Yogyakarta, July 30th 2020—The Student Council of FISIPOL UGM (DEMA FISIPOL UGM) held its new work program, ‘Productive Talk with DEMA’, on Live Instagram on Thursday (30/6). Its prime topic was ‘Running A Business in Pandemic’. Dianty Annisa, a student of Department of Public Policy Management 2018 and the CEO of Tertata Journal and SemibyDianty, became a speaker of this discussion. The event began at 01.00 p.m. and was moderated by Muldi, student of Department of International Relations 2018.
Tertata Journal was a business focused on selling journal books and was planned to become a community based business in the future. Meanwhile SemibyDianty was an outfit store for hijabers and was hoped to become a store for non-hijabers too. In her businesses, Dianty was not alone, she collaborated with her several partners.
During a pandemic, Dianty admitted that she felt more positive impacts than the negative. She explained that because many people could not go out from their homes, they preferred to shop in online shops. More dense activity also became a reason why people needed good journaling. Dianty saw and utilized this opportunity to form a class or mini workshop regarding journaling for her followers. “I was really shocked yesterday that SemibyDianty suddenly got a lot of demands. Meanwhile Tertata, because from May to June, people got panicked because of COVID-19, struggling in their houses, who used to sell books, I formed a mini workshop class for friends who loved journaling, by utilizing that opportunity, Alhamdulillah the impact was good,” Dianty said.
Even though the impact was positive, the challenges were difficult. During a pandemic, Dianty and her partner tried to align it with market needs. Dianty explained that she must have a relatable topic so it was not boring and to make her engaged with customers. For SemibyDianty, the difficulties came from trends, regarding clothes models that suited market needs, from a simple clothes to the clothes that could be worn outside the houses. Generally, the challenges were research and getting to know the customers needs. Dianty said that every business had its own ups and downs, even though it was difficult, but it would be paid when we got feedback from customers. For her, every process was learning. “All those things were learning, business was also learning. Moreover, I am not from business or management major, looking for a way to satisfy customers, that is the key of business,” Dianty said.
Dianty’s jobdesc in her business was marketing and product selection. In her explanation, she mentioned several strategies that she did in her business. First, we should follow the trend and must have our own values and characteristics. “Usually, me and my partner were idealistic, in this business we really do not want to follow anyone. We would still follow the trend but do not forget about our values,” she said. Second, we should routinely interact with our followers on social media, because the more often we interact with them, the more they felt involved. Regarding financial management, Dianty did not manage financing, but she admitted that she still received financial reports and took part in budget distribution, such as the share of capital, sales, inventory, and other needs.
Because Dianty is a student, she had to balance business and college. She said that time management was a priority. Student’s priority was studying, of course she should be more focused on academics than business. Luckily, she was not alone in managing her business, so that they could back each other up when there was an obstacle in managing their businesses. “We already had a division of work, knew our timing, could back each other up, I would prioritize my study then I would manage my business. Luckily, I went to college for only three days,” Dianty said.
In the end of discussion, Dianty also gave tips in managing money: we needed to invest instead of saving money. “I could say that investing was the same as saving money. It’s like we planted something that we can pick up when we are old,” she said. Then, the discussion was continued by a question and answer session. This discussion ended at 02.00 p.m. The broadcast of the discussion can be watched via IGTV @demafisipolugm.