IRVAN SUHARDIANTO (46 years) or usually called Mr. Irvan is one of the alumni of the social entrepreneurship management training, organized by Yayasan Inspirasi Indonesia Membangun / the Foundation for Inspiration of Indonesia Development (YIIM) in cooperation with Malang Class I Correctional Centre (Bapas Class I Malang), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Security Council Counter – Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), United Nations of Office Counter-Terrorism – UN Counter Terrorism Center (UNCCT) and From the People of Japan in March 2022.

This program is one of the programs that aims to improve the soft skills of the training participants and increasing business productivity of the participants. This training is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDGs number 1 regarding eradication of poverty, number 2 regarding end of hunger, number 8 regarding decent work and economic growth, number 10 regarding reduce inequality, number 16 regarding peace, justice and strong institutions, and number 17 regarding partnership to achieve goals.

Mr. Irvan is from Probolinggo city and he is one of the former convicts of criminal acts of terrorism (Napiter).

Before being implicated in a criminal act of terrorism, recorded since 1996 Mr. Irvan had run a barber business, namely “Irvan Profesional Potong Rambut” at a small shop in front of his parents-in-law’s yard which is located on the outskirts of Probolinggo, namely at JL. KH. Ilyas, Jrebeng Kidul, Wonoasih District, Probolinggo City, East Java.

Until this article was written, Mr. Irvan is still undergoing a mentoring period as an inmate at the Class I Correctional Centre in Malang. He is also quite active in conveying invitations and messages to the wider community not to be trapped in criminal acts of terrorism. Moreover, he is often invited to be a resource person (a speaker) of discussions and seminars with various audiences, including universities to call for deradicalization and not get stuck in doctrines that lead to criminal acts of terrorism. Mr. Irvan never hesitate to invite people to be more love for the Unitary Nation of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

First time opening a barber business

The first time Mr. Irvan develop his barber skill when he was trained directly by his father, who has been a barber since he was a child. As time went on, Mr. Irvan finally ran a barbershop located in the city of Probolinggo. In the beginning, Mr. Irvan opened a hair cutting business, installed a haircut service for IDR. 2,000 and still used a manual scissor, an old Clipper style scissors without electricity.

When starting a business, the first challenge is mental readiness in dealing with customers. Mr. Irvan had made several mistakes in shaving his hair and in the end he was afraid of repeating it. However, Mr. Irvan is determined to continue exercise his skills so that this business continues and can generate income to improve family welfare.

“At the time, for the first time, I was afraid  to shave with a razor, because I hit on the head of customers for several times. I was scared, plus there were customers who complained why the shave is not perfect. Gradually I intend because this is going to be my job, and I will try. Eventually, thanks to my experience and being trained by my father, I finally got it.” Mr. Irvan conveyed.

With the running of this barbershop, his customers from various backgrounds, such as provincial and municipal leaders, local government officials, Probolinggo Parliament members as well as police officers.

Declining Business Conditions and Starting a Business from the Bottom

When the dynamics of his life changed and he was charged under terrorism law, his business declined. In the year of 2018 Mr. Irvan was sentenced to 3 years in prison for criminal acts of terrorism. Learning from his past experience, Mr. Irvan wanted to change for the better. After getting remission and parole, Mr. Irvan finally was released and started a barber business again. Currently, Mr. Irvan has set a barber service price for IDR 10,000 (ten thousand rupiah). He also has successfully developed a small 3 x 3 meter building in front of his parents-in-law’s house for the last three years to restart his barber business.

When he returned to starting his business, he was assisted by many parties, including the Malang Class I Correctional Center (Bapas Class I Malang), YIIM, UNODC, the National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT), and he also received a small aid from the central government.

“I have to develop my business from zero again even below zero because my image is bad. I have to build my self-image again. I started to mingle with the community and also publicize my business on social media. From there, eventually there were one to two customers and it finally started to get busy.” He conveyed.

Apart from that, Mr. Irvan and alumni of the entrepreneurship management training also continue to receive assistance and communication with YIIM, both through the WhatsApp group and direct communication through visit programs by YIIM activists.

In December 2022, YIIM representatives visited Mr. Irvan’s barber to discuss developments in the barber business and discuss business innovations and to encourage Mr. Irvan to continue trying to develop his barber.

Developing Business By Participating in Training

To develop his business, Mr. Irvan took part in the entrepreneurship management training at the Malang Class I Correctional Center (Bapas Class I Malang) which was held on March 28th and 29th in the year of 2022. Mr. Irvan learned many lessons from marketing, management, to business innovation. Information related to training can be seen in TRAINING INFO and a YOUTUBE VIDEO documentation.

“The results of the training were very useful for me, especially financial bookkeeping materials that I now practice at my barbershop, then my business innovation now has a logo and also promotional materials on social media and WhatsApp because I am often called upon to shave too. I really felt the benefits of the results of the training that YIIM and UNODC had at that time.” added Mr. Irvan.

After attending the training, Mr. Irvan has slowly started to expand his business. Starting with making a business logo for promotion, one of promotions is through his close friends, colleagues and networks as well as social media. He received this material during entrepreneurship management training.

 Currently his business has started to grow. In the past two years, he has received around 10-20 customers per day and this has become a concrete manifestation of his barber pilot business.

His barber is also frequently visited by several officials at the local level, such as members of the Probolinggo Regency local parliament (DPRD), high-ranking police officers and leaders of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), they want to to experience Mr. Irvan’s quality haircut first-hand. Previously, he even received assistance in the form of a washing chair from somebody whose important position in the government and also who cares about the development of his business.

Mr. Irvan expects that in the future he wants to enlarge his place of business and successfully make breakthrough, thus he can further improve his family’s welfare. In this regards, he is also convey his hopes for YIIM and UNODC:

“God willing, the development of this business is very much needed and I hope that YII and UNODC will continue to conduct training for me and others. This training is very useful for increasing the Indonesian community to become entrepreneurs, if possible, so that they have employees and live a more prosperous life.” He conveyed.

Inspiration Greetings!