Kebab Turki Baba Rafi on BBC

After having dinner this night, I need a little relax; sipping tea and switching on BBC news channel and am pleasantly surprised to see a Indonesian young man in his early twenties, 23-year-old to be exact, named Hendy Sutiono being interviewed.

Surprisingly he’s responding to BBC’s queries in reasonably fluent English. In the upcoming weeks, BBC plans to feature some young enterpreneurs around the world. And Hendy Setiono got the honor to be the first.

Brief Profile

Hendy is the person behind the potentially big and global food company franchise Kebab Turki Baba Rafi which according to its website has already opened 14 branches throughout Indonesia including Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Jawa, and Bali and has been “operating more than 73 outlet.” It’s also got the prestigious honor as “The Indonesian Small Medium Business Entrepreneur Award ” (ISMBEA 2006). Obviously, the award is one of the main reasons that attracts BBC to interview him. According to BBC reporter, Kebab Rafi has accrued around $100,000/month in revenue.

Interesting enough to note his vision: he wants to make his company a globalised food franchise like KFC and McDonald. Considering his success in such a young age and his from zero-to-hero achievement (his started his company from $400 loan from his family), an uncommon phenomenon among non-Chinese Indonesian, I believe he can make it and wish him luck from the deepest part of my heart.