Setyo Hermawan was shocked and collapsed under the weight of the loss, but soon got back on his feet to achieve success with a cattle farm managed under a new business model.
By
REGINA RUKMORINI
·6 minutes read
Imagine a teenager who loses around Rp 100 million (US$7,115) in a failed business venture. He was shocked and collapsed under the weight of the loss, but soon got back on his feet to achieve success with a cattle farm managed under a new business model.
The young man, now 22, is Setyo Hermawan of Depokrejo village in Ngombol district, Purworejo regency, Central Java. He comes from a family of entrepreneurs. His grandparents, parents, and almost all uncles and aunts have their own businesses. Not surprisingly, Setyo was also drawn to entrepreneurship.
He began his entrepreneurial ventures when he was in high school. His uncle gave him two cows ahead of Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice. Setyo thought about fattening up the cows and selling them as sacrificial animals for Idul Adha. He would then use the proceeds from the sale as capital for his next cows for fattening and selling.
One day, his father met with a colleague who buys cows from him every year for sacrificing on Idul Adha. Without hesitation, Setyo offered his two cows. But his father\'s colleague challenged Setyo, asking for at least 10 cows.
Setyo accepted the challenge. With help from his friends, he went around nearby villages looking for cows to buy. He purchased 12 cows and sold them to his father\'s colleague for a sum of Rp 300 million, making a profit of between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million per cow.
This first success was Setyo’s entry into the cattle breeding business. He borrowed money from his father as capital for setting up his cattle farm. Two months later, he had sold 54 cows and earned a gross income of Rp 500 million. He used the money to buy more cows, a truck and built cattle pens in four subdistricts.
But because he was still inexperienced, he incurred losses of Rp 104 million during the Idul Adha holiday season the following year. The losses came from his cattle, which had grown increasingly lighter in weight. As a result, the selling price for his cattle fell.
Setyo was shocked. Just imagine, he had suddenly lost more than Rp 100 million at such a young age. Luckily, he still had his family’s support. "They said, I mustn\'t give up so easily. In business, making a loss is normal and I shouldn’t cry [over spilt milk]," he recalled this year at the end of May.
A Story of Cattle
Setyo tried to learn from his failure. He met senior cattle ranchers from Purworejo, Wonogiri, Temanggung, Kebumen and Malang regencies to learn how to raise his cattle properly. He learned from them that his cattle were experiencing stress, but for different reasons. Some cows became stressed during the mating season or because the temperature in their enclosure was too hot or too cold.
"It was then that I realized that cows must be tended to with care because after all, cows are living creatures, not inanimate objects like goods at a store," said Setyo, who has since founded Berkah Setia Farm.
From then on, he worked diligently to learn about the characteristics of each cow and how to meet their needs. Some cows liked to be taken outside their enclosure to bask or to wander around the village. "Basically, cows need to go on walks, too," said Setyo, who runs his cattle farm while attending university.
Setyo filmed his experience with his cows, he said, because each cow had its own story. He uploaded the footage to his social media account. He now has 38 videos on Setia Farm\'s You Tube channel. Each video has thousands of views, with some racking up almost 2 million views. One of the most watched videos is the one of Setyo taking two of his cows to a car wash owned by an acquaintance for a “snow bath”.
The videos Setyo uploads are generally about proper care for cattle, how to breed cattle and how to deal with cattle that are under stress. The videos, which use simple language and presentation, have garnered comments from many young users.
As a result of the good care he learned to provide, Setyo\'s cows are well groomed and fat. Some of them weigh 1 ton. So it is not surprising that some of his cows have won contests, from the regency level to the national level. Setyo has at least 20 trophies and certificates in a neat display at his house.
Setyo now has dozens of cows. The number of cows at his farm changes quickly as he sells them and purchases more.
Free breeding
Setyo doesn\'t want to keep his success to himself. The student of the STIKES Ahmad Yani nursing college in Yogyakarta also wants his neighbors to benefit from the cattle business. For this reason, he offered eight of his award-winning bulls for local residents to breed their cows with them.
Breeding cows with champion bulls produces calves that sell above the average market price. Male calves that descend from champion bulls can sell for Rp 5 million more than the average price for calves.
A person who wants to breed their cow with a champion bull usually has to pay a breeding fee, but Setyo is offering his breeding bulls for free. As a matter of fact, he also offers to buy the calves they produce at a high price.
Setyo is also involving his college friends in raising his cows or to deliver the cows to several cities in Central and West Java. "They are happy, because they feel that the journey to deliver the cows is an adventure," he said.
Setyo doesn\'t want to keep his success to himself.
In addition, he encourages his friends to start businesses of their own. As a matter of fact, he provides capital loans to those who are really serious about starting a business. So far, 10 of Setyo’s friends have started their businesses with initial capital that he provided.
Setyo says that he has ambitions to explore other fields of business. He claims that any business will succeed if it is taken seriously and managed creatively. The key is for entrepreneurs to love the business that they are pursuing.
"I love this activity [cattle breeding], and I also love all my cows," said the one-time durian seller.