Will you, as a startup activist, choose profit over impact?, when most of these profitable startup companies are not your passion. Impacting business decisions are usually more in line with the entrepreneur’s idealism and beneficial to the community. Kejora Capital hosted an Extreme Tech Challenge webinar event on Tuesday (8/3/2022) to bridge these answers.
It all begins with the fundamental question of why the two should be contradicted. Noni Purnomo, the President Commissioner of PT Blue Bird Tbk, questioned why we see profit and impact as a conflict? Although the two go hand in hand, we can only carry out this mission if the company makes a profit.
Noni also stated that the impact could manifest itself in different ways. Where we can choose to play an active role and what impact we can have. “It is also possible to choose the impact we want to achieve by aligning with the business process itself,” said this philanthropist and businesswoman.
The Amartha’s CEO, Andi Taufan Garuda, was also present. Taufan also stated that in his 12 years of experience, he could make a significant impact in combating social problems in Indonesia.
“We began by researching the problem and traveling to the villages until we discovered a social problem that we wanted to solve, namely poverty and social inequality. The company’s goal is to improve many people’s lives,” said the former Presidential Special Staff for Innovation.
Taufan also stated that we are currently in a period of balance. If both are still in a quandary, we should try to strike a balance between profit and passion for impact.
“True, there are occasionally roadblocks in the middle of the road. Try to balance so that it can run sustainably. However, we should never underestimate our worth and quality. Trust that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel,” stated the one who used to work as a Business Consultant for International Business Machines Corporation.
The event also transitioned into a discussion about what every entrepreneur should emphasize. According to Wayah Wiroto, the Managing Director of Endeavor, the perception of a conflict between profit and impact can stem from various factors influenced by conditions that can sometimes overwhelm entrepreneurs.
“Some factors causing startups to fail are uncontrolled rapid growth resulting in chaos, loss of work focus that is not following the initial goals and strategy, greed, and loss of key operational control. And two critical factors in avoiding all of this are innovation and operational excellence,” said the former President Director of PT GE Technology Indonesia.
The event was ended with a presentation of the latest business ideas from Edward Ismawan Chamdani, the Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Ideosource VC and Gayo Capital (the Ideosource Green Initiatives). He believed that in the issue of climate change and the trend of sustainable development, as we are today, we should be able to mediate all problems arising from the contradictory dichotomy between profit and impact. There is now an opportunity for the company to profit by having a positive long-term impact on the environment.