Mr. Yahman’s journey to success began with his desire to move to Jakarta for a better life. Mr. Yahman started working as an employee in someone else’s pecel lele business in 1997. Every day, he learned how to create the sauce and prepare and sell catfish so that it could be served to consumers with a delectable taste.
“I don’t have a college degree. The only thing I know is selling pecel lele. I opened my own pecel lele business with little money and a strong mentality,” Mr. Yahman recalled when he started the business.
Mr. Yahman’s business journey started with only Rp5 million in hand. He contacted his friend in Lamongan to start a business together. In addition to selling pecel lele, he added chicken and duck to the menu and satay as a side dish.
”The daily turnover was barely Rp150,000 when I started the business, a significant difference from today. Thankfully, the house owner back then was very accommodating and always granted me time to pay the bills even though I frequently paid the rent late. I was pretty grateful to have survived at the time,” said Mr. Yahman.
When Mr. Yahman had been in business for five years, his tenacity and consistency started to bear fruit. “In 2006, my wife gave birth to our first child. Perhaps the proverbial ‘luck of the child’ is genuine after all. My business quickly changed dramatically and boomed once I had my first child. Thank God I can see the benefits thus far for myself. With the money from selling pecel lele, I could buy the home we presently reside in and several vehicles,” Mr. Yahman said.
