Jakarta, March 11, 2022 – International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated every year to support gender equality. In line with the global theme of Break the Bias raised by IWD this year, KoinWorks held an event titled #BossBabeBrunch by inviting three inspiring entrepreneurs: Hanifa Ambadar (CEO Female Daily Network/FDN); Sanly Liu (Founder of Spring Summer Style); and Eunike Adelia (CEO Kopitagram) as resource persons. This hybrid event invites us to discuss women in the world of business, investment, technology, and leadership, as well as providing business mentoring sessions at the event.
Starting from a hobby of blogging with an increasing number of readers, Hanifa Ambadar continued to develop her blog and later founded FDN as a forum for women to exchange information related to products & tips on beauty, fashion, health, and household things.
“Starting a business must take a baby step. I also didn’t expect that the blog I started could develop into the biggest beauty tech company for women in Indonesia, and turn me into a womanpreneur. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Women must explore their potential and develop their talents. There is no need to hesitate to dream big because the first step to achieve success is to dream,” said Hanifa.
Meanwhile, Eunike Adelia discussed how crucial capital is in running a business. Although entrepreneurship is not new for women, according to a study by the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, women are found to be more difficult to get business capital because they are seen as less able to apply for business loans on their own and their business ideas are considered less convincing.
As one of 60,000 other female entrepreneurs listed as KoinWorks borrowers until February 2022, Eunike revealed how capital assistance could help the coffee shop business she founded rise from the impact of the pandemic.
“Flashback to the early days of opening Kopitagram, not only having to focus on office time and doing business but also having the courage to take steps to look for capital. Right now, with the existence of fintech like KoinWorks, I find it helpful, especially when a major challenge like a pandemic suddenly comes. We have to be agile to survive,” explained Eunike about her business journey.
Another thing that is often considered to exceed the capacity of women is to explore investment. As a beauty influencer, Sanly Liuu realizes the importance of investing, especially since her current profession is not certain that it will last for a long time.
“I really enjoy my profession now. From social media, I can know the characteristics of audiences, even direct interactions with followers. From this profession, business ideas emerged. I started to invest and also set up a fashion business which currently serves purchases to foreign countries.” Sally said.
Talking about Investment, the global trend shows that female investors are not much involved. KoinWorks data also shows that female investors in KoinWorks as of February 2022 still accounted for 24% of the total lenders.
Seeing that there is still a bias against women, especially in the world of business, investment, technology, and leadership, the IWD campaign has become even more significant. The commemoration of World Women’s Day is in line with KoinWorks’ commitment to creating an inclusive and embracing environment for women to move forward, especially in starting and running their businesses.
KoinWorks itself as a Super Financial Apps has a Female-Led funding feature in its KoinRobo product that facilitates investors to support women SMEs. The presence of this feature is one of KoinWorks’ steps in supporting women’s empowerment and recognizing the crucial role of women in advancing the Indonesian economy.
