Jakarta can teach you a lot of business lessons. Indonesia is a fantastic place to be and I truly love it. It has massive natural resources, young demographics (50% of the population is below 30), friendly people and a new strong government. Good ingredients for a great future!
One thing I don’t like about Indonesia is the traffic! Indeed, it’s that intense I need to write it with caps lock. No one can disagree with me that Jakarta’s traffic is one of the worst in the world and can trigger some peaks in your blood pressure. At the same time, it has taught me some interesting business-lessons about e-commerce and entrepreneurship.
1) Know your traffic
Being stuck in traffic is not my favourite thing in the world. It is such a waste of time, but man oh man, I love traffic online. I not only love traffic, but as online entrepreneurs, our goal is to get as much (quality) traffic as possible which at the end of the day should convert into sales. We sometimes get too caught up with traffic and see it only as numbers. But these numbers all represent individuals with their own needs and interests. Just like me, and all my fellow traffic warriors, that battle the beast called “macet” (bahasa for traffic jam) daily. We all have our own families to go to and our own dreams to pursue. We are all individuals with certain problems or needs. So this traffic that we so long for (both online and offline), represent people that are looking for value. They could be looking for good products, a good deal or just content that can help them further in life.
Lesson 1: We need to see online traffic as individuals that all have their own needs and problems. The better we know and understand them, the better we can serve them.
2) Cater to your customer
When stuck in traffic, there are tons of street vendors who sell a variety of products i.e. water, cigarettes, snacks, candies and newspapers. I have huge respect for street vendors. In my opinion they display the 101 of entrepreneurship. There are goods (i.e. water, candies or cigarettes), a sales man (the street vendor) and customers (me and my fellow traffic warriors). Street vendors don’t just wait for customers to come to their store. They take their store and come to you. They know on which locations there is the most traffic and take their goods to sell to all those people that are stuck and don’t have a lot of other options.
Lesson 2: Don’t just wait for your customers. Know where your potential market is and cater to them.
3) Be patient
Sometimes in life and in business you are in situations you can’t change. You just got to get through it, just like being in traffic sometimes. I personally have experienced a massive standstill that resulted in a commute of 2 hours for a 3KM drive to my home. Anyone that can beat that, please feel free to share below :-). Just take the pain and keep pushing. It’s about looking what’s in your hand and use it the best you possibly can. When I first moved to Jakarta, the traffic could really get me frustrated but nowadays I use this time to listen to audiobooks. It gives me time to learn new things and let the mind focus on the new day ahead. I see my time in the car as time to learn and get exposed to new insights. It makes it all much more interesting and valuable (and less frustrating!).
Lesson 3: Patience is essential in business. Never frustrate over things that are not in your control, but take control of what is in your hand.
4) Credibility is a must
One of my favorite snacks is “lemper”. This is a rice roll filled with chicken. Everyday I see street vendors selling lemper on the streets and the good thing about these guys is that they act as a group. They usually operate in a group of 4 and all wear the same shirt with a text like “The best lemper in town, freshly made every day”. Unity, a nice outfit and nice packaging all contribute to credibility. If these lempers are really made freshly everyday, I honestly don’t know. But what I do know is that they stand out from the rest since they put effort in branding and build credibility.
Lesson 4: In a world of massive distraction and over supply, we need to build trust and credibility. These two elements are the foundation of every customer relationship that we want to build every day.
Final
I hope you can find some value in this article. Especially if you’re living in Jakarta or can resonate with the fact of being in traffic everyday. I appreciate your comments and shares.
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