UNS — Irfan Nur Ikhsan, an alumnus of Interior Design Program (DI) Faculty of Art and Design (FSRD) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, dedicating himself to the social cause. The 24 years old man successfully started three businesses with his friends. He is also building the Pati Peduli community in his hometown, Pati, since 2015.
Irfan, his nickname, is the founder of Tani-Go and Sobat Kos startups; both were established during his students’ years in UNS and apply sociopreneur principle in its business model. Tani-Go focuses on the agricultural sector. As an art student, Irfan needs to learn additional knowledge to establish this business in March 2021 that synergized unused lands, investors, farmers, and marketers through a cultivation project. Currently, the business is focusing on taro cultivation to be exported to several countries, including Australia.
Sobat Kos was established in July 2020 and focuses on providing services for people searching information on hostels, sending goods from hostels to houses, cleaning hostel rooms, redecorate hostel rooms, and renovate hostel rooms. The startup runs its operation through a website and an Instagram account to get customers.
Irfan also found the Utsman Catering that provides catering services that started as an ayam penyet restaurant located around the campus and were established in 2019. However, following the pandemic, the business shifted its business model into catering services for university students and people in Surakarta, especially those who have offline events.
The success of his businesses is supported by a solid team that allows his businesses to win four funding schemes in one semester with a total capitalization of IDR 63 million. All of his businesses are run based on sociopreneur concept that aims to help society, and this concept is strongly applied in employee recruitment, which emphasizes that employees need to share the businesses’ vision. “Their vision and missions should be in line, to help many people,” Irfan stated to uns.ac.id team on Wednesday (29/9/2021).
His social spirit is also visible from his Pati Peduli community that active in social actions for people in Pati, with 20 managers and 100 volunteers. Irfan said that his social spirit grew since his Senior High School years in early 2015 when he established Pati Peduli and invited his fellows to participate. With a solid team and hard works, and its true vision to benefit society, the community stays and active to this day. Irfan hoped that the community could become a more massive movement in the future.
As if his services for the community aren’t sufficient, Irfan is still serving as the Chief of Development at Tourism Awareness Board (Kelompok Sadar Wisata – Pokdarwis) Tirta Mandiri in Pati since 2019. All of these efforts as a means to achieve his dream to benefits society in the future. “In achieving (plan), (we) need to remember our dreams. Sometimes, people are not lazy, and they just lose their motivation. Thus, that motivation is the encouragement,” he said.
Irfan also emphasized that he always tries to be honest and be himself in whatever he does, to be authentic, which he believes will make people work with him longer and sincerely. These positive values he learned from his alma mater, for which he is grateful because UNS provided a positive environment and experiences. In UNS, he found friends who shared his vision and mission with good characters and supported each other. He also builds positive relations in the university. At the end of the interview, Irfan reminded UNS students to stay idealist but be a realist. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti