Women in Business: Profile of Mrs Sunarni Santoso

Sunarni Santoso successfully taken a tradition street food, Bakso meatball noodle soups and put into cafes in malls for the middle

The growing middle-class in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta is providing new opportunities for female business woman to make money. Sunarni Santoso is a mother of three and successful business owner of more than 30 food stores across the country.

She has successfully taken a tradition street food – Bakso meatball noodle soups--- and put into cafes in malls for the middle –class market.

The smell of frying noddles, sweet soy-sauce and garlic waft out of the kitchen of Bakso Lapangan Tembak Senayan. 48 year old Sunarni comes out of the kitchen dressed in modern business attire. She has a welcoming smile upon her youthful face.

Sitting down in her office, Surnarni begins by telling mehow she came to develop a love for Indonesia street food.

“I was born in Salah Tiga, in Central Java. In Central Java lots of people sell bakso so since we were small, it was common for us to eat Bakso. When we moved here we always looked for Bakso.”

Bakso is a traditional Indonesian meal made from meatball served in a bowl of broth with noodles, vegetables, tofu and fried shallots. Bakso is found across Indonesia and is traditionally sold by traveling cart vendors on the streets.
 
In 2003 Sunarni opened her Senayan store in Pluit Mall. A year later, a national television station reported that some street venders were using rat meat to make the Bakso balls. Many people in Jakarta stopping eating bakso off the street due to health concerns.

"It turns out that the response from the community was very good. I decided to open in malls all over Indonesia and now have 34 restaurants.”

Sunarni says running her own business has made it easier to be a working mum. "Initially I worked as a professional at a property company. I worked in the marketing of condo's, apartments and housing. Then, I got married and became pregnant with my first child. I still worked on weekends because I had to show people our housing projects Then I fell pregnant again with my second child. I couldn’t see my boys on the weekends and I felt bad. So, I stated thinking that I wanted to work for myself- about starting my own business."

Also from Central Java, Sunarni's husband has always supported her business ventures.

"Initially I was worried because the cost of rent in the Mall is quite expensive but my husband encouraged me to try. He said that if the situation wasn’t a success all we had to do was pay for wages and rent. So I was not too worried about money because my husband also worked."

Sunarni's husband joins her daily for lunch in her original store. Sunarni has approximately 900 employees across her Bakso stores and jokes about expanding to neighboring Australia.

Her advice to other women wanting to start their own business. “Start with small steps. Don’t immediately want big, luxurious and great. Start with small steps then build upon these small steps. Then you will make money.”