JAKARTA - On its second day, Franchise & License Expo Indonesia (FLEI) 2023 features series of talkshows that invites founders of renowned businesses to share their story and keys to success.

One of the talkshows is "Celeb Talks: Driving Indonesian MSMEs to Go Global," which features Dennis Chandra, Vice President of Wahyoo Group; Andy Garcia, Co-founder of Tokyu Dorinku and Fukuramen; Valentino Ivan, Founder of Infiniti Group; and Fitri Carlina.

MSMEs are often called as Indonesia's economic growth pillar. "Through our discussion with Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, we agree that when MSMEs triumph, our dependence to other countries will be minimised," Ivan said.

According to Ivan, several brands that begin from MSME scale in Indonesia have gone global, including Teguk (TGUK) that just opened its store in the United States. The keys to this success, he said, lie in branding, standardised SOP, and good marketing. "That is where consulting services in Infiniti Group comes to assist them," he added.

Despite its popularity, the business sustainability aspect of MSME could be challenging to maintain. Dennis Chandra then explains the need for businesses to shift according to the market demand, as well as understanding the concept of brand's life cycle.

Wahyoo, a start-up that used to be a warteg-enabling platform, now redirects its focus to supply chain sector of raw materials or ingredients for small food outlets.

Wahyoo Group even expands to partnership or franchising products and introduces Wahyoo Kitchen Partners, which increases utilisation of food and beverages outlets' kitchen space through production of brands under its network.

"However, to sustain the business, we must opt for "sadistic" selection method. For brands in Wahyoo Kitchen Partners, once they are seen declining in popularity, we immediately cut them off. For brands that perform well, we focus them on partnership and franchising programs," explained Chandra.

FLEI Expo 2023 is held by Panorama Media, lasting from October 23 to 15, 2023. The event opens at 10 AM to 9 PM, to which the public may visit by paying IDR 60,000 per person. For further information, you may access Instagram accounts, @fleiexpoid and @fleibisnis, as well as its official website, https://franchise-expo.co.id. (ZH)