The Covid-19 pandemic, which has been going on for more than a year, has had an extraordinary impact on people’s lives, especially in the economic field. But in times like these, many creative ideas are born from someone. The idea is also a way to survive.
Ni Ketut Devi Putri Iriani is one of the Undiksha students who saw business opportunities during this pandemic. This Economics and Accounting Department student created a business called Crobox (@crobox_). The products she makes are knitting crafts, such as key chains, knitting dolls, mask straps, bracelets, sling bags, and others in a box. “During the pandemic I started this business, starting as a hobby to spend my free time, and from there, it turned out that many friends were interested and interested in buying it, why didn’t I start a business and at the same time add to my provisions,” she said, Tuesday (3/8/ 2021)
This 7th-semester student does not deny that there are difficulties that must be faced in running a business. “The difficulty that I experienced was time-consuming work, in which one project takes several hours or even days to complete. Because apart from studying, I joined several organizations, of course, I have to be able to share my time there,” she said.
From these difficulties, he can also learn to manage time. So it is not surprising that when there are many orders that cannot be carried out, he himself will seek additional labor from the craftswomen. “Currently I am still in college and from this business activity I have to divide my time. I will make products when I have free time and I also ask for help from knitting craftswomen in Pujungan Village who are known for their knitting skills,” she continued.
Being a student at the Undiksha Faculty of Economics, she admits that she is lucky because the skills she has can be supported by business knowledge from entrepreneurship courses and there is also YES (Young Entrepreneur Association). In addition, he admitted that his success was inseparable from the support of the existing lecturers. “My study program certainly supports business development. The lecturers also helped me in participating in several funding activities. Such as PMW (Entrepreneurial Student Program) 2020 and KBMI 2021 (Indonesian Student Entrepreneurial Activities). From this funding, I was able to develop my business even better,” said the student who was born in 2000.
From a capital of IDR 500,000, Devi, as she is affectionately known, can get benefits that can be used as a living every month. Because her business was created during a pandemic, Devi chose to market her products through social media, namely Instagram and Tiktok (@crobox_), and used e-commerce such as Shopee and Muselo to market her products. “Because I started this business during a pandemic, of course, I already knew the risks of selling it, so to expand the market, I sold it via existing social media and e-commerce platforms,” she said.
This Nabire-born girl realizes that entrepreneurship is very important for young people. Aside from being a space to earn income, it can also help to create jobs, both for yourself and for others. In the future, he wants to expand his business by making new products following trends in society and hopes to be able to open shops and production sites to make business easier. “Because right now I still use my boarding house as a production site, in the future I hope to be able to open a shop and also a production site to make the business easier. Apart from that, they also continue to make new products following trends in society,” said the student who was born on October 15.
Hopefully, Devi’s steps in starting this entrepreneurship can spur the enthusiasm of other Undiksha students to dare to create and develop their creativity and be able to take advantage of existing technology, so that the business they make is not only beneficial for themselves but also for those around them. (hms)
