Starting a Business to "Help" the Country

ESTIMATED around the beginning of 2020, early adults aged 20 to 40 years will dominate the job market. The high birth rate in the baby boom era has made the population explosion in this century unstoppable. This can be an opportunity as well as a threat for us as the younger generation who are also enjoying the period called the demographic bonus. If it can take advantage of this abundant energy, Indonesia will become a superpower country like China or collapse with too many unemployed workers. Millennials who were born around the 90s until now are the people who should be in control of the country's economy in the era of demographic bonus. We are the ones who bear the triumph or the downturn of the economy that occurred in that era. Unfortunately, 40 percent of the total generation is still elementary school educated and less than 20 "/o have a bachelor's degree. So it can be predicted, the majority of the Indonesian workforce is unskilled labor aka uneducated workers.

If the majority of the workforce is an uneducated generation, it will certainly be a problem in driving the wheels of the economy. Especially in the digital era when technology begins to replace the uneducated workforce. Of course, it is not uneducated personnel who can drive start-ups that are starting to appear in Indonesia. So, how do we solve this problem? 
Indonesia needs to imitate China and Japan in using their population to drive the economy. Hiroshima, which was destroyed in 1945, should have made the Japanese economy plummet, considering that the city is the center of Japanese research. However, this was broken by Japan in the 60s with the displacement of Ford by Toyota in the American market. 
This is due to the successful use of the baby boom phase by Japan after the second world war. Infrastructure and education are fully facilitated by the Japanese government as well as the culture of kaizen or slow improvement which is heralded to the people. The population's high sense of nationalism also helps accelerate development.

China is the same way, its population of more than 1 billion people does not make it collapse by the unemployment rate. Business opportunities are opened on a large scale by the government. Domestic business is highly protected by minimizing
import numbers and increase barriers for foreign entrepreneurs to enter the market. This is also supported by the merchant spirit of the Chinese population which has been counted for generations. Now, China is the country with the highest GDP in the world because of its use of human resources. So far, we depend a lot on the oil and gas sector in the economy. Evidently, the oil and gas sector is the sector with the second highest income in the country's GDP.

In fact, oil and gas is not a sector that can be depended on in the long term. This is because oil and gas is not something that can be produced quickly and easily. Therefore, we need to lead our economy to an industry that can be sustainable and take advantage of the large amounts of unskilled labor we have. If not, there will be mass unemployment which has a negative impact on the social sector.

Unemployment that is not overcome will cause social problems in society, ranging from crime, decreased interest in education, and increased prostitution. For example, South Africa has an unemployment rate of 26% in 2018. Their residents are willing to "sell themselves" just for a bite of rice. Of course, if this becomes a compulsion, other deviant things will also be done to meet needs. Shortcuts such as gambling, selling drugs to looting will also be rampant. The Business and Industry Sector is one of the roles that can be taken by educated personnel to create jobs for the demographic bonus era. Limited skilled labor in Indonesia can't just wait and compete for seats provided by other parties. If we only rely on jobs provided by the government and the private sector, of course the rate of population growth will far outperform the availability of jobs. And culminate in a crisis that affects all levels of society. Starting a business early is one of the steps we can take as educated personnel to prevent this problem from coming in the future. Of course, by opening up jobs, we will also help the government in welcoming the successful use of the demographic bonus era. This has been proven by one of the digital start-ups that recently existed in Indonesia.

According to a 2017 BPS survey, unemployment in Indonesia has fallen by 508.000 people. Around 200.000 of them are partners of one of the online motorcycle taxi start-ups in Indonesia, Go-Jek. In addition to solving the problem of basic motorcycle taxis that spend 70% of his working time waiting, he also solves the problem of uneducated unemployment in Indonesia, because driving does not require a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree.

Of course, not only motorcycle taxi drivers who feel the benefits. The presence of Go-Jek, which provides other features such as Go-Food, also tightens the belt for the street vendors and food industries. Reporting from the articleindustri.bisnis.com, there are around 35.000 Go-Food Partners who have collaborated and are spread across 15 cities throughout Indonesia. Of course, not only motorcycle taxi drivers who feel the benefits. The presence of Go-Jek, which provides other features such as Go-Food, also tightens the belt for the street vendors and food industry. Reported from the articleindustri.bisnis.com, there are around 35.000 Go-Food partners who have collaborated and spread across 15 cities throughout Indonesia.

The government also provides a lot of support for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit but have limited capital. This is evidenced by the existence of the Student Creativity Program Competition and the Entrepreneurial Student Program which are widely disseminated in the world of lectures. Of course, the government hopes that many students will later become business owners who will help move the world economy.

Reporting from beritasatu.com, there is another program supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) by cooperating with a youth organization called IYP (Innovative Youth Project) which has been held since 2011. "I appreciate the organization of this event which is a forum for connectivity and networking. Indonesia's leading young entrepreneurs, especially the participants of the 2016 Outstanding Student for The World (OSTW) program," said Agus, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs. Of course, there is no longer any reason for us not to start entrepreneurship early. In addition to full support from the government, Indonesia is also in need of our roles as an educated generation to participate in moving the wheels of the economy and overcoming unemployment. So, what's the reason not to start a business, guys? (Danang Rizky Nugroho)

Source : B-Magz FEB Unair vol-1