Brilio.net - Along with the slogan Jogja Istimewa, it is not surprising that there are many visitors and tourists to the city of Jogja. These travelers fell in love with the city which was once the center of the Islamic Mataram Kingdom. Finally, quite a few migrants choose Jogja as a place to do business , or a place to grow and develop. One of them is Asmawi, a migrant from Madura.
photo: brilio.net/Himmatul Ahsana
Asmawi is a 36 year old man who works as a Sempol trader and businessman. Starting from reckless capital and wanting to seek fortune in other people's cities, initially Jogja was not his main destination city. Starting to trade in 2008, he moved from the city of Malang, Sidoarjo, to the city of Surabaya. At first he tried various kinds of trade, starting from trading pentol, jasuke, until finally Asmawi is now selling sempol.
With capital of IDR 7 million, Asmawi's history of selling sempol is quite interesting. "Initially I made sempol and stole the recipe from a friend who sold sempol because at that time pentol was not very popular. But after the sempol I made sold out, I was afraid it wouldn't be a blessing. "Finally I confessed to a friend and got permission to use the recipe," said Asmawi to brilio.net recently.
Starting overseas in Yogyakarta in 2018, his sempol business is now called sempol PMJ. PMJ itself is an extension of the Jogja Community Islamic Boarding School. He said, "My business in Jogja was assisted by Ustadz Puji from PMJ and he even told me to name my sempol business after PMJ, this is an honor for me."
Even though he sells his sempol at IDR 500 per stick, Asmawi is able to achieve a net turnover of more than IDR 20 million per month. Initially PMJ Sempol had 7 branches which were managed by relatives, neighbors and their families in Madura. However, due to the Covid-19 virus in 2019, finally one by one his relatives chose to return to Madura because sempol sales turnover during the Covid-19 era had decreased drastically. Until now, he still manages this business himself because he doesn't feel he needs employees and he can still do it himself.
The branch that survives to this day is its main sales place which is located near the Bugisan gas station, Jalan Sugeng Jeroni, Patangpuluhan, Wirobrajan, Yogyakarta. Making 4,000-5,000 stitches per day, he starts trading from 16.00-22.00 WIB. There is high interest on weekends, every Saturday and Sunday daily production is increased to 7,000-8,000 sticks.
photo: brilio.net/Himmatul Ahsana
In the boarding house which is still in the same area as the mosque, Asmawi started his daily activities as a sempol trader. Starting from making sempol dough to forming and boiling the sempol dough that has been made. He rented a simple boarding house as a place to live and produce his sempol. That's where Asmawi lives from 2018 until now.
Not only making sempol, now Asmawi is actively sharing her daily activities while making sempol while Live TikTok with the TikTok account @asmawijayamacen which already has 65 thousand followers. He has been doing this activity of working while content since one year ago. The main content he often creates is sharing free recipes with netizens. Not afraid that her business will lose out on competition because it shares recipes for beginners, Asmawi believes , "It's called sustenance, someone already rules it. I have started from scratch and know how difficult it is to do business. "Hopefully this free recipe can help beginner friends out there who want to start a business."
photo: brilio.net/Himmatul Ahsana
Apart from sharing recipes on TikTok for free, Asmawi also has 6 other secret recipes that he sells and opens up opportunities for anyone who wants to learn the sempol business with him. Providing guidance from start to finish, he hopes that having a direct person with the secret recipe can help their business grow.
photo: Instragram/@asmawijaya_macen
He faced various difficulties for the business he started, starting from being evicted and not being allowed to trade in several places, moving from one city to another, to having no buyers. However, his efforts to start this business were not in vain. Asmawi managed to achieve success with this sempol business. His income was able to take him to the holy land, send his parents on pilgrimage, and was able to buy land.
Of course, this is thanks to his tenacity, which never gave up starting his personal business. He hopes that his business will be useful in the future by opening other branches and being able to create jobs for other people. For him, starting a business, the most important thing is to be brave and prioritize action. "If from the start of the business you think about fears about profit and loss, it definitely won't work," Asmawi advised beginners out there.
Intern: Himmatul Ahsana