Since going online, Ucok Durian, or “Durian Guy,” has gone from selling 100 kg of Indonesia’s famous Medan durian at their stall everyday to nearly 40 tons a month. As part of our series of interviews with entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific who use the Internet to grow their business, we spoke with Ananda Perwira, Ucok Durian’s marketing director (and brother to founder Johan Hasibuan), to find out how this startup is rapidly expanding across the Indonesian archipelago.

Tell us your story. How did Ucok Durian begin?
My brother, Johan Hasibuan, began peddling durians nearly 20 years ago. I’ve always loved durians, so when I realized how hard it is to find Medan durians outside of Medan, I figured I’d join him and develop the business. Since I came onboard earlier this year, my sister, parents and other relatives have also joined. Now it’s a family business. 

What inspired you to begin selling durians online?
Using Google's Keyword Planner, I noticed that “durian Medan” is a popular search term on the Internet, but despite this, very few traders have a website selling durians online. I saw an opportunity and went for it. We built the ucokdurian.id website on WordPress and Hostinger, a free website hosting service. The website theme and plugins we use also are free. 

That’s a great use of free resources. How else has the Internet helped your business? 
Before going online, we were only able to sell 100 kilograms of durian per day. We’d seen the impact that the Internet has had on many other businesses, but never imagined what it could do for a perishable product like ours. Today, thanks to the new customers we’ve found over the Internet, we’re reaching almost 40 tons a month. That’s 12 times more than we used to sell just a year ago! 

Wow, congratulations.  Now that sales have taken off, what is the farthest place to which you have mailed a durian? 

As a result of this growth, we’ve opened two warehouse distribution centers in Jakarta just this past September. These enable us to send Medan durians nearly 7,500km away, to Jayapura, the capital of Papua, which is Indonesia’s easternmost province. We also get orders from Malaysia, Singapore, and even as far as Saudi Arabia and the United States. We’re now working on ways to fulfill these orders, so we hope to start shipping overseas soon. 

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs seeking to take their business online? 
In the beginning, I wasn’t too confident that bringing the business online would be successful. I’d been thinking about it since 2015, but only took action in 2016. Why? Because I was afraid to fail. However, I also knew that if I didn't try, I would ensure my failure. 

I have just five tips for people who are starting a business online: 

1. Help people. Don’t start your business for money. Do it because you want to provide solutions for people. Make it easier for people to get products or services they need. 
   
2. Think global, act local. To start your business, you don’t have to build a rocket like Elon Musk does. See something simple that has potential around you. 
   
3. Read. I never attended marketing school. However, I consider myself a digital marketing geek. The Internet provides everything you need, so Google it and just read. 
   
4. Continuous improvements. You stop, you die. Try to improve something everyday, even if it’s just 1% better than yesterday. 
   
5. Be grateful. Don't be cocky with what you have (intelligence, experience, wealth…). Success is temporary unless you’re willing to keep working at it. 

Since going online, Ucok Durian, or “Durian Guy,” has gone from selling 100 kg of Indonesia’s famous Medan durian at their stall everyday to nearly 40 tons a month. As part of our series of interviews with entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific who use the Internet to grow their business, we spoke with Ananda Perwira, Ucok Durian’s marketing director (and brother to founder Johan Hasibuan), to find out how this startup is rapidly expanding across the Indonesian archipelago.

Tell us your story. How did Ucok Durian begin?
My brother, Johan Hasibuan, began peddling durians nearly 20 years ago. I’ve always loved durians, so when I realized how hard it is to find Medan durians outside of Medan, I figured I’d join him and develop the business. Since I came onboard earlier this year, my sister, parents and other relatives have also joined. Now it’s a family business. 

What inspired you to begin selling durians online?
Using Google's Keyword Planner, I noticed that “durian Medan” is a popular search term on the Internet, but despite this, very few traders have a website selling durians online. I saw an opportunity and went for it. We built the ucokdurian.id website on WordPress and Hostinger, a free website hosting service. The website theme and plugins we use also are free. 

That’s a great use of free resources. How else has the Internet helped your business? 
Before going online, we were only able to sell 100 kilograms of durian per day. We’d seen the impact that the Internet has had on many other businesses, but never imagined what it could do for a perishable product like ours. Today, thanks to the new customers we’ve found over the Internet, we’re reaching almost 40 tons a month. That’s 12 times more than we used to sell just a year ago! 

Wow, congratulations.  Now that sales have taken off, what is the farthest place to which you have mailed a durian? 

As a result of this growth, we’ve opened two warehouse distribution centers in Jakarta just this past September. These enable us to send Medan durians nearly 7,500km away, to Jayapura, the capital of Papua, which is Indonesia’s easternmost province. We also get orders from Malaysia, Singapore, and even as far as Saudi Arabia and the United States. We’re now working on ways to fulfill these orders, so we hope to start shipping overseas soon. 

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs seeking to take their business online? 
In the beginning, I wasn’t too confident that bringing the business online would be successful. I’d been thinking about it since 2015, but only took action in 2016. Why? Because I was afraid to fail. However, I also knew that if I didn't try, I would ensure my failure. 

I have just five tips for people who are starting a business online: 

1. Help people. Don’t start your business for money. Do it because you want to provide solutions for people. Make it easier for people to get products or services they need. 
   
2. Think global, act local. To start your business, you don’t have to build a rocket like Elon Musk does. See something simple that has potential around you. 
   
3. Read. I never attended marketing school. However, I consider myself a digital marketing geek. The Internet provides everything you need, so Google it and just read. 
   
4. Continuous improvements. You stop, you die. Try to improve something everyday, even if it’s just 1% better than yesterday. 
   
5. Be grateful. Don't be cocky with what you have (intelligence, experience, wealth…). Success is temporary unless you’re willing to keep working at it. 

Since going online, Ucok Durian, or “Durian Guy,” has gone from selling 100 kg of Indonesia’s famous Medan durian at their stall everyday to nearly 40 tons a month. As part of our series of interviews with entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific who use the Internet to grow their business, we spoke with Ananda Perwira, Ucok Durian’s marketing director (and brother to founder Johan Hasibuan), to find out how this startup is rapidly expanding across the Indonesian archipelago.

Tell us your story. How did Ucok Durian begin?
My brother, Johan Hasibuan, began peddling durians nearly 20 years ago. I’ve always loved durians, so when I realized how hard it is to find Medan durians outside of Medan, I figured I’d join him and develop the business. Since I came onboard earlier this year, my sister, parents and other relatives have also joined. Now it’s a family business. 

What inspired you to begin selling durians online?
Using Google's Keyword Planner, I noticed that “durian Medan” is a popular search term on the Internet, but despite this, very few traders have a website selling durians online. I saw an opportunity and went for it. We built the ucokdurian.id website on WordPress and Hostinger, a free website hosting service. The website theme and plugins we use also are free. 

That’s a great use of free resources. How else has the Internet helped your business? 
Before going online, we were only able to sell 100 kilograms of durian per day. We’d seen the impact that the Internet has had on many other businesses, but never imagined what it could do for a perishable product like ours. Today, thanks to the new customers we’ve found over the Internet, we’re reaching almost 40 tons a month. That’s 12 times more than we used to sell just a year ago! 

Wow, congratulations.  Now that sales have taken off, what is the farthest place to which you have mailed a durian? 

As a result of this growth, we’ve opened two warehouse distribution centers in Jakarta just this past September. These enable us to send Medan durians nearly 7,500km away, to Jayapura, the capital of Papua, which is Indonesia’s easternmost province. We also get orders from Malaysia, Singapore, and even as far as Saudi Arabia and the United States. We’re now working on ways to fulfill these orders, so we hope to start shipping overseas soon. 

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs seeking to take their business online? 
In the beginning, I wasn’t too confident that bringing the business online would be successful. I’d been thinking about it since 2015, but only took action in 2016. Why? Because I was afraid to fail. However, I also knew that if I didn't try, I would ensure my failure. 

I have just five tips for people who are starting a business online: 

1. Help people. Don’t start your business for money. Do it because you want to provide solutions for people. Make it easier for people to get products or services they need. 
   
2. Think global, act local. To start your business, you don’t have to build a rocket like Elon Musk does. See something simple that has potential around you. 
   
3. Read. I never attended marketing school. However, I consider myself a digital marketing geek. The Internet provides everything you need, so Google it and just read. 
   
4. Continuous improvements. You stop, you die. Try to improve something everyday, even if it’s just 1% better than yesterday. 
   
5. Be grateful. Don't be cocky with what you have (intelligence, experience, wealth…). Success is temporary unless you’re willing to keep working at it. 

Indonesian developer Inovidea Magna Global might not be a household name, but their photo sharing and editing app PicMix is nothing short of a global social phenomenon. When the team got their start in Jakarta in 2012, they had no idea that their problem-solving idea would one day grow into an app that had 27 million users worldwide. 

As part of our series of interviews with people across Asia-Pacific who use the Internet to create, connect, and grow, we spoke to their CEO, Calvin Kizana, and co-founder Sandy Colondam, to find out all about the secret sauce behind the team that makes those little stickers people just can’t get enough of. 

How would you describe the PicMix app in just one sentence?
PicMix is a photo and video editing and sharing app, that’s evolved into a global sharing community powered both by content and commerce.

Why did you choose to become developers?
We really wanted to do something that had the potential to bring joy to people. Compared to some more traditional career paths, building cool mobile apps can enrich people’s lives through delight. We wanted to find a mix of passion, tech and impact in our careers — this made becoming a developer an obvious choice. 

What inspired you to create PicMix?  
Back when we started our company in 2012, we were spending a lot of time editing, sharing and creating photo collages. We wanted to save time and create a one-stop-shop for all of this. That’s how the idea for PicMix was born. We set out to answer the question: what if we could create a single app that could do all of this and still be easy enough for everyone to use? 

What lessons have you learned along the way?
Never. Stop. Innovating. One of the greatest things about being a developer is that things are always changing. We have to keep up with new trends pretty much on a daily basis. If PicMix had remained a simple photo editing tool, it would have died an early death. By keeping up with how people were spending their time online, we we knew that PicMix needed to become social. Being flexible about your product, taking on user feedback and analyzing trends are the key factors to stay afloat in a competitive market.

What has been your biggest challenge?
The global app market is a pretty competitive place, and back when we got our start, Indonesian developers lacked access to a lot of the resources and education available in some other countries. We solved this problem by using the Google Play Developer tools. This ensured that our apps are the highest quality and have the potential to go global. 

For example, we needed an intuitive and appealing interface that people around the world would not only know how to use, but enjoy spending time in. We decided to apply the Material Design guidelines which are the same principles that the Android OS is built on. Material Design is a visual language that merges principles of good design with technology. After implementing these guidelines, the time our users spent in Picmix jumped from 2 minutes to 8 minutes. The number of likes and comments we got also skyrocketed. 

What is your advice for anyone who wants to get started as a developer?
Keep challenging yourself, explore the best in you and don't be afraid of failing Success is 99% failure.