YOGYAKARTA-Sandiaga Uno and Martha Tilaar on Wednesday (28/6) were present as speakers in DREaM 2011 series of events organized by Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). The event was held at the Audio Visual Room, Faculty of Economics and Business. Besides them, Wahyu Indriyo from Social Entrepreneurship Association of Indonesia (SCAI) also gave a public lecture in a session of DREaM 2011. Here participants of DREaM coming from 16 countries were enthusiastic to follow the event.
Sandiaga Uno in front of participants presented tips to become social entrepreneurs. According to Sandiaga, a social entrepreneur should have the motto “think globally, act locally”. Indonesia needs many social entrepreneurs because the government is too busy thinking about political issues. "Social problems which are not handled properly by the government can be resolved by social entrepreneurs," Sandiaga said.
The business which is in form of social enterprise proves more resilient in a crisis. The statistics prove the number of social enterprise-based business has more percentage in times of crisis, namely 65%.
Meanwhile, Martha Tilaar continued the lecture session by sharing her experiences in pioneering cosmetic company that is now the largest one in Indonesia. When she first started the business, the capital was obtained from her family. It reflects the value of mutual cooperation of Eastern society. In addition to think globally and act locally, Martha Tilaar added that business has to be done with heart. "With capital of the synergy, our business would be further developed and developing," Martha said.
Responding to Martha’s explanation, Kharisa, a participant from New York University of Abu Dhabi, asked about obstacles when starting a business. Martha admitted that the mindset of people who think Western products are better was her biggest challenge at that time. On that occasion, Martha also briefly talked about her struggle to have children through therapy of Indonesian natural ingredients.
"Whatever the case, surely there is always a solution. Use local wisdom and just believe! "Martha Tilaar suggested.
To close the event, Wahyu Indriyo provided an explanation about Social Entrepreneurship Association of Indonesia (SCAI). Social enterprise-based business is a business that combines two approaches, namely business for profit and to empower communities. Basically, to build a social enterprise needs individuals who have passion and creativity to provide benefits to community. It is a valuable intellectual property as the main investment of a social enterprise.