Why I Decided to Build My Own Startup.
“I love Indonesia”, that’s the answer that I always give every time someone asks me, “Why do you start your own business?”. It’s cliché, I know, but I’m being honest here. I always have a dream of creating an impact. Not just an ordinary impact, but a big one.
I envy Nadiem from Gojek for all the impacts that he has created for this country. Seeing Gojek drivers smiling while proudly wearing the green jacket, and the customers smiling when they meet the drivers… Man, that’s all I ever want for this country. Nadiem, if you somehow read this, I just want to say that you are amazing. I hope someday I could meet you in person just to say ‘thank you’ (or probably ask about anything else so I could be as good as you!) lol.
Creating an impact is a way from me to show how much love I have for this country. There are a couple of Angel Investors saying that my startup should change the target market. “Go to the banks, hotels, giant companies, and you’ll get a lot of money!” I know it’s hard to say ‘no’ when you’re ‘promised’ with a lot of money. But, I did. I said no to that because I believe it’s not the reason why I want to build my startup.
For those who don’t know me, I’m building my first startup called Talkabot.id. It’s a Chatbot Company that helps SME (Small Medium Enterprise) to be more efficient and effective using Chatbot and analytics data that we offer. Yet, it’s so hard to make them use my technology because they don’t believe in the technology and I got a pretty bad skill on selling. So… Yeah, I’m trying to be better though.
The one thing is. I just want to help SME to be better, faster and smarter. That’s all — so our country doesn’t left behind. Look at China, they are the real example of a good technology user, and look, could you see how well they are now? Why can’t we do that, and be like that?
But, Indonesia is always scared about something new, especially when it comes to technology. We are ‘stuck’ in a question like, “What’s wrong with this country?” while not realizing maybe we’re the ones who make our country like this.
One concrete thing to prove this statement is that people being too skeptical towards Chatbot. C’mon, Chatbot is not only about replacing your store’s admin. It could do a lot other things. It could also be a marketing tool, where you could send messages to customers without them having your application downloaded, website opened or digital newsletter opened. Your customers only need to open their most used app — which is chatting app, to have a ‘conversation’ with your store, or even make a transaction. I believe that chatting app will be the next browser and Chatbot will be the next website.
I believe in what we do here at Talkabot.id. Plus we have an awesome team behind all of this who understand and share the same vision like I do. I’m confident that we will create a great impact for Indonesia.
So, this is the story about what push me to become an entrepreneur. What about you?
