Universitas Hayam Wuruk Perbanas is deeply committed to supporting the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. This support comes in the form of regular training and mentorship programs. One such initiative was recently undertaken by a team of UHW Perbanas lecturers, who engaged in community service to assist culinary entrepreneurs, particularly the business "Doyan Somay."

UHW Perbanas lecturer, Ellen Theresia Sihotang, S.E., M.BA., explained that since April, the team had been in close communication to identify the challenges faced by these entrepreneurs. The team found several issues ranging from production to marketing and financial management, which were still handled manually.

"Based on these challenges, we offered solutions in the form of training and mentorship. Today, for instance, we conducted a training session on digital financial management and digital marketing," Ellen explained during the training session on Wednesday afternoon, September 25th.

She further noted that the financial management practices of the Doyan Somay business were found to be underdeveloped. The bookkeeping, financial preparation, and micro-financial reporting were still disorganized and often mixed with personal expenses.

"From here, we provided basic knowledge on financial management based on SAK ETAP (Indonesian Accounting Standards for Non-Publicly Accountable Entities). Additionally, we prepared a web-based application to simplify the recording process," Ellen added.

On the digital marketing side, the owner of Doyan Somay, located at Jalan Nias 158, Surabaya, was guided to optimize mobile marketing strategies. This involved enhancing the use of social media, e-commerce, and website landing pages.

"The goal is to provide the business manager with the experience of expanding sales channels, not just relying on sales from the physical shop. All management processes will eventually be integrated into a web-based application," she concluded.

Meanwhile, Farah Diba, the owner of Doyan Somay, expressed her gratitude for being part of the UHW Perbanas lecturers' community service program. Besides the training, she also appreciated the provision of various equipment to support production improvements. "We received items like a neon box, a copper sealer, a vacuum sealer, and a steaming pot," said Farah.

Since starting her business in 2018, this was the first time she had received training of this kind from UHW Perbanas. "This is the first time I’ve received training on website-based financial reporting, cash flow management, cashier systems, and reporting. It has been extremely helpful because this kind of training is much needed here," she added.

She hopes that in the future, her financial management will become more organized. "God willing, we’ll progress further and open branches everywhere," she hoped.

This community service initiative was supported by the 2024 funding program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. The project was led by Ellen Theresia Sihotang, with two team members: Dewi Murdiawati, S.E., M.M., and Iqbal Ramadhani Mukhlis, S.Kom., M.Kom., along with several students from Universitas Hayam Wuruk Perbanas. (pr)