1984 dia memindahkan lokasi produksi pada Jl Kaligawe, pada huma seluas ... Hektare. Kemudian, tahun 1989 berinisiatif membuat pabrik perajutan sendiri, menghasilkan bahan baku kain buat pembuatan kaus. Yang niscaya, kini Rodeo sanggup melakukan bisnisnya menurut hulu ke hilir, menurut perajutan, pencelupan dan finishing, sampai sablon (hand printing) & cetak bordir.

Dari sisi pemasaran, Setiawan sangat peduli menggarap pasar ekspor. Langkah ini dimulai tahun 1987, waktu karyawannya berjumlah 800-an orang. Ekspor perdana ke Italia, menggunakan pesanan sebanyak 2.000 lusin. "Waktu itu kami sahih-benar jungkir kembali buat memenuhi kuota pesanan, tapi sekaligus memberikan baku kualitas yang baik," ujar Setiawan, mengenang.

Lantaran sebagian besar basis produksinya buat pasar ekspor, ketika krismon tahun 1998, kinerja perusahaannya permanen mengagumkan. Malah, pendapatan perusahaan semakin tinggi lantaran pembayarannya dalam dolar AS. Setiawan mengakui, kelemahan perusahaan garmen pada Indonesia, belum bisa mengekspor menggunakan memakai merek sendiri buat kategori mass product. Karena, membutuhkan porto yg sangat akbar untuk promosi. Selain itu, sine qua non penempatan orang pada wilayah tujuan ekspor buat menerima perancang yg sempurna serta mencari kabar mengenai pangsa pasar di negara itu.

Setiawan saat ini fokus membenahi kondisi internal. Antara lain, melakukan rasionalisasi dan efisiensi dan menaikkan produktivitas. Dengan kapasitas produk perajutan sekitar 250 ton/bulan -- 40% buat memenuhi kebutuhan industri garmennya sendiri dan 60% dijual ???- kini setiap tahun Rodeo menghasilkan tiga juta lbr produk garmen menggunakan dibantu sekitar dua.500 karyawan. Selain di Semarang, Setiawan pula mempunyai perusahaan garmen pada Jakarta, PT Rodeo Kerta Kencana namanya.

Baca kisah bisnis menarik lainnya:

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Di industri minuman, nama PT Ultra Jaya (UJ) cukup tersohor. Maklum, selain sudah puluhan tahun malang melintang di bisnis ini, UJ jua dikenal sebagai pionir minuman dalam kemasan tetrapak. Apalagi, produk-produknya terbilang populer, mulai berdasarkan teh kotak, susu cair pada kemasan, hingga minuman rasa buah Buavita. Namun agaknya, hanya sedikit yang tahu mekarnya bisnis UJ dalam beberapa tahun terakhir tak lepas dari sentuhan Samudera Prawirawidjaja, tokoh belia yang menjabat sebagai Direktur Pemasaran di perusahaan dari Bandung itu.

Samudera, seperti halnya ayahnya, Sabana Prawirawidjaja, bersikap low profile, bahkan terkesan amat merendah. Padahal jika melihat perannya, tidak perlu diragukan. Pria bertubuh ramping ini sejak awal memang aktif terlibat dalam pengelolaan usaha UJ -- tak semua putra Sabana terlibat dalam manajemen UJ. Sebagai putra tertua dari empat bersaudara, Samudera bahkan sanggup diklaim menjadi putra mahkota perusahaan yang telah go public di Bursa Efek Jakarta dan Bursa Efek Surabaya itu.

Samudera mulai aktif melibatkan diri pada UJ sesudah kepulangannya menurut kuliah pada Universitas Southern California, Amerika Serikat. "Tepatnya sejak tahun 1989," tuturnya pada sela-sela sebuah acara pada Hotel Sangri-La Jakarta beberapa waktu lalu. Di UJ, selama ini tugas Samudera lebih poly terkait menggunakan dunia pemasaran. Ia bertanggung jawab penuh terhadap kinerja penjualan perusahaan ini. Mudah, urusan promosi, distribusi dan strategi memenangi persaingan merupakan pekerjaan sehari-hari pria yang lebih sering berpakaian kasual ini. "Saya lihat orangnya memang cemerlang, pinter, meskipun masih muda. Saya banyak tahu dari anak buahnya," komentar Yahya B. Sunaryo, Direktur Direxion Consulting, yg jua berbasis pada Bandung.

Sebetulnya peran Samudera tidak hanya di bidang pemasaran. "Saya pula bertanggung jawab buat pengembangan TI," ungkap pria yg senang membaur menggunakan karyawannya ini. Tak keliru, Samudera termasuk pengusaha yg amat perhatian dalam urusan TI. Buktinya, UJ tahun lalu telah merampungkan implementasi sistem ERP menurut Oracle. Tentunya, ini sebuah prestasi mengingat belum poly perusahaan manufaktur consumer goods di Indonesia yg sudah mengimplementasi sistem secanggih itu. Bahkan tak hanya dari sisi TI, namun jua teknologi produksi. Akhir tahun lalu UJ baru saja menginstalasi pabrik baru yang semua bekerja dengan sistem robotik. "Di Indonesia baru Ultra Jaya yg menerapkan teknologi robotik & pada Asia hanya satu-dua perusahaan," Samudera menambahkan.

Ke depan, nampaknya Samudera masih akan terus bergulat menggunakan dunia pemasaran. "Masih poly yang mampu dilakukan & perlu dikembangkan," kata laki-laki yg belum genap berusia 40 tahun ini. Salah satu yang menarik perhatiannya artinya menggenjot pemasaran susu cair putih dalam kemasan. Kini, pihaknya tengah serius menggenjot pemasaran produk ini dengan melakukan kampanye secara terintegrasi pada seluruh media, baik above the line juga below the line.

"Indonesia merupakan pasar yg bersifat anomali. Hampir pada seluruh negara, termasuk negara maju, konsumsi susu cair jauh lebih akbar dari susu serbuk,??? Tuturnya. ???Tapi di Indonesia sebaliknya. Dari konsumsi susu 345 juta liter per tahun, 82,1% merupakan susu bubuk, sedangkan susu cair baru 17%." Samudera juga membicarakan susu cair putih produksi UJ telah diekspor ke AS, Australia, Jepang & Singapura. Tentu, ketika jugalah yang bakal pertanda sejauhmana Samudera sukses menggenjot penjualan susu cair itu.

Selama ini, lebih kurang 60% penjualan tahunan UJ disumbang oleh produk-produk minuman berbasis susu, & sisanya berdasarkan minuman rasa butir, teh, dan lain-lain. Waktu juga yang akan mengambarkan, seberapa akbar keteguhan Samudera menghadapi rayuan menurut perusahaan multinasional macam Coca-Cola Company dan Unilever yg umumnya berminat meminang perusahaan semenarik UJ.

Klik link dibawah ini buat kisah bisnis menarik lainnya :

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Teladan Kepemimpinan Di Balik Kebangkitan Perusahaan Tekstil Gistex

Strategi Sukses DataOn Memasarkan Aplikasi HR

Pasar alat kesehatan cukup menjanjikan untuk digarap. Namun, butuh pendekatan dan kiat khusus dalam memasarkan produk berharga mahal ini. Ini berbeda dari cara pemasaran produk yang massal seperti fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). Maklum, karakteristik produk dan target pasarnya berbeda. Dari sisi target pasar misalnya, kebanyakan produk alat kesehatan menyasar segmen institusi atau pasar business to business (B2B). Kemudian, biasanya tingkat pendidikan pelanggan yang disasar juga lebih tinggi – pengelola rumah sakit dan laboratorium ataukah para dokternya. Karena itu, butuh pendekatan pemasaran yang khusus.

Selama ini, produsen alat kesehatan di Indonesia umumnya tak bekerja sendirian dalam menggarap pasar. Mereka menggandeng para mitra penjualan, baik distributor, agen maupun dealer. Pasarnya begitu kompleks. Jika produsen harus mengurusi manufakturing (termasuk riset dan pengembangan/R&D) dan pemasaran sendirian, dikhawatirkan malah kelabakan dan perusahaan tak kunjung membesar. Apalagi, kenyataannya di Indonesia cukup banyak perusahaan distributor yang profesional, berpengalaman dan skala bisnisnya sudah besar, misalnya PT Graha Ismaya, PT Andini Sarana, PT Sari Murti, PT Putria Pratama, dan sederet nama lainnya.

Bila diamati, kebanyakan produsen alat kesehatan yang sukses memang melakukan sinergi dengan mitra-mitranya. Jadi tak menggarap pasar sendirian. PT Abadinusa Usahasemesta, misalnya, seperti dijelaskan Ade Tarya Hidayat, CEO perusahaan ini, untuk bisa sukses dalam memasarkan produk alat kesehatan, pihaknya menggunakan agen penjualan dan distributor. Untuk produk tensimeter, ia menggandeng PT Rajawali Nusindo (Grup RNI) yang memiliki banyak cabang di Indonesia. Cara itu cukup efektif. Kini Abadinusa sukses di pasar domestik, baik untuk tensimeter maupun stetoskop. Perusahaan ini merupakan pemimpin pasar domestik untuk produk tensimeter, dengan pangsa pasar 40%. Cara seperti ini juga dilakukan PT Shamrock Manufacturing (produsen sarung tangan/glove), dan PT Trimitra Garmedindo.

Tentu saja pola pemasaran dan distribusi alat kesehatan tak seragam, karena jenis alat kesehatan itu sendiri juga sangat beragam. Ada produk alat kesehatan yang dijual dengan target pasar end user institusi dan rumah sakit, tapi ada pula alat kesehatan yang dipasarkan langsung ke pengguna individual. Harganya pun bervariasi, dari yang hanya ratusan ribu rupiah hingga di atas Rp 10 miliar per unit.

Sudah pasti, untuk memasarkan jenis alat kesehatan dengan sasaran institusi dan rumah sakit (B2B) butuh pendekatan berbeda, kendati mereka bisa dikategorikan sebagai user. Biasanya, dalam kasus bisnis B2B, proses transaksi sangat ditentukan oleh beberapa orang pengambil keputusan di pihak pembeli dari institusi, seperti bagian pembelian ataupun keuangan – atau apa pun namanya – yang tugasnya di bidang pengadaan alat kesehatan buat lembaganya.

Harus diakui, dalam banyak kasus, sukses-tidaknya para pemasar alat kesehatan sangat ditentukan oleh kemampuannya memengaruhi para pengambil keputusan itu agar bersedia membeli atau setidaknya merekomendasi produk yang mereka tawarkan. Dalam hal ini, makna memengaruhi tidak selalu berkonotasi negatif seperti “menyogok” ataupun melakukan mark-up, tapi bisa juga dalam bentuk persuasi-persuasi rasional yang didukung argumen ilmiah dan dibenarkan secara medis.

Pemasar juga dituntut mampu melakukan edukasi kepada target pasar. Karena itu, ada baiknya pemasar mengetahui selangkah lebih maju dalam hal perkembangan teknologi kedokteran, sehingga bisa memberikan solusi yang lebih up to date kepada para user. Bahkan, pemasar juga harus bisa menjelaskan keuntungan-keuntungan yang bakal diraih dari sisi persaingan dengan rumah sakit lain bila menggunakan alat kesehatan terbaru yang ditawarkannya.

Di samping itu, mereka juga harus jeli dengan tidak sekadar memasarkan produk yang sudah ada demand-nya di pasar. Melainkan memasarkan pula produk yang ke depan punya prospek bagus, kendati sekarang belum ada demand-nya. Dengan cara ini, berarti pemasar bisa membangun pasar-pasar baru yang kompetisinya lebih rendah sehingga tak perlu banting-bantingan harga. Konsep inilah yang belakangan populer dengan strategi blue ocean (samudra biru).

Kunci keberhasilan dalam pemasaran produk alat kesehatan ini terletak pada kemampuan mengedukasi dan memberi solusi. Apalagi, produknya memang lumayan mahal dan frekuensi pembelian tak sesering produk FMCG.

Jenis alat kesehatan betapapun sangat dibutuhkan pengelola rumah sakit untuk meningkatkan kemampuan pelayanan. Hanya saja, belum tentu mereka mau membelinya. Alasan utamanya apalagi kalau bukan kendala harga yang terlalu tinggi, misalnya Sebagai contoh, ketika harus memasarkan produk alat kesehatan yang per unitnya berharga miliaran rupiah seperti magnetic resonance imaging 1,5 tesla yang mencapai sekitar Rp 10 miliar. Karena itu, pemasar harus bisa menjelaskan secara detail rasio ekonomisnya dengan membeli alat itu, termasuk kemungkinan kapan balik modal (pay back period)-nya tercapai.

Dalam hal ini pemasar mesti bisa meyakinkan bahwa pembelian alat kesehatan itu harus dipandang sebagai investasi yang bakal kembali dengan menjelaskan hitungan-hitungannya. Misalnya, dengan memaparkan pengalaman rumah sakit yang telah menggunakan alat itu bahwa nilai pengembalian per rupiah investasi justru lebih besar. Jadi, di sini pekerjaan edukasi diperlukan, bahkan kalau dimungkinkan memberikan pula masukan kiat penjualan yang mengarah ke solusi, agar return on investment pembelian alat yang ditawarkan cepat terealisasi.

Selain itu, meski sasarannya B2B dan pelanggan institusi, kegiatan promosi juga harus dilakukan. Hanya saja, tak harus melalui media-media yang masif. Promosi bisa dilakukan dengan mengikuti ajang pameran alat kesehatan yang bereputasi baik. Kiat ini dilakukan Isep Gojali, pengusaha alat kesehatan yang juga Direktur Utama PT Sarandi Karya Nugraha (SKN). Isep melalui SKN, memproduksi alat kesehatan seperti timbangan badan, meja elektrik (operating table dan examination table), instrument trolley, infusion stand, kursi ginekolog, tempat tidur manual dan elektrik sampai ambulans. Dengan mengusung merek Karixa, Isep menjual produknya ke banyak titik di Indonesia.

Bahkan Karixa sudah sukses diekspor ke berbagai negara melalui pintu Singapura (pasar ASEAN) dan Dubai (wilayah Timur Tengah). “Di Belanda, nama SKN sudah cukup dikenal. Sekarang sejumlah siswa dari sebuah perguruan tinggi di Belanda dikirim untuk magang di SKN,” ungkap Isep. Nah, salah satu kiat yang mengantarkannya sukses adalah sering mengikuti pameran di mancanegara. Sebut saja, Isep tak jarang mengikuti ajang pameran yang digelar Direktorat Produktivias Departemen Tenaga Kerja dan Departemen Perdagangan.

Mengikuti ajang pameran sebenarnya tak hanya bermanfaat untuk mengenalkan produk kepada para end user, tapi juga bisa menjadi media efektif untuk mencari mitra penjualan. Sering kali dalam ajang pameran itu muncul pengunjung yang berminat untuk menjadi distributor produk tersebut di negaranya. Hal ini pula yang dialami SKN. Terlebih, dalam menggarap pasar luar negeri, SKN tak berinteraksi langsung dengan pelanggan, melainkan menggunakan pola distributorship.

Bagaimana dengan promosi melalui media above the line? Menurut Bgs. Arvidi N., GM Pharmacy Healthcare Rajawali Nusindo, promosi above the line di media umum sejauh ini belum efektif, sebab tidak langsung bersentuhan dengan konsumen. Kecuali, di media komunitas rumah sakit atau media kesehatan.

Jurus lain, karena umumnya produk alat kesehatan berharga mahal dan butuh layanan pascajual yang bagus, maka pendekatan terbaik yang dilakukan harus mengarah ke layanan kustomasi (customized service). Jadi, strategi pemasarannya juga harus one-on-one marketing. “Hal pertama dan paling wajib, melakukan pendekatan ke calon klien dengan cara mencari tahu kebutuhan mereka. Dari situ kita bisa memenuhinya dengan produk dan layanan kita,” Arvidi menuturkan.

Pendekatan ini juga terbukti sukses diimplementasi John Takili, pengusaha alat kesehatan yang juga Dirut PT Andini Sarana. Kini John sukses memproduksi dan memasarkan produk peralatan kesehatan gigi seperti semielectric chairmounted unit, full electric chairmounted unit, operating table, hospital bed, mobile dental unit, portable dental unit, electric scaler, electric micromotor, dan phantom head. Pasar ekspornya sudah cukup besar, demikian pula dengan pasar domestik. Untuk dalam negeri, ia membidik instansi pendidikan, rumah sakit swasta dan negeri, klinik, serta dokter gigi partikelir (praktik swasta). Bisnis John tak kecil. Terbukti omset bulanannya mencapai US$ 1 juta. Tentang sukses ini, menurut John, selain karena menguatkan R&D, juga melayani permintaan layanan kustomasi.

John banyak menerapkan pendekatan persuasif melalui tim pemasarannya, di samping menyediakan pula tim pelayanan perbaikan dan pemeliharaan yang sudah terlatih ke berbagai kota. Garansi satu tahun diberikan untuk tiap alat, dengan sebulan sekali waktu pemeliharaan. Untuk memuluskan pemasaran, ia menunjuk agen di kota-kota besar yang perguruan tingginya memiliki fakultas kedokteran gigi (FKG), seperti Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Medan, dan Makassar. Agen ini biasanya diambil dari SDM kampus FKG. Biasanya, kepada para dokter gigi muda ia lebih dulu menawarkan peralatan sederhana yang harganya terjangkau. Baru kemudian bila praktiknya berkembang, Andini menawarkan alat yang lebih canggih dan lengkap.

Rajawali Nusindo juga punya kiat tersendiri dalam meningkatkan kinerja penjualan. Seperti dituturkan Arvidi, untuk menyasar pasar B2B (seperti rumah sakit dan klinik), pihaknya memperhatikan layanan pascajual dan harga. “Kalau ada dua produk dengan harga tak beda jauh, konsumen sering memilih yang lebih mahal asal layanan pascajualnya tersedia dan bagus,” Arvidi memaparkan pengalamannya. Hanya saja, selling point Rajawali tak hanya pada harga dan layanan pascajual, tapi juga benefit alat. Menurutnya, semua calon pembeli diberi penjelasan mengenai kelebihan alatnya dibandingkan dengan alat lain, termasuk kekurangannya. “Kami melakukan edukasi. Selanjutnya terserah konsumen mau pilih mana,” imbuh Arvidi.

Selama ini ada dua cara pendekatan ke calon konsumen B2B di Rajawali: pendekatan pasif and aktif. “Pasif artinya menunggu demand, sedangkan aktif berarti meng-create demand,” tutur Arvidi. Pendekatan aktif biasanya diterapkan untuk rumah sakit swasta yang notabene memiliki keinginan lebih kuat untuk melengkapi alat kesehatannya. Sementara di kalangan rumah sakit negeri belum sebagus swasta, meski belakangan mulai ada keinginan untuk membuat rumah sakit negeri lebih kompetitif, sehingga mereka mencoba melengkapi alat-alat kesehatannya dengan cara swadana – tanpa terlalu mengandalkan subsidi pemerintah. Masih di Rajawali, untuk produk yang menyasar langsung ke end user (produk consumer), distribusi dilakukan lewat jalur etikal, dokter dan rumah sakit.

Dalam memasarkan alat kesehatan ini, isu menarik juga soal cara pembayaran. Sekarang, polanya tak hanya tunai, melainkan juga makin banyak pemasar alat kesehatan yang memberikan alternatif pembayaran dengan pola kredit. Abadinusa dan Andini Sarana juga melakukannya. Dalam kasus Andini, John Takili bekerja sama dengan bank dan besarnya kredit sangat tergantung pada plafon masing-masing bank. Ternyata pola ini juga diterapkan di Rajawali yang salah satu bisnisnya distribusi alat kesehatan. “Dengan catatan, jangka waktu pembayaran kredit 30-45 hari,” ia menandaskan.

Untuk pembayaran model kredit, Rajawali mempertimbangan plafon pembeli. “Kalau ada rumah sakit yang hanya punya 10-20 tempat tidur, tapi minta alat kesehatan seharga Rp 1 miliar, tentu menimbulkan tanda tanya. Kami akan melihat kapasitas dan kemampuan membayar calon klien,” ujar Arvidi seraya menjelaskan pola plafon berfungsi untuk membatasi risiko. Yang menarik, perusahaan ini juga memberikan alternatif pembiayaan lain, khusus untuk alat kesehatan premium. Misalnya, klien hanya membayar 50% harga alat, 50% sisanya diperhitungkan dengan pola sewa. Atau bisa membayar 50% saja dan sisanya disubsidi dari pembelian produk-produk lain yang harganya murah. Menurut Arvidi, selama ini sistem sewa sudah biasa dilakukan, terutama untuk klien swasta. “Rumah sakit swasta lebih jeli dibanding rumah sakit pemerintah, khususnya dalam melakukan hitungan-hitungan bisnis,” kata Arvidi. Di Rajawali, kontribusi bisnis model sewa cukup besar sebab mampu menyumbang 20% dari total omsetnya.

Darmadi Durianto, pengamat pemasaran, menjelaskan, pasar B2B alat kesehatan sangat berbeda dari pasar produk consumer, terutama dalam hal, antara lain, frekeunsi pembeliannya lebih sedikit, nilai pembeliannya dalam jumlah besar dan hubungan pemasok-pelanggan erat. “Karena itu, menjalankan strategi relationship marketing merupakan hal yang tepat,” ujar Darmadi. Selain itu, harus bisa mengetahui siapa peserta utama di pasar institusi yang berpengaruh terhadap keputusan pembelian. Pemasar harus tahu apa saja keputusan mereka, seberapa besar level pengaruhnya, kriteria evaluasi apa yang mereka gunakan, dan mereka berorientasi pada harga ataukah kualitas. Dalam hal ini pemasar harus mempertajam strategi relationship marketing dengan meningkatkan level manfaat finansial, manfaat sosial, dan ikatan struktural dengan pelanggan.

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