Sayudi, New Era for Wartegs

KOMPAS/SOELASTRI SOEKIRNO

Sayudi

Eating at a warung Tegal, aka warteg, is the main choice for urban people when they are hungry. In Jakarta, Sayudi, 45, has transformed the warteg, which is usually dirty, into a clean, attractive place with a diverse menu. He has already developed 210 branches of the Warteg Kharisma Bahari franchise in Jabodetabek.

The Warteg Kharisma Bahari (WKB), painted green and yellow with white-tiled floors, was crowded with customers eating lunch on Monday (1/14/2019). For customers, it was very easy to find the warteg located on Jalan Batong Raya, Cilandak, South Jakarta. Customers can take a seat in front of a food rack or choose a spot at a line of tables or a bench. At that time there were at least 35 menu items, such as fish, eggs, chicken and balado jengkol.

Four servers swiftly served customers, taking turns in preparing rice and asking them which vegetables and side dishes they wanted. At a glance the atmosphere of the WKB is no different from any other low-cost restaurant. However, if we observe further, the cleanliness in the WKB as well as its bright lighting resemble those of a real restaurant. If there is a vegetable or rice spill, the waiter will immediately wipe it clean. The tables and chairs always look clean. If we look inside the kitchen, all the cooking utensils are neatly arranged.

With low prices, ranging from Rp 8,000 to Rp 12,000, we can get good food and satisfaction. Of course, satisfaction comes not only from the food, but also the service and cleanliness of the outlet. Not surprisingly, many people were interested when Sayudi offered WKB as a franchising opportunity. Sayudi has become known as Yudikha or Yudi Kharisma.

Since offering the WKB franchise in 2014, Yudikha has received hundreds of applications. “Every day at least 10-20 people contact me to buy the Warteg Kharisma Bahari franchise,” Yudikha said, when we met at the office located at the rear of the warteg on Jalan Batong Raya on Monday (1/14).

Yudikha offers a franchise at a price of Rp 110 million, or Rp 130 million if it is paid in installments. The money is used to renovate the place that will be used as the warteg, to buy equipment and to recruit a manager and employees. To find the location and rent the premises, Yudikha relies on the warteg investors.

“If the franchisee wants someone to operate the warteg, I will find the operator. The income will be divided 50-50 between the operator and the investor,” Yudikha said.

He said the profit from this business depended on the size and the location of the warteg and ranged from Rp 5 million to Rp 20 million.

The franchise business relies on trust between Yudikha and the investors. That is why he always looks for someone who is reliable. The operator is responsible for the operation and cooking in the warteg, which is open 24 hours a day. Yudikha will always try to recruit someone from his hometown Tegal.

Every day, he receives application letters from candidates looking to be a warteg operator. Operating a warteg looks simple, but it is not easy for Yudikha to do the selection. He tends to pick someone with experience working at a food stall.

After 15 years working in the warteg business, the father-of-three now has 210 WKBs in Greater Jakarta. Of that number, he owns 10. If each of them employees four to six people, Yudikha employs in total around 1,000 people from Tegal, Central Java.

Half of the WKB franchisees, Yudikha said, are retired military personnel, 30 percent are preparing for retirement and 20 percent are millennials. “Students or employees usually jointly buy the franchise with their colleagues. They also work with an operator,” Yudikha said.

Small shop

Although he has become a warteg boss, Yudikha’s life is almost unchanged. He still calls himself a village guy, who dropped out of school. But with learning and reading newspapers and magazines as well as having a lot of friends, his mind is more open.

Amid his tight schedule running the franchise business, he still has time for shopping for the warteg. At dawn, he shops at Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta. He also takes turns with his son dumping the waste in a temporary garbage dump. Yudikha is grooming his eldest son, who is a university student, to follow in his steps in the warteg business. Today, he employs four people to run the franchise business.

Yudikha said that after graduating from elementary school, he was too lazy to continue his education. The sixth in a family of seven children said he was envious seeing his friends, who did not attend school, having more money than him. Thus, he was inspired to earn money.

He spent time working with his father on the farm. “I am the son of a farmer but I only worked for two years. In 1991, I went to Jakarta. I had a brother there,” he said.

The brother, who had a warteg, gave him a small kiosk at Pulo Gadung bus terminal in East Jakarta. He sold cigarettes, drinks and other daily needs.

At that time, he thought his earnings from the kiosk were enough but after marrying Khotimah he changed his mind. “Frankly, the kiosk could be shut down anytime. Besides certain colleagues often stored cannabis and weapons at my kiosk, leaving me vulnerable to police arrest if there was a raid,” he said.

Then, he started to think about another business opportunity, opening a warteg. While still running the small kiosk in 1995 he set up a joint business with his friend, opening a warteg in Rawa Terate, Cakung, East Jakarta. The price of the outlet was Rp 12 million, with him paying Rp 6 million.

He got the money from his savings and his in-laws, seeking a loan using the deeds of his house as collateral. He and his friend took turns in running the outlet, each getting three months.

Khotimah, who used to be unable to cook, learned cooking from the business partner. “Frankly, this business could grow because of my wife. She is a good cook,” Yudikha said, praising his wife. His wife’s great cooking ensured customers came to the outlet.

But the loan worried him. “I was anxious every time I thought about the loan. I would work hard to focus on paying back the loan. I did not think about anything else. We would eat whatever was available. Most important was paying back the loan,” he said.

Then, in 1998, he opened his first warteg next to Cilandak District Office in South Jakarta. The franchise business was accidental. One of his employees, who realized her skill in the business, suggested he start the warteg franchising.

Running the warteg business is not easy for Yudikha, but he stresses that trust is the most important element. “From all those warteg, only three of them failed. Two were wholly owned by investors and the other was run by an operator, but the owner had no faith in the operator leading to the business not running well,” Yudi said.

Sayudi

Born: Tegal, July 21, 1973

Education: Elementary school SD Negeri 3 Sidakaton, Tegal Wife: Khotimah

Children:

- Tommy Alexander

- Dhimas Yudho Prasetyo - M Prima Risky