Business coaching to help transgender entrepreneurs thriving the pandemic

Majority of transgender persons rely on their livelihoods on entrepreneurship. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit small and medium enterprises the hardest. The ILO’s business coaching programme helped transgender entrepreneurs surviving the pandemic.

News | Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta, Indonesia | 28 May 2021
To assist transgender entrepreneurs surviving the pandemic, the ILO in collaboration with two business coaching organizations, Action Coach and Business and Export Development Organization (BEDO), had selected 12 transgender entrepreneurs to participate in the intensive business coaching for three months from August to November. The business coaching aimed to provide new business techniques and strategies to help them reviewing their own business, making priorities, and strengthening and improving the participants’ businesses.

A traditional fashion business by a transgender entrepreneur

We hope that the participating entrepreneurs could get innovative business insights and share new business skills and strategies that they have learnt during the training programme to their communities and helped their fellow entrepreneurs to improve their businesses as well."

Early Dewi Nuriana, the ILO’s programme officer on HIV and AIDS
Early Dewi Nuriana, the ILO’s programme officer on HIV and AIDS, explained that business coaching is a common practice for entrepreneurs to improve their business strategies and management. However, this is not a practice that could be easily enjoyed by transgender entrepreneurs. In addition to the high-cost, they tend to do business within their own communities and have no access to interact with other entrepreneurs.

“Therefore through this pilot business coaching progamme, we hope that the participating entrepreneurs could get innovative business insights and share new business skills and strategies that they have learnt during the training programme to their communities and helped their fellow entrepreneurs to improve their businesses as well,” added Early.

The participating entrepreneurs came from three transgender communities in three cities, namely Srikandi Pasundan Foundation in Bandung, West Java; Kebaya Foundation in Yogyakarta; and Srikandi Sejati Foundation in Jakarta. The business coaching was conducted in a combination of online and offline workshops, individual coaching sessions and business visits.

During the business coaching, the participating entrepreneurs learnt about the important shift to digital and online marketing using the existing business applications. They also learnt how to value their products better, identify new business opportunities, expand the scope of businesses, improve digital marketing and promotion strategies and have a better understanding about their targeted customers.

Business improvements and expansions

Arumce Mariska, an entrepreneur from Yogyakarta, previously focused her business on shibori tie dye, producing ready-to-wear fashion and scarfs. Due to pandemic, her sales drastically declined. “I started to lose my income and started using my saving for my daily expenses,” she said.

The collection of products and digital sales by Arumce Mariska

My sales are increased as customers tend to choose natural, organic fabrics and they also satisfy with my direct complaint management where they can directly communicate with me about product replacement."

Arumce Mariska
In the business coaching, she learnt to transform her products into premium products by using a natural, organic colouring, instead of the synthetic colouring, to increase her products’ values. BEDO provided her a connection to Terasmitra, an organization that promotes natural products, to learn about natural colouring. She also improvised her products by making three layers of fabric masks, maintaining a bookkeeping, improving the customer service and joining the digital market under BEDO’s networks.

“My sales are increased as customers tend to choose natural, organic fabrics and they also satisfy with my direct complaint management where they can directly communicate with me about product replacement,” she shared. The digital market has also help expanding her business by reaching out a wider range of customers.

When I learnt to expand my business to digital market using the existing digital platform, my sales have increased drastically and my customers have expanded.."

Balqis Calista
Meanwhile Balqis Calista, a business owner of online shop, was now able to employ two employees to help her with managing orders, packaging and delivering. She even decided to quit her job to focus on managing and improving her online business.

“I started my business in 2018 and my customers were only within my personal contacts and networks. When I learnt to expand my business to digital market using the existing digital platform, my sales have increased drastically and my customers have expanded. I have also expanded my products based on customers’ demands,” she shared her business journey.

Her “A&L Online Shop” has now followed by thousands of followers and continued to grow. She has also applied a better business management by separating between personal and business finances, detailing sales records and managing monthly financial reviews.

Creating sustainable business environment

Participants of business coaching by BEDO in Yogyakarta
Herman Susanto, a business coach of the ACTION Coach, appraised the determination shown by the participants to improve their businesses so that they could inspire and help their fellow entrepreneurs and communities to develop their own businesses and have a better life. “With this kind of strength, I believe with a longer-term support, they can even flourish into successful entrepreneurs,” he said.

The connection can create a mutual and supportive business environment as they can learn from each other, tap each other market and strengthen each other business."

Jeff Kristianto, a business coach of BEDO
Meanwhile Jeff Kristianto, a business coach of BEDO, emphasized the importance of connecting transgender entrepreneurs with the existing business community. “The connection can create a mutual and supportive business environment as they can learn from each other, tap each other market and strengthen each other business,” he stated.

This business coaching programme concluded with recommendations to share good practices that could be replicated for other transgender communities in other provinces and to support the participating transgender entrepreneurs as business role models who can inspire others to choose entrepreneurship as the source of income and as a way to promote equal employment opportunity. Other recommendation was to further develop a supportive business network and environment for transgender entrepreneurs as well as involve more participation from the existing business communities for sustainable business improvement.