Sirup Markisa Noerlen

Bak kata orang bijak, perjalanan seribu mil dimulai dari langkah pertama.

Bermula dari  usaha skala rumah tangga, kini menjadi usaha yang mulai mendunia.

Pagi itu udara kota Medan kurang bersahabat, selama seminggu ini hujan mengguyur kota saban hari, hawa dingin mulai menggerogoti, namun itu semua takkan pernah menyurutkan barang sejengkalpun langkah, semangat dan kerja keras yang telah dijejaki guna terus mengeksistensikan usaha yang telah digelutinya sejak tahun 25 tahun silam.

Demikianlah potret sisi kehidupan yang dijalalani Ibu Rachmi Novianti atau lebih dikenal dengan sebutan Ibu Mimi, beliau adalah salah satu potret pengusaha sukses kota Medan yang mulai mengindonesia. Dibawah bendera Markisa Family Group, salah satu produk unggulannya ”Noerlen” telah dikenal tidak hanya dikota Medan dan Sumatera Utara, tetapi telah merambah dikota besar lainnya di pulau jawa seperti Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta dan lain-lain. Tidak hanya itu, ”Noerlen” telah berkesempatan untuk diikutkan dalam Pameran Pasar Raya Indonesia di Den Haag Belanda, Pameran Inacraft di Kuala Lumpur Malaysia dan Asia Food Expo di Singapura.

Produk Sirup Markisa Noerlen

Berawal Dari Industri Rumah Tangga

Sedikit flash back ke belakang, Markisa Asli Family Group awalnya merupakan industri skala rumah tangga yang melayani orderan para tetangga dan kerabat, serta acara perwiridan. Bisnis ini mulanya berawal dari hobi dan kesenangan Ibu Hj.Noerlen akan makanan. Berangkat dari keisengan ini, Ibu Hj. Noerlen melayani keinginan dan permintaan tetangga dan kerabat mengenai aneka makanan dan minuman dalam bermacam jenis. Hal ini terus berlangsung dan lama kelamaan permintaannya makin banyak dan meluas.

Seiring makin dikenalnya  ”tangan dingin” Hj. Noerlen akan makanan di mata masyarakat, ibu berdarah Sumatera Barat ini mulai serius menekuni usaha yang sedang dirintisnya ini. Jika pada mulanya dia memenuhi orderan berbagai macam jenis aneka kue dan makanan, saat ini dia mulai berkonsentrasi khusus untuk produksi sirup markisa dengan nama sirup Noerlen. Hal ini terus bertahan hingga saat ini, produksi sirup noerlen terus meningkat seiring bertambahnya permintaan pasar. Untuk melihat bagaimana proses produksi pembuatan sirup markisa ”Noerlen” kita dapat melihatnya langsung di tempat pembuatannya yang beralamat di jalan Sei Tuan No 7 Medan.

Transformasi Portofolio Bisnis

Di penghujung akhir tahun 2007 merupakan kilas balik Markisa Asli Family Group. Usaha yang pada mulanya merupakan usaha kecil-kecilan rumah tangga yang dirintis oleh Hj. Noerlen. Mengingat usianya yang sudah memasuki usia senja, maka di penghujung tahun 2007 tersebut Ibu Hj. Noerlen memutuskan untuk ”beristirahat” dan mewariskan usahanya kepada salah satu anak perempuannya Rachmi Noviati atau lebih dikenal dengan Ibu Mimi.

Di tangan Ibu Mimi, usaha Noerlen mengalami transformasi dari tradionally bussines minded menjadi entrepeneurshiply bussines minded. Ibu Mimi melakukan berbagai transformasi demi mempertahankan dan meningkatkan eksistensi Markisa Asli Family Group. Perubahan nyata yang dilakukannya adalah dengan ekspansi pasar hingga ke pulau Jawa serta penggunaan media online dalam pemasarannya. Ajang pameran atau sejenisnya yang diadakan di kota-kota besar indonesia merupakan salah satu pilihan favoritnya dalam memperluas area pemasaran.  Perjuangan ini berbuah manis, ini terbukti dengan tembusnya Noerlen di pasaran kota-kota besar seperti Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Batam dan lainnya.

Pasang Surut Usaha

Diakui oleh Mimi, bahwa usaha yang digelutinya kini bukanlah usaha yang berjalan mulus tanpa hambatan berarti. Layaknya sebuah perjalanan sudah pasti jalannya tidak pernah lurus rata sampai ke ujung, kerapkali ditemukan belokan, gelombang serta lubang-lubang yang mengandung resiko. Begitu juga dengan usaha yang dilakoninya, tidaklah semudah dan semanis membayangkannya. Pernah ketika dia mengikuti salah satu pameran yang diselenggarakan oleh salah satu kota besar ia mengalami kerugian yang cukup berarti. Namun hal itu ditanggapinya dengan positif, itu adalah riak dalam berusaha. Dengan itu akan menambah pengalaman kita dalam mengasah kemampuan dan kemapanan strategi bisnis, ujarnya.

Bahan baku yang mahal juga diaminininya sebagai faktor penghambat utama dalam pengembangan bisnisnya. Kita ini kan menggunakan buah markisa asli dan gula murni. Tanpa pengawet, tanpa essence buatan. Markisa saja sekarang harganya 10 ribu-11 ribu perkilonya. Makanya jangan heran kalau harga sirup Noerlen jauh lebih mahal dibandingkan dengan sirup-sirup lain yang beredar di pasaran, ungkap Mimi ketika ditanyai mengenai strategi harga  yang diterapkannya.

 

Proses produksi sirup markisa Noerlen

Bermain di Level Midle Up

Mimi tidak mengelak bahwa sirup Noerlen yang termahal di kelasnya. Meskipun harga yang diterapkannya mahal, dia tidak menganggap itu sebagai sebuah masalah. Baginya itu merupakan konsekuensi dari kualitas yang dipertahankannya. Quality for your Healthy, and Healthy is Pricesless katanya bersemangat. Dia mengakui dengan harga yang diterapkannya saat ini ia sempat mengalami kesulitan untuk memasarkan produknya. Namun dengan strategi segmentasi pemasaran yang tepat usahanya masih bertahan hingga kini dan makin hari makin menunjukkan peningkatan yang menggembirakan. Untuk saat ini segmentasi pasar kita masih di level midle up, namun akan ada sasaran untuk menembus pasar level bawah,   ujarnya.

Finally, I Got My Free Garuda Indonesia Ticket!

On 15 December 2013, I was involved in an event organised by the association of USU Alumni (IKA USU). I took a part in the marching stroll (jalan santai) by encircling USU walking path. All of the events centred in front of rectorate bureau and all of participants were encouraged to gather in that spot once the march finish. There were many activities to do in that event such as social gathering to underpin the relationship among alumni, had a chit-chat as well as lucky draw. The last mentioned was where the participants pay attention at most. 

Besides giving a lucky dip, the organiser also surprised the entrants by providing a small gift such as Garuda Indonesia ticket for Medan - Banda Aceh Flight and some other vouchers. This little surprise was only applied for those who celebrated his/her birthday on December 15th. Lucky me, that I was born on 15 December which means that day was my birthday. MC shouted loudly through the microphone and challenged to come on the stage, show his or her ID card and win the free flight. There were no sign which indicated someone approached into the stage. MC challenged it twice but still there were no signal.  I knew it was could be my turn and be my special birthday gift. However, I felt doubt either to appear on the stage in front of around thousands of people or simply to hide alone. Being nervous of becoming limelight was not the reason of my doubtful. Due to my sport shoes wetness, I wore thongs and felt  discomfort to emerge in front of public by wearing a pair of thongs. However, because the MC called it for the third time, I put my doubtful aside and walk into the stage.

A yell obviously exist when I approached the stage. My fortune that I was not the only person approaching the board which means that the yell was not pointed solely at me. It was very helpful as I could more relax and comfort to dealt with this whoop. There were only two of us who was born on 15 December and come to the stage. I let my birthday mate to come at first on the stage. She walked on the board calmly, showed her identification, had a little chat with the MC and won the free trip to Banda Aceh using Garuda airplane. Soon she finished her chance and backed to the seat, I came to stage to get my turn. On the stage, I chatted with MC, showed my ID and received my special gift. But, somehow the MC announced that there was only a single winner for the free trip, the rest would be given a special voucher for free lunch in one of the branded food store in Medan.

I felt empty and could not make any single comment. I backed to the seat and received the yell from some friends. Some of them congratulate me and wished my better future, and some teased ask me the a treat. To the latter I simply handed on the voucher that I'd got and said that this is voucher is my treat. I emphasised that this voucher is worth enough as you can grab free lunch from the indicated food store. I also strongly argue to whom I handed on the voucher that they were lucky to get that voucher as I did not  need the voucher.

It was true that at the time I strongly needed the ticket as I had to come to Banda Aceh in the following month. I had to come to Banda Aceh to attend an interview for Australia Awards Scholarship (AAS) recipient candidates. I thought it would be my great luck to win the ticket and fly to Banda Aceh as I would foster and strengthen my preparation and confidence to win the bravest ambition of mine, becoming an Australia Awards awardee. I wished I could win that ticket. If I had come to the stage earlier, I would have won my Garuda ticket. Anyway, I would not fix anything by regretting to what was happened. I kept positive, thanked to the Almighty and wished a better future myself. To document this memorable moment I posted a status  in my facebook account by simply writing down "almost getting Garuda free flight, unfortunately, it went away. hahah :D. Thanks God for December 15th". I received some comments about this status from some friends and all them wished the best for me and wished that I would get my free Garuda flight soon. 

View from Garuda

Days passed on, lucky me that I was awarded as an AAS recipient and would fly to Australia very soon. On 15 December 2014, I got an email from one of the officer of AAS Indonesia which attached my QANTAS ticket. This ticket that would fly me from Jakarta to Sydney and to Adelaide. What a very special  birthday surprise and what a lovely birthday gift. My thought came back to the funny and memorable moment last year where I almost won Garuda flight. Allah is the Almighty and the Merciful, He blessed me with this life and experience as well as the journey. He postponed to give me the ticket last year, but He totally endowed me by granting me this scholarship, this journey, this experience and this life. About two weeks after my birthday, once I would like to purchase a refundable ticket from Banda Aceh to Jakarta, my brothers gave me another special ticket by giving me an airline ticket to Jakarta. He asked me what kind of airline do you want to use,  I simply replied Garuda Indonesia. Then, finally I enjoy my Garuda flight before using Qantas services. This is important as it may symbolise that I prioritise Garuda (Indonesia) over Qantas (Australia).

Thanks God, for another December 15th.
Thank you AAS for Qantas tickets and my brother for the very special Garuda flight :)
Thank you for those who had wished my better future!

Seeing The Light, Not The Dark!

Everyone loves weekend. Weekend is always waited by everybody along the week. The reason why it is so special is because it is a perfect time to cheer ourselves up after spending most of the time to work, study or in a duty during the week. Many people spend this special period of time for traveling or touring. Some of them decide to go to the beach, mountain, lake or even to mall for shopping. However, there are some people who only spend their weekend by staying and relaxing at their own house.

Personally, I am very pleased with this weekend time. Besides going somewhere to refresh my mood and release all negative feeling and distressful, I usually utilise this interval to do something labelled as "food gathering or livestock hunting". Becoming an international student in University of South Australia, I should be able to manage myself in order to survive.  Living in Adelaide where I am far away from home forces me to handle so-called domestic work myself including for that food gathering where I wander in market or supermarket for seeking weekly living stock. 

It is commonplace that everybody is fond of buying inexpensive goods. Indeed, the feeling is stronger     for those known as students especially an international student like me.  In Adelaide, the city where I live nowadays, basic needs such as rice, fish, oil, vegetables, fruits, etc are quite expensive. To dealt with, most of Adelaidean - the term which refer to the people who live in Adelaide, have their own unique strategies for getting their needs without having broke. Some of this approaches are to look at   Coles and Woolies (the two leading supermarkets in Adelaide or maybe in Australia) discount schemes, to shop at Sunday market or in the weekend to shop at central market which is famous with its "one dollar" offerings. 

Off course, as a student I should manage my time very well. I should or even must be able to balance my life of becoming a student and an human being. In a simple word, my position as a student should not ruin my human being life and vice versa. I have to able to feed myself, keep my healthy life and participate in social life as well as able to respond all of my duties and responsibilities as a student. This things are all about time management. To shop either in Sunday or Central market in the weekend and keep it as the stock during the weak ahead is one of my strategies in managing the time. Therefore, it is not only buying but also planning.  I have to plot what to cook on Monday, Tuesday and so forth and it will determine what to be purchased.

Last week, I went to Central market and bought several things such as beef, vegetables, fruits, eggs and sardines. I had  planned to make rendang on Monday, sprout stir-fry (tumis toge) on Tuesday, omelet for Wednesday, mushroom soup for Thursday and pumpkin curry (gulai labu) on Friday. everything is running well up to Thursday, but on Friday, a wonderful, fabulous, funny and extraordinary story obviously exist. This story which inspire me to write this posting. Even though this story is a bit foolish and ridiculous, the truth should be uttered and revealed.

The story of making pumpkin curry starts when I had set to make such the food on Friday which means at the end of parts of the week. Therefore, once purchasing the pumpkin in the market, I had to be sure that the pumpkin will last until Friday. In other word, It will not decay before I serve it as a curry. I had to be selective at this stage. Finding the right pumpkin regarding the size, quality and sure the price. I do not live with family, then to buy a whole, a complete pumpkin is not a wise decision because I won't be able to finish that pumpkin myself. If I just use a part of if and stock the rest also seems unwise decision as the rest pumpkin will decay. Lucky me, that there were some buyers who sold the half pumpkin in the market. By this half size makes me possible to finish it at once. however, there is adversity buying incomplete squash. Selecting the "good quality" one became more challenging and demanding. Off course the half size squash will not last as good as the complete one. therefore, I had to be more selective to chose the appropriate one. After struggling and inspecting for a few minutes then I simply picked one up which I believe the "best" one.

Days passed on. On Friday, based on the plan, I would like to "play" with the pumpkin that I had bought.  I opened the fridge and took some ingredients needed to make the pumpkin curry. I sliced tomatoes, chilli, onion and garlic. Once those spices were ready, then I started to handle the pumpkin. But somehow, it was weird with the pumpkin. It smelled as if it was not the pumpkin. From the appearance, it looked like pumpkin. The colour, the seed were like pumpkin. But how could this smells strange? It smelled like melon instead of  smelling like a pumpkin. I decided to slice a bit part of it and tasted it. It tasted like melon and I was sure for 100% that it was a melon, not a pumpkin. I went back to the fridge to look at my pumpkin assuming that i took the wrong one. However, there were nothing left in the fridge. It was the one that I bought  a few days ago. It was melon and not pumpkin. My question was how could I buy this melon? I didn't plan to purchase melon! How should I utilise this melon? How about my plan to cook pumpkin curry? How about the spices which I have prepared? Should I make melon curry? off course not! Had you seen or heard melon curry before??? absolutely not! Lol!

I told that story to some of my friends and all of them teased me with full of intention. I was bullied by this ridiculous moment. Some of them said how could I became foolish as I was not able to distinguish pumpkin and melon. Others tempted me by saying that it was a sign for me to find a girl who is able to serve me the meals. Whatever they said, I just kept silent, no comment.  I know they did not mean to hurt me. They only would like to make an intermezzo by teasing at me. The more I defence myself that I knew how to distinguish those fruits, the more intense they tempted and joked at me. No matter what, they were right that I bought the wrong thing and planned foolishly. Anyway, I kept my confident up, I kept optimistic. Nothing was wrong with my procurement. Though I could not make a squash curry, I still could enjoy the melon fruit. Nothing is useless, isn't it? I believe that every cloud has a silver lining.  Every single moment surely has a meaning.

BUILDING THE AWARENESS

In the government office or other institutions, the term so-called rank or position obviously exists. The people who earn greater position relatively compare to others is usually called as the leader or well-known as the boss. The boss is usually associated with superiority and premium standard. Thus, that people will gain more respect among the colleagues. The people in this sub-class are very confident in their workplace reflected with their dominance. Their distinctive is highly apparent. They earn lot of freedom and power.  They free to speak up and convey any single idea they want to pass for, and in most cases, those people often dictate what thing or things should work be or done.   

Similarly, the "rank" also exists in communication context. Based on this perspective, people involved in communication will be differed from higher or lower rank. This label is invisible and undetected in the conversation. However, experts believe that it happens in the communication, particularly in the communication among the group. People whose rank is relatively high, will gain more power throughout the interaction. They lead the communication and take control of others. This subgroup will get most attention and acquire more confidence and good feeling. They feel comfortable, happy and very relax on the entire interaction. In contrast, people with lower rank are very distressful. They are intimidated and less motivated during the interaction process. Those people get less attention and respect. Unfortunately, they even do not make any contribution to the interaction. They are ruled and dictated, and even worse oppressed.

Some people believe that, the gained rank in the interaction or communication is associated with the social status and often inherited. It is the type which experts classify as socio-economic rank. This view seems to be correct for some instance, for example, people who are born in wealthy family heir their social status due to their parents’ prominence. This also applies for skin colour and belief, for example the lighter skin is more favourable in western while moslem are more appreciated and accepted in eastern. This phenomenon is often found in the real life where people are judged by their socio-economic status appearance reflected with their economic class, expertise, skin colour and religion. However, experts also categorise the other two rank types namely psychology and spiritual rank. These remaining two types are something that someone able to gain, build and improve in his journey of life, for example through education, learning process and experience. 

It is important to have high or higher rank in the interaction in the daily social life. Based on the psychological aspect, people with high rank are more comfortable and relax which in turns it will help them to become more confident in expressing or conveying ideas during the conversation. Confidence is one of the most essential parts in communication. The more confident you are, the more contribution you may share for. However, people with this blesses "gift" should not take excessive control in communication. They should avoid of being dominant in the interaction otherwise the essential part of communication itself will downgrade. A fruitful conversation only happens once the participants take a part in the discussion in an appropriate proportion. Therefore, in order to create a productive communication, one should avoid of being dominant and dictate the interaction.

On the other side, people who possess lower rank in the communication are not as comfort as people with higher rank. They are unconfident to expressing their thought among the group. Unfortunately, in most cases, their ideas might be very brilliant thought, but somehow because their shyness and introvert feeling this useful knowledge may disappear. Avoiding this circumstance, those people should improve their rank level otherwise the problem may never be solved. To deal with this issue, the best thing to do is by jumping in the communication. It means that people in that position should contribute to the forum by conveying his argument regardless the content and the way of presenting ideas. They must destroy their self-blockade, introvert and negative feelings. It may be hard and difficult in the beginning, but the more you risk and challenge yourself in the difficult situation, the more relaxing it will become at the end.  Once this appears, they will not only benefit for themselves regarding personality and character building as well as contribute to others by disseminating a useful information and knowledge.

To sum up, awareness and consciousness are critical elements in the communication of human life. The level of rank may determine one’s contribution in the communication and interaction. People with high rank level should aware of being dominant in the conversation and avoid dictating the communication. In contrast, people whose rank is relatively low should improve their rank by jumping in the conversation in order to create a productive communication in the community.

Build your awareness!