July 21, 2024 A group of lecturers from Warmadewa University carried out Community Service (PKM) at the Women Farmers Group (KWT) "Dana Mertha Mesari", Kayubihi Village, Bangli District, Bangli Regency on Sunday (9/6/2024). The activity entitled "PKM Empowerment of Bamboo Weaving Craft Business by the Women Farmers Group (KWT) "Dana Mertha Mesari" Kayubihi Village, Bangli District, Bangli Regency" involved lecturers from multi-disciplinary fields including the Accounting, Management, Economics, Development Studies Study Programs.
The purpose of implementing this Community Partnership Program is to empower and maintain the existence of Kayubihi Village bamboo weaving products. The forms of community service programs implemented include the provision of supporting facilities and infrastructure for production, training related to digitalized bookkeeping and transaction recording, and electronic-based product marketing ( e-marketing ). This program is a form of response to the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 which emphasizes the concept of combining information and communication technology in the industrial sector. The business group that is a partner in the 2024 community service program is called the Women Farmers Group (KWT) "Dana Mertha Mesari" which is chaired by Ni Ketut Mertika Sari. This group was formed in 2016 and has 20 members. The products produced by the Women Farmers Group (KWT) "Dana Mertha Mesari" include sokasi/keben, wakul, kepe, and sebeh in various sizes (26 cm, 30 cm, and 35 cm) and also various motifs such as swastika motifs, windmill motifs, name motifs, and sun motifs. The Women Farmers Group "Dana Mertha Mesari" produces every day and is able to produce up to 50 (fifty) pieces of sokasi woven crafts every month.
The agenda of this community service activity is the provision of materials by a group of lecturers from Warmadewa University, especially lecturers from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Accounting, Management, and Development Economics Study Programs. The socialization process involved all members of KWT. However, this did not reduce the enthusiasm of the service partners who participated in this program, considering the great benefits received. The chief executive of this service program, namely I Gst. B Ngr. P. Putra, SE., M.Sc., Ak, CA, said that the urgency of carrying out this Community Service program was to overcome the problems faced by service partners in developing their businesses. The bamboo woven product business run by the Women Farmers Group (KWT) is classified as a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise on a household industry scale. Along the way, businesses with a small scope often experience ups and downs in business due to several problems faced. There are 3 (three) priority problems that are crucial to overcome, namely production problems, limited understanding of recording financial transactions and bookkeeping which is still done manually, and conventional marketing and promotion models. The first program we carried out was financial transaction recording training.
By providing knowledge related to simple financial recording, it is expected to help partners to know the outflow and inflow of funds that occur. The community service team also introduced and provided training related to the use of a third-party digitalized bookkeeping application called the "Buku Kas" application. Through the use of this application, it is expected to have a positive impact, namely increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the bookkeeping process. The Buku Kas application provides a complete menu related to business financial recording. The community service team introduced and taught partners starting from inputting sales transactions, cost of goods sold, inputting expenses, recording suppliers or customers. Partners can also record debts and receivables, and set reminders for their due dates. The system in the application will provide reminder information for partners regarding the names of customers or suppliers along with the nominal debts or receivables. This application also provides a menu related to debt payments and receivables settlements. No less important is that partners can download debt or receivables reports and simple financial reports according to the desired time period.
The second program that we provide is the provision of a website as a form of electronic marketing strategy and online promotion strategy training via the Setoko application. The initial stage is that we create a website by providing a product catalog accompanied by product type variants, prices, and sizes and equipped with a link that is directly connected to the WhatsApp application so that it will make it easier for consumers when making purchase orders.
Through this application, sellers find it easier to manage products in the online catalog. Sellers can manage products, photos, descriptions, and product availability information directly from one dashboard . Through this application, various payment options are available for customers with the Setoko payment link feature which is 100% safe, verified by Bank Indonesia and free of interbank transfer fees. The available payment methods are: 1) By using a payment link from any bank without being charged an admin fee; 2) By using e-wallets such as OVO, Gopay, ShopeePay, LinkAja, and Dana. This payment will go directly to the seller's account after the order is completed; 3) Manual Payment; 4) Payment on the Spot (COD).
Another advantage of this application is that sellers can manage orders and product delivery from one application. Furthermore, this application can make it easier for sellers to market and promote products online because it is directly integrated with social media such as Facebook apps and Instagram apps.
The third program that we provide is the provision of supporting production facilities and infrastructure. From the survey process that has been carried out, we found that the capital conditions of partners are very limited, so they often experience difficulties in providing raw materials and auxiliary materials to make food products. This condition causes the production process to be hampered, thus affecting the quantity of products produced. This encourages us to provide assistance in the form of assistance in providing supporting production facilities and infrastructure such as bamboo raw materials and auxiliary materials such as saws, paint and brushes.
The service team members are chaired by I Gst. B Ngr. P. Putra, SE, M.Sc., Ak., CA, assisted by two members, namely Anak Agung Ketut Jayawarsa, SE., M.Sc., and Ida Ayu Dinda Priyanka Maharani, SE., MM. The results of this activity are the overcoming of difficulties in terms of fulfilling the needs of raw materials and supporting production materials. Second, there is an increase in understanding, efficiency and effectiveness of the financial transaction recording process. Then the third result is an increase in sales results through the implementation of e-marketing strategies.
