Adam Abdullah with the Wah Gede Banget (WGB) business which carries big size fashion kicked off the fashion world while breaking people's assumptions that looking fashionable and cool only belongs to regular size people. Since its release in 2014 with an initial capital of Rp5 million, currently its total assets reach Rp1.8 billion with a turnover of 400 million per month.
Having difficulty getting clothes according to size, Adam built a Big Size Fashion Business
Having a career in the banking, Adam admitted that he was required to always look attractive because he often met partners. Meanwhile, with a big size posture, looking attractive is actually a challenge for him. "It's difficult to find clothes that are the right size, in the mall, the average size of XL or XXL is the largest”.
Having an interest in fashion, Adam likes to read about fashion. From there he got inspiration for the design of clothes that he made himself, ranging from what kind of material will be used, mix and match, to the image of what his clothes will become.
Several times wearing clothes designed by him to the office, it turns out that many office friends like it. In fact, many were interested in asking Adam to make clothes for them. "Friends ask, where do you buy the clothes. I said this is a homemade dress. They are interested in making it too, especially their big size friends," he said. According to Adam, he is willing to make clothes for friends because he feels there is a special satisfaction in seeing other people wearing clothes designed by him. He didn't even make a profit, only paid according to the capital price of the materials and the cost of sewing.
Not only once or twice, friends finally repeat order. That's when Adam felt that the production of big size clothes could be used as a business. Although he has not decided to switch completely to the business world, in 2014 the man born in 1985 is sure to start building a business in the midst of his busy life as an employee.
With an initial capital of IDR 5 million, Adam bought materials that were then sewn with designs that he had imagined before. With this material, he produced about 3 to 4 dozen men's clothes. "Especially for the production of men's clothes, because I feel there is no passion for making clothes with women's style," he said. The clothes were offered to office friends and only partially sold at that time. To sell some of it, Adam decided to try marketing through Instagram. Sure enough, the public interest is extraordinary. Especially at that time, it was indeed the momentum before Eid. The remaining stock is sold out within 2 weeks. He was even more excited and believed that the fashion business in the big size line was promising.
Wah Gede Banget, Unique Brand Chosen for Big Size Fashion Business
According to Adam, when creating an Instagram account to market his products, he had thought about creating a special account using a brand that was interesting and easy for people to remember, instead of using his personal account. Wah Gede Banget (WGB) is the brand he chose which is believed to represent his products that focus on big size clothes with international size standards from XL to 6XL.
Although it has not been carried out seriously because it is still busy with routine as an employee, since it was originally built, the WGB financial system has indeed been tried to be as neat as possible. Every sales transaction is recorded, who buys, what products are purchased, including recording capital, costs incurred until profits are obtained.
In 2015, people's enthusiasm for WGB products increased. The turnover obtained reaches 80 million rupiah per month, even 100 million rupiah before Eid. From this turnover, the profits obtained are never used for other things, but rotated again to increase capital.
Adam began to think about being more serious about running a business. With capital that has reached tens of millions, he began to worry that if he is not focused, the risk of missteps will be even greater and capital money can be lost, even though the struggle is extraordinary in terms of time or energy. That's when Adam was faced with the choice of staying an employee or focusing on growing the business.
Tough Choice between Employee or Entrepreneurship
Choosing was not easy. Although in terms of time, entrepreneurs are relatively more flexible than employees, but from a financial point of view, Adam feels that it is not enough. When he became an employee, Adam certainly had a fixed salary with a nominal that could meet his living needs. Meanwhile, revenue from WGB was uncertain depending on the turnover obtained minus operational and capital costs. Until 2016, WGB's sales results were more stable. From monthly turnover, the percentage of profit reaches 50%. The salary Adam received from WGB was not bad, although not as big as his salary in the office. He decided to resign.
To get around the decline in revenue, Adam moved his production from his boarding house in Jakarta to his home in Tangerang, to reduce operational costs. In addition, he also had to suppress the lifestyle which he admitted was the toughest challenge he lived during the first 2 years. "There is a desire to travel like friends. It's not that it can't, but if it is forced, it will damage WGB's finances. So you have to really be able to restrain yourself and it's not easy. Ordinary on the clouds, suddenly having to feel enough on earth," he admitted.
Challenges Running a Business: Choosing Convection, Choosing Fabric Raw Materials, Flooded with Ideas
In 2016, WGB received more and more orders. Adam began looking for convection partners to simplify and speed up the production process. In addition to searching online via the internet, he also asked some friends who had convection acquaintances. Usually he conducts trials first before starting cooperation. "Test first, for example, I tested 2 convection. 1 convection shirt production, other convection shirt production. As long as the results are satisfactory, the cooperation will work," he said.
The man born in Tangerang said, establishing cooperation with convection is not easy. In fact, choosing a cooperative convection is one of the main challenges when he runs a business in fashion. "The problem with convection is usually 3 things, the material is missing or tucked away somewhere, the deadline for the work is backward or the time of payment. And that's common in convection," he said. To overcome this, Adam made a written agreement with the convection party so that the provisions could be clearer and understood. Such as fees per shirt, penalties if the completion of work is late, payment details and so on. With the letter of agreement, it is hoped that both parties are equally understanding, safe, and responsible.
Another thing that is no less challenging is the raw material of fabric. The material itself has many types and kinds of colors. Each type usually has a different character so that the application is different. There are materials that are special pants or special for tops. Adam himself had experienced buying the wrong material at the beginning of his business. "I used to buy the wrong materials. It should be material for tops, which are purchased pants material. For the size of the business at that time, the amount of materials that were bought incorrectly was quite a lot, so we had to find a way so that the wrong materials could still be used. As long as the clothes sell well, there is no problem. But eventually we have to learn to be more careful in choosing materials in the future," he recalled.
For design ideas, Adam is grateful to never run out of ideas for WGB's latest product trends. When you see the material, the character of the material, the motif and color, you immediately think of what you want to make it like. It is precisely because of the flood of ideas that Adam feels that he should control himself more.
If in the past he tended to be "crazy" when buying materials, now Adam learns to manage production plans. "Alhamdullilah, ideas never run out. The world of fashion is really wide, the development is fast. From there I saw a lot of ideas, flowing continuously. In fact, I like to be crazy when I shop for ingredients. In my eyes, everything is good, want to buy all. You can imagine the design is so-so. Now it's more manageable. I made a production plan for a month, what is the theme, what is it for, what is the color, how much. Let the shopping not be over and in accordance with WGB's selling power," he added.
WGB's Mission Carrying Big Size Fashion
Based on Adam's observations, weight gain tends to occur for example after marriage, or when stressed. High levels of stress usually vent people to food, so he believes people with big size postures must exist. Unfortunately, rarely fashion businesses can accommodate fashion needs for their size. Therefore, now Adam not only wants to raise WGB as one of the big size fashions, but he also wants everyone who has a big size posture to get access to look fashionable and cool. One of them is by inviting fashion business people to also plunge into the big size fashion industry. "Fashion business people usually make clothes with regular size, WGB wants to invite and see that the plus size fashion industry is a big opportunity," he said.
When asked about competitive risk, Adam thinks it's not something he's worried about. "Don't think of rivals, the spirit will help people with big size postures in remote areas so that it is easy to get the clothes needed and can look fashionable too," he said. It is proven that when there are buyers from Malang who want to open a big size fashion business and contact Adam to ask questions, Adam is willing to teach and explain by phone or chat.
Adam is also open to collaborating with fellow business people in the big size fashion industry. He invites them to discuss and collaborate by facilitating in 1 platform as a joint store so that customers can have more choices. "So in 1 store there are several brands, such as retail stores. There are more and more choices, not only WGB," he explained.
Offline Store as Mini Workshop
Currently, WGB's biggest sales are indeed through online stores. However, there are also many customers who come to his house for direct fittings, and seeing this condition Adam feels that the place is not comfortable. Finally, he transformed the 1st floor of his house into an offline store. While the 2nd floor is used as the WGB office and warehouse on the 3rd floor. Its location which is located in housing with a fairly wide road is a supporting factor for the comfort of customers who come.
To build the mini workshop, Adam admitted that he did not inject additional capital but purely from the results of WGB's business profits. So it is not surprising, if the mini workshop building as well as offices and warehouses are one of the assets other than vehicles, office inventory and convection that he bought from the owner who previously collaborated with WGB, with total assets currently reaching Rp1.8 billion.
Assisted by 10 head office employees and 23 convection employees, now in its 5th year WGB is able to produce 3,000-4,000 pieces of clothes per month with a selling price range between Rp. 160 thousand to Rp. 399 thousand and turnover reaching Rp. 400 million.
WGB Breaks the Fashion Industry with Design Innovation for Big Size
To further develop WGB, Adam also attended business development training and business mentoring programs conducted by Bank BTPN through the Daya program.
The results can be seen, recently WGB has opened an online shop in Malaysia. Spreading its wings to other countries is not without reason, many WGB customers also come from that country. Adam then lived and researched for 1 month in Malaysia to study the target market and the character of his people towards fashion before actually recruiting stockists and creating warehouses there.
Recently, WGB was awarded the 20 best designers in the Badan Ekonomi Kreatif (Bekraf) Modest Fashion Founders Fund program. Adam considers this to be a momentum for big size fashion to begin to be recognized and accepted in the national fashion industry. Not stopping there, WGB also participated in prestigious national level events such as Jakarta Fashion Trend 2020 which was held on November 11, 2019.
WGB paved the way and broke the notion that looking fashionable and cool only belongs to regular size people. Moreover, WGB makes innovations with certain motifs that are considered incompatible with the big size posture and still makes the wearer feel PD with attractive designs and colors. Sales of products with these designs are very large, it proves that as long as the design is cool and the colors are attractive, big size people can look cool, even with patterns of motifs and colors that are considered "haram".
Regarding the key of WGB's success, Adam emphasized that the most important thing is liking. "Business is what matters, like. If we like it, when we face problems we will try to find a way out to survive," he said. In addition, financial management plays the 2nd important role. This includes ensuring all transactions are recorded, and how to save operational costs. "Discipline is also the next important thing. Restraining ego, especially related to lifestyle. That's a form of sacrifice if the business wants to progress," he concluded.
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