Steely resolve

Entrepreneur's Story

By: Agustinus Gius Gala

Globe Asia-17 Juli 2008. She graduated from university but was not afraid to work as a sales girl, pushing cooking oil at local markets. At 56, Wulani and her husband now control the nation's biggest sheet metal roofing company with sales of $65 million.Wearing a simple blouse with light make-up, Wulani W Rismono's warm smile belies a steely resolve that has made her a major force in Indonesia's male-dominated construction industry.

At 56, Wulani and her husband Yarryanto Rismono have grown a family outfit into a titan in roofing metal and steel fabrication.Their PT Tatalogam Lestari, established in 1994, turned over more than Rp600 billion ($65 million) last year and is growing at 20-25%. They employ a steadily growing work force of 700.On the back of an advertising budget of more than Rp5 billion a year, Lestari's brand names Suryaroof, Multiroof and Sakura Truss have become popular choices with safety-conscious developers. Their three factories now supply more than 80% of Indonesia's total market in sheet metal roofing.

The husband and wife team kicked off business from scratch. With a relatively new building concept and little capital, they began by producing 50 pieces of roofing iron per day with modest sales of Rp7 million per month. “We worked hand-in-hand nurturing and encouraging each other to improve the business,” says Wulani of her early business efforts with her husband. With a stong professional background and deep knowledge in strategic management in the palm oil industry, Wulani decided to turn full-time entrepreneur in 1996.

Graduating from the University of Diponegoro in oil engineering, Wulani started work as a researcher with the Ministry of Industry while her husband worked for sheet metal company PT Tumbakmas, a part of Tan Siong Kie's Roda Mas Group. After two years Wulani tired of government bureaucracy and moved to the private sector with PT Kedaung Rayang, a producer of cooking oil. She worked for three years, then resigned with the arrival of her first child. After a year as a full-time mother, Wulani joined Hasil Group under entrepreneur Hendro Tjokrosetio, running palm oil concessions with big brand names such as Vetco.

Starting at the bottom

Starting as a sales girl, pushing cooking oil at local markets, Wulani went on become CEO. She has served as a director with seven companies over the past 16 years. “One of my accomplishments was successfully starting a palm plantation in Kinalu, West Sumatra where I spent some time on site,” she recalls with pride. Husband Yarriyanto resigned from Tumbakmas in 1990 and with a friend opened a small trading company, PT Nita. “The venture folded because of different interests,” says Yarriyanto. The experience brought Yarry to the next phase of his working life: becoming an entrepreneur.

With extensive experience in the sheet metal industry, Yarri and his wife established a family company with minimum capital and a design concept based on producing fashionable roofing metal with good quality material - a product lacking on the Indonesian market at the time. From the proceeds from a fire sale from the demise of PT Nita, Yarri bought land in Cikarang but prospects remained slim. Wulani recalls having to cheer up her husband when life was looking gloomy. “We've come here from Semarang in Central Java with just our clothes and the bags we carry,” she recalls telling him. “We survived, why should we be afraid of the future.”

Wulani had the confidence to see they had more than enough to start a business: experience in the metal industry, land, a network of friends and business partners and enough money to survive. “I knew my husband understood metal, so why not just produce metal roofing as a business,” she thought. In the beginning they sub-contracted production, turning out just 50 pieces of roofing iron a day. It was often not enough to cover costs and Wulani used the family's savings to pay staff wages.They made little headway in the first year and in 1995 were still turning over just Rp8 million per month.

Turning Point

Then came a major turning point that would shape the family's future and that of Indonesia's construction industry. The couple invested Rp15 million to participate in an industry exhibition, their first brave step in advertising and promotion, now a crucial factor in their business development. The bet paid off, with a visitor who worked for rising conglomerate Chairul Tanjung showing interest in Wulani's product.Yarry says they were shocked when he ordered three containers of roofing iron (45,000 pieces) at a value of Rp562.5 million (at the exchange rate of the time worth $375,000). Working around the clock, they upped production and finished the order on schedule in three months.

Over the next year production doubled and in 1996 Yarri asked his wife to quit her job. It was a decision that weighed heavily on Wulani, who had started with nothing but determination and worked her way to the top of Hasil Group. She had just been offered a $10,000 salary package - enough for the small family to live on comfortably - but the burning desire to run her own business was strong. She joined her husband, managing stock, settling debts, organizing sales, distribution and much more. “One of our big problems was a messy administration, the stock system was disorganized,” she says, shaking her head.

In 1997, the business grew significantly on the back of a good reputation and strong networking which helped Wulani seek support from banks and metal producers such as Australian giant BHP as a supplier of raw material. In 2000, Wulani and Yarri pumped Rp300 million into advertising on two national television stations. Most of their market was outside Java and not affected by the financial crisis, and the television advertising made a major impact on sales - a trend that has continued as the company's media budget increases.The company has continued to grow and now has three factories in Cikarang and Cibitung producing more than 2.5 million pieces of roofing iron each year.

With ISO 9001 certification, the company has improved its production process to meet increasing demand in the local market. “The three factories are not sufficient anymore and we are planning to open new sites. We already have 2.5 hectares of land and are waiting for the right time,” Wulani says. Wulani and her husband have been showered with private sector and government awards and, through their major main supplier, Australia's Bluescope, have become the biggest buyers of roofing iron in Indonesia. They now have four major branch offices, 31 provincial distribution centers and 3,000 outlets across the country, controlling more than 80% of the Indonesian market.PT Tatalogam Lestari is still run as a family business, and Wulani still comes to the office to help her son, Stephanus Bagus Pambudi, with administration and information technology.

An independent observer sums up Wulani's strength of character: “She's nothing short of brilliant. She knows just how to market her product and advertise building materials with major impact. And she understands where there are limitations. Let's not forget - Wulani and her husband have built a construction giant from next to nothing.”