Nurhayati (56 years old), affectionately known as Bu Inur, is an alumna of the frozen food training organized by the Indonesian Development Inspiration Foundation (YIIM) and PT. Insight Investments Management (INSIGHT) in 2019. This program is one of the community empowerment initiatives aimed at improving community welfare through the training provided by YIIM and INSIGHT. Furthermore, this program aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal Number 1: No Poverty.

Bu Inur currently lives with her husband and two children in a house in the Cengkareng area, West Jakarta. Her daily activities include selling cakes under the name “Noer’s Kitchen” and managing her family’s grocery store. Her husband has been working as an online motorcycle taxi driver for the past 5 years. She has been running these two businesses for the past 4 years. Previously, Bu Inur had a food stall in a canteen at an office in Central Jakarta. However, when the office relocated, her stall also moved to her home.

Starting from a Hobby

Bu Inur’s initial motivation for building her cake business was her long-standing passion for baking. Since long ago, she has enjoyed reading various recipes from magazines. As technology advanced, Bu Inur started learning to cook through YouTube.

“When my children were small, I used to buy cooking magazines. I’ve always loved reading about how to make various kinds of cakes. Ever since YouTube became available, I’ve learned more by watching videos.”

Besides cakes, Bu Inur is also involved in catering. She has prepared various menus ever since she had a stall in an office. She often received large orders from the office. The largest order she received was 500 boxes. The price for a rice box was Rp15,000 per box. Bu Inur sometimes received orders for wrapped rice for people participating in demonstrations. She would price these around Rp7,000 to Rp8,000 per package. Bu Inur does not run this catering business alone; she shares the work with her friends.

To further develop her skills, Bu Inur joined a cooking training organized by YIIM and INSIGHT together with a cooperative community she is part of. She learned various methods of making traditional market snacks. She feels very grateful because the training allowed her to learn cake-making techniques hands-on.

Following the training, Bu Inur and her group received business assistance provided by YIIM and INSIGHT. She utilized the oven and scale, equipment donated by a donor, for her business operations.

“I received assistance with cooking equipment. In my group, we got an electric oven, scale, mixer, blender, and a happy call pan. As for usage, those who needed them most used them. I personally needed the oven and scale. That assistance has been incredibly useful for my current business.”

During the training she attended, Bu Inur also gained new knowledge about frozen food. After learning this new skill, she immediately practiced it. She started by making risoles, then freezing them. So when someone placed an order, Bu Inur would only need to fry them.

Before attending the training, Bu Inur felt hesitant to sell her cakes, thinking they weren’t good enough to be sold. After the training, she began to feel confident enough to market the cakes she had made.

“I kept learning, searching for what tastes good. Finally, in the last 4 years, I’ve felt brave enough to sell and market. After the training, I became even more confident because I was sure, having learned directly during the training.”

Currently, she makes various types of cookies, sponge cakes (bolu), brownies, and onion crackers. During Eid, she makes 8 different types of cookies in 500 gram and 300 gram packages, priced from Rp40,000 to Rp75,000. For sponge cakes, she offers various flavors such as pandan cake, tape cake, and banana cake. For brownies, the price varies depending on the topping ordered by the customer. For a 20×20 cm original-flavored brownie, she prices it at Rp65,000. Bu Inur also sells small packs of onion crackers ranging from Rp1,000 to Rp2,000.

Bu Inur runs this business herself. During times with many orders, she is usually helped by her husband. From shopping and cooking to delivering orders, Bu Inur is assisted by her husband.

Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, one challenge Bu Inur faces is the quiet neighborhood around her home. She sought an alternative by selling outside, approaching friends who work in offices. This proved effective, as her cakes sell better outside.

Subsequently, Bu Inur marketed her products through word of mouth and via WhatsApp orders, promoting them through her WhatsApp status. She also tried posting her business in a Facebook group called “Kuliner Cengkareng Timur”.

A Journey of Struggles to Meet Family Needs

Beyond her hobby, Bu Inur runs this business out of necessity. She does it to increase the family income, so it no longer solely relies on her husband’s earnings but also on hers.

During her entrepreneurial journey, Bu Inur faced various obstacles. At one point, her husband was laid off (PHK) from a company. Consequently, Bu Inur pushed herself to open a canteen in an office. She continued selling there until she managed to put her first child through college. While she sold at the office, her eldest son helped at the stall.

“In the morning, he would help me at the office. I did the cooking, and he handled serving and delivering inside the office. In the afternoon, he would go to college. After class, he would pick me up. I would wake up at 3 AM to go to the market. I rode a motorcycle with a delivery bag on the back. It was like that every day for 10 years.”

Once her first child graduated, Bu Inur moved her sales from the office to her home. It turned out that the income she earned at home was not as good as when she was at the canteen. Eventually, her first child helped finance the younger sibling’s education until they graduated.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Bu Inur faced another challenge. At that time, she wasn’t receiving any cake orders. Her grocery store also experienced a drastic drop in income. Before the pandemic, Bu Inur could earn Rp800,000 per day. However, during the pandemic, the store’s income dropped to Rp150,000 per day.

Normally, Bu Inur’s family relied on the grocery store’s income for their daily needs. But due to the pandemic, their capital was depleted for food, electricity bills, and children’s tuition fees. Her husband also had no income at all during the pandemic.

“For about a month, oh my God, he’d leave and come back with no money. There was a whole month with absolutely no money. When Ramadan came, expenses would definitely double.”

Income Starting to Rise

As the pandemic began to ease, the income for Bu Inur and her husband started to improve, although not fully recovered. Her husband started earning around Rp100,000 per day, and Bu Inur began receiving orders again. During this year’s Eid orders, she achieved a net revenue of Rp6,000,000 by selling 200 jars. Most of her customers come from Depok, Bogor, Jatinegara, and Tangerang. Usually, customers order between 4 to 20 jars.

Looking to the future, Bu Inur dreams of having a cake shop in a fairly busy area. With this shop, she hopes to sell a wider variety of cakes, from various cookies to fresh cakes, and to make her cake business even more successful.

For friends who would like to try Bu Inur’s cakes, they can directly contact her at 0878 8139 9424 (Noer’s Kitchen).

Salam Inspirasi!