Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) officially became one of the Implementing Universities (PTP) of the Campus Independent Entrepreneurship Program (WMK) 2024. This year, Udinus provided a soft launch in the form of a public lecture to 316 participants from 20 universities in Semarang and its surrounding area. It was hosted on Monday, September 23rd, 2024.
The launching, which took place on the third floor of the E building at Udinus, was an initial step every participant must attend. It was opened with a report delivered by Dr. Rindra Yusianto, S.Kom., M.T., the Committee Head of the WMK program at Udinus.
As the implementing university, Udinus is supported by 32 Supervising Field Instructors (DPL) to guide the participants in establishing their business ideas. Dr. Rindra stated that the target of this program was to establish 63 new sustainable businesses.
“This year, we shall focus on sustainable businesses. Therefore, we will also facilitate participants with business legalities, such as issuing the Business Registration Number (NIB),” he uttered.
Dr. Rindra also revealed that every year, the campus saw an increase in enthusiasm from the participants. The immense enthusiasm can be seen by the fact that the initial quota was 300, and it was full, exceeding the quota even.
“The enthusiasm from students was remarkable. Initially, we only limited the quota to 300 participants, but due to the high interest in this program, we decided to exceed the quota to 316 participants,” Rindra uttered.
Following the soft launching, dissemination took place, involving the organizer team and facilitators to explain the technicality and divide the participants into several groups. Additionally, a public lecture also took place, with Prof. Dr. Pulung Nurtantion Andono, S.T., (the Vice Chancellor IV of Partnership and International Affairs at Udinus) and Dinda Saraswati Dipoyono (an alumna from the Communication Science Department at Udinus who owned a business named Invitato).
Courage and Creativity as the Main Components
During the lecture, Prof. Pulung taught entrepreneurial knowledge from an academic viewpoint, particularly concerning the main things students must pay attention to before establishing their businesses. On that occasion, he emphasized that the most important aspect of establishing one’s business was the courage to find the correct investor.
“The most apparent thing in the eyes of investors is your persistence in keeping and developing your businesses. As per the WMK program policy, participants are allowed to directly meet their partners, stakeholders, and investors,” he highlighted.
Furthermore, it is also important for the participants to pour their creativity into their businesses, especially in this day and age of technological advancements, which are gradually turning competitive. One of the most effective ways of utilizing social media as promotional platforms is by creating interesting storytelling that would attract potential consumers.
“The prime example of this is when we develop a culinary business, such as gado-gado. However, you must put some innovations in it, such as by using pesticide-free peanuts as an ingredient for your gado-gado,” he encouraged.
After the session delivered by Prof. Pulung, Dinda Saraswati Dipoyono, the CEO of Invitato.id, which was a website dedicated to creating digital-based marriage invitations, stepped onto the stage to speak. At the lecture, she claimed that her creative business ideas emerged from the social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Students must be dared to take opportunities, even though they emerged from an accidental occurrence. I would say that this WMK program is a good activity for students to participate in, as they will be able to face their entrepreneurial journey with more preparations,” Dinda stated. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Humas Udinus)
