Flying High with Loom Waste

Kompas/Kornelis Kewa Ama

Ricardus Otniel Yunatan

The small and medium enterprise center selling unique East Nusa Tenggara products on Jl. Frans Seda in Kupang is always busy with visitors hunting for beautiful souvenirs made from loom waste. It was Ricardus Otniel Yunatan who worked together with 150 local craftspeople to establish the business. He also distributes the products to a number of regions and foreign countries.

Ricardus Otniel Yunatan, 53, or Roy as he is often called, was having a busy day in Kupang on Thursday (8/2/2018). Despite having hired employees, he still personally served his customers. Roy also paid close attention to the items that his customers wished to purchase. If he found any damage, he would immediately replace the item. He also packed items that would be transported outside of East Nusa Tenggara.

“These may be small things, but it affects how the customers see me. I always ask my employees to regard customers as kings. What they purchase here must really satisfy them in all aspects,” Roy said.

Products in Roy’s “C & A” shop are made from loom waste. Leftover weaving fabrics of various sizes are knitted into wallets, belts, hats, bags, shopping bags and hand fans.

The loom waste is processed in Roy’s house, which is partially transformed into a production house. It is around three kilometers away from the shop. There, he hired 45 employees who processed the loom waste into souvenirs priced at between Rp 20,000 (US$1.48) and Rp 1 million.

Roy taught his employees to transform leftover weaving fabric into useful things. He had learn how to make souvenirs from weaving fabric on his own, including by watching videos on social media channels.

Starting his business

After he graduated from the architecture department of Surabaya’s Petra University in 1994, Roy went home to Kupang with his family. Roy disliked being a civil servant. He had dreamed of opening his own business but he did not have the money to do so.

In 1995, he sold blankets, clothes and other things his friends had given him. From there, he gained profit of between Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 per item. He used the money to purchase his daily needs and saved some of it.

The father of three said that he could only rely on his fighting spirit to work hard so that his family could have a better future. In 2013, he decided to stop re-selling other people’s products.

He switched to selling woven products. He obtained weaving fabric from a number of regions in East Nusa Tenggara and sold the fabric from his home. He turned a room in his house into a kiosk and named it C & A. As time went by, he felt that the space was not strategic enough to grow his business. Goods kept on coming from his suppliers and they were piling up in the room.

In 2015, Roy decided to establish his center of unique East Nusa Tenggara products. The place was better organized and was also named Sentra UKM NTT “C & A”. The name C & A is derived from his children’s name Claudia (C), Dede (& or ‘dan’ in Indonesian) and Aldo (A).

The center occupies a large space and comprises a souvenir shop and a restaurant offering local delicacies.

It is in this center that Roy manages his loom waste business. Roy also uses other locally-sourced products such as lontar and gebang palm leaves and bamboo slats for bags, hats, boat ropes, belts, sandals and wallets.

To ensure customers’ satisfaction, Roy always put product quality above all else. All production processes are monitored closely. Items’ model and shape may be modified to suit market or consumers’ taste. Changing market and consumer demands require Roy to continuously innovate.

Kompas/Kornelis Kewa Ama

Ricardus Otniel Yunatan

Motivator

Slowly, Roy gains benefits from his hard work as his craft products gain popularity in Kupang. Local administration and businesspeople have often asked him to speak in numerous events. He has given motivational speeches in front of traders, beginner entrepreneurs and college graduates seeking to become successful businesspersons.

“Your work spirit is the key. You must not be happy upon seeing others troubled – and troubled when seeing others happy. See yourself as a fighter in a desolate land,” Roy said.

He then built a cooperation network with various parties, including with local weavers, all over East Nusa Tenggara to develop his business. He prioritizes the uniqueness of weaving motifs and observes ways to create high-quality woven products. Many of his customers seek highly unique woven products.

Every month, his center receives around 700 items from the around 150 craftspeople in his cooperation network. Quality standards and variation of motifs are the criterion of incoming goods. This also educates the weavers on how to build consumers’ trust through high-quality and attractive products.

Roy does not always accept all the woven products that his center receives. He always encourages, motivates and gives input to weavers to always find something new. He wishes for the weavers to always be creative.

The items that the weavers send to Roy’s center must fulfill certain quality standards, including in labeling, packaging and expiration date. The businesses must also be licensed. If these prerequisites are not yet fulfilled, Roy will help the business owners create them or obtain them from relevant government agencies.

Roy not only displays the woven products in his center but he also distributes them to Surabaya, Jakarta, Denpasar, Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Australia. Every month, he sends around 400 types of items outside of East Nusa Tenggara, including earrings and bracelets priced at Rp 5,000 per item and ikat woven fabric priced at Rp 3 million.

Roy is working with a group of makers of dodol kusambi (fudge-like sweet), lontar fruit dodol and boneless dried fish. The training that he provides was preceded with a field research on raw ingredients, how to obtain them, consumers’ demand, production cost and marketing.