Usaha Wanita Mobile Service in Indonesia

Amisha Chalid, based in Jakarta, makes and sells made-to-measure wedding dresses. She has been in the industry for 13 years and her shop has received a constant stream of customers since opening three years ago. However, Amisha told our researchers that, along with marketing, one of the biggest challenges she faces is sourcing quality materials at affordable prices. Amisha wants to grow her business and compete with importers who offer wedding dresses at more competitive rates, but she needs information to help guide her in her efforts to lower her costs and expand her enterprise.

With women like Amisha in mind, we developed the mobile service, Usaha Wanita, which means “business women” in Indonesian, in partnership with the ExxonMobil Foundation, Nokia and Indosat. The service was based on in-depth research to determine the key barriers facing women entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Usaha Wanita was developed as a teaching tool to help women entrepreneurs overcome specific challenges by providing essential business tips and market information. It reached more than 14,000 women in Indonesia. The service was also tailored and delivered to women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Tanzania, reaching more than 100,000 women in total. Usaha Wanita won the Best Consumer Service Innovation award at the Global Telecoms Business 2013 Awards.

In 2014, an independent evaluation of the Business Women service, conducted by Michigan State University (below) found that 90% of subscribers felt the service gave them “practical guidance” on making their businesses grow and offered an “inexpensive way to become better-informed businesswomen”.

In addition to the Business Women learning tool, we also provided hands-on business development support with our partner, Mercy Corps Indonesia, which delivered valuable training to build the business capacity of 2,000 women.

Take a look at our infographic about the Business Women Service: