My name is Mahendra Ega Higuitta. I am an alumnus of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), majoring in Physics Engineering. Currently, I am running a business that I started when I was a student.
In my second year of running the business, I received a KSE scholarship. One of the benefits I gained from this scholarship was monthly financial assistance for personal needs. Friends have surely experienced the challenges of starting a business, such as having to be frugal and not being able to immediately share (receive) the profits. I was able to focus more on running and developing the business without having to worry about taking profits at the beginning. As a result, the profits accumulated more and I used them for investments such as expanding to a new store.
The business I started as a student is in the field of processed mushroom cuisine under the brand name “Sego Njamoer”. Sego Njamoer is a Javanese term meaning “mushroom rice”. In addition to being unique, the brand name “Sego Njamoer” has historical significance. My mother often reminded me not to be late for meals.
At that time, there was only bread to stave off hunger. However, Indonesians believe that if they haven’t eaten rice, they haven’t eaten. Finally, I was inspired to make onigiri-shaped food, but filled with mushrooms so that it would be more affordable and still nutritious.
Not only does it produce onigiri, but also snacks such as mushroom cireng, mushroom sausages, and mushroom siomay. In addition, there are main dishes such as mushroom geprek and milk bop beef slices.
Sego Njamoer was my first business venture. At first, I was still confused about how to start a good business. I just asked questions and consulted with my lecturers. However, in my second year of running the business (at that time I was also a KSE scholarship recipient), I made many friends at KSE.
Mr Faisol taught me how to make better products and how to organise my business more effectively. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Faisol taught me about digital marketing.
Through the advice and input of Mr Faisol, I innovated from selling products offline to selling them online, namely in the form of frozen food. I am very grateful to Mr Faisol for his knowledge and ideas. Because, during the pandemic, I experienced a drastic decline in sales and turnover. However, through the innovation of frozen food, I was able to recover and increase sales thirtyfold. Alhamdulillah, I was able to survive the pandemic and restart the business with one shop. Over time, I began opening a second and third shop, both still located near the campus. After that, I took the courage to open more shops outside the campus, such as in malls and other strategic locations. Alhamdulillah, there are now 40 stores spread across several cities, including Surabaya, Mojokerto, Gresik, Ponorogo, and Samarinda.
I am very grateful to have started my business and come this far, and I cannot forget the role of the KSE scholarship, which allowed me to meet people who taught me important lessons. I feel the great benefits of the power of networking.
The business that I started as a student and have been running with KSE has been operating for 13 years. I now have more than 60 employees.
I hope that my business will continue to grow and become increasingly successful, providing both direct and indirect economic benefits to the community.