Rayya, 34 years old, is busy making fish cakes, a special culinary from Palembang, South Sumatra called Pempek. She inherits a family recipe from her mother. She started her culinary business since she lost her job as a hairstylist in Bali.

“Due to the pandemic, I lost my clients and income. Thus, since April 2021, I have started my fish cake business named after me, Rayya Pempek, as I had taught to make various kinds of pempek since a child,” she shared.

Her business continues to blossom after she finished a two-month online business coaching and a two-month direct business assistance programme in 2021, held by the ILO in collaboration with Business & Export Development Organization (BEDO), a business training provider based in Bali. “As a result, my income is increasing consistently about 30-40 percent from September to December last year,” she added.

Not only an increase of income, Rayya also has improved her business skills. She is now capable of estimating the potential profit and reducing the potential lost and has expanded her products to digital marketing.

“Pempek Rayya is now available on Google My Business so it really helps customers to find my products and business location. My product catalogues are also available at online platforms such as GoFood App, GrabFood App and WhatApps My Business,” she said proudly.

Rayya is one of 394 transgender entrepreneurs from eight transgender community organizations in five cities in Indonesia held by the ILO from 2018-2021. Around 65 percent of participants in the last two-year interventions (2020-2021) have witnessed an average increase of 178 percent of their business incomes.

A similar business improvement is also experienced by Farah Friliciana, a 42-year transgender with HIV and disability living in Bandung, West Java. After her small grocery business went bankrupt, she started a salty egg business in 2020 named: Priyangan Salty Eggs.

“I felt lucky to be part of the ILO business training programme for transgender persons. I have learnt a lot about businesses that help improving my own business,” she said.

In addition to business calculation and digital marketing, she has learnt about the importance of packaging and improved her product packaging from a simple plastic bag to a mica box with a sticker logo and contact number. “My income has increased significantly from only Rp 500.000 to Rp 2.450.000,” she said with excitement.

A life-changing improvement has also felt by Luvhi P. Pamungkas, 50 years old. Known as a senior entrepreneur in transgender community, she was appointed as one of the four co-trainers of the ILO-BEDO business coaching programme last year. “I started as one of the participants in 2020 and was appointed as a co-trainer in 2021. I am proud to be able to help assisting and coaching my fellow transgenders,” she said.

She admitted that her experience as a co-trainer has improved her business knowledge and skills. “I also learn how to effectively communicate with the participants and how to motivate and support them through their business journey. I understand that it is not easy to be a transgender entrepreneur as we do not only deal with business-related issues but also with stigma against us,” she added.

Her improved skills and knowledge do not only help her clients, but they also help her improving her own businesses. As a breadwinner for her family, she has the obligation to make a decent living. She is now managing two culinary businesses by applying digital marketing and product promotion and ensuring the health protocols. As a result, her businesses continue growing with 30 percent increase of income.

“These businesses have helped my family surviving the pandemic,” Luvhi stated.

ILO support to sustainable business improvements

Early Dewi Nuriana, ILO’s programme officer for HIV programme, hoped that the series of business coaching programmes would continue providing a greater opportunity for Indonesian transgender community to be economically independent and capable. “Since it is still difficult for transgender to enter formal employment, we hope that they can strive as entrepreneurs by creating income-generation jobs that are not only for themselves but also for others,” she said.

She also hoped that for the future activities, the ILO could have a combining online and offline business coaching. “These combined interventions, involving professional business coaching providers and community representative coaches are hoped to create a sustainable business improvement for transgender entrepreneurs,” added Early.

The business coaching programme has also opened a new personality for transgender entrepreneurs. Farah confided that she is now more self-confident in managing her business. “I can prove to the public that transgender persons are economically empowered and have the ability to build a successful business,” she concluded.

Meanwhile Rayya focuses on widening her business network and being more involved in the entrepreneur community. “I now focus on improving my business network, sharing my knowledge and be part of the business community as an entrepreneur without seeing my identity as a transgender.”