S01E05: Zhafira Loebis, CEO of Babyloania
In this episode, I spoke to Indonesian entrepreneur, Zhafira Loebis who is the CEO of Babyloania.
She is articulate, smart, generous and wonderfully resourceful, traits that have helped her become one of the most recognised entrepreneurs in Indonesia.
She has been featured on CNN and CNBC Indonesia for the amazing success story that is Babyloania.
Babyloania started out of her own need.
When she was pregnant with her first child in 2014, Zhafira and her husband, Arlo Erdaka Temenggung were making a list of baby equipment to buy only to realise with dismay how expensive everything was! (And she was then a practising lawyer with one of the largest law firms in Indonesia.)
This problem prompted them to look into starting their business called Babyloania which is a baby equipment rental business.
Zhafira and her husband bootstrapped themselves and started the business when their baby was just 3 months old. Under Babyloania, they rent out about 2,000 items monthly out to areas like Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.
But listen in on our conversation as Zhafira started yet another business within the business. She spotted the opportunity right when she was in the thick of running Babyloania! Now this is what I call resourceful and clever.
During the pandemic lockdown in Indonesia, they turned what was potentially a reduction in business to even greater visibility with a great idea. And then another fabulous business idea popped up too when their website came crashing down!
Interestingly, many people started to copy their business model and instead of dismissing their competitors, they started collaborating with all 126 of them! Talk about out-of-the-box thinking!
Zhafira reveals a lot of practical strategies that she uses in the running of her business from the creative way she got her first employee to how she turned to her competitors to collaborate and even shared best practices with them.
She also talks how she never prioritises business over family. Family is and will be the biggest part of her life.
This is one episode where you will be blown away by her openness, pragmatism and principles.
This is one super inspiring woman who knows what she wants but also knows how to balance her family and her business incredibly well!
Website: https://www.babyloania.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/babyloania
