Today we have an exclusive interview With Rany Fardiany.

INTRODUCTION

Q. Who are you?
A. I am a technology enthusiast art and design lover. I am the CEO of Teknologi Cakra Internasional and one of the founders of InterconnectDATA.

Q. Aside from the obvious, what brings you here today?
A. I grew up in a family that instilled the importance of education for the future, I feel lucky to have parents who supported my passion and education. I strive to achieve my goal of being able to have a career in the IT industry which many men are involved in this industry and be successful because my parents have the same view as me that women can achieve the same success as men even though they are under challenging fields if we are willing to work hard and earnestly in achieving it all.

Q. Can you expound on the quote, “underselling” yourself?

A. Undersell is when we think or say that someone or something is less important, valuable, practical, etc., than they are. When we say “underselling” ourselves, it means that we think that we are less important or valuable than who we are. Many undersell women in the workplace, career, education, social status, and others. As a female entrepreneur, I believe that feeling inferior or underselling yourself is not suitable for us to maintain. If we feel confident in our abilities, then we never limit whatever desires and goals we want to achieve, whether in education, work, career, or others. We must instill a positive value in our subconscious that we can do the best things, regardless of what people say or think. Stay focused on your life goals and dreams. Rest assured that hard work, the spirit of learning, and the nature of the struggle in your life will lead you to success one day.

PAST

Q.Where are you from, and where did you grow up?

A. I was born and grew up in a beautiful city, Bandung, the heart of West Java, the capital of the province of West Java, which is well-known as one of the best tourist destinations in Indonesia, with its beautiful city layout, natural scenery and so many tourist attractions that outsiders can visit.
I grew up with Sundanese traditions and customs in West Java, where the people are known to be humble, friendly, and helpful. Many young people are very creative and can create many new things in various fields. Most of the young generations in Bandung also make many things so that they become trending in the community. In the art & culture industry, such as music & art, we may find that many musicians and artists are from Bandung city. The young generation also contributes to many other sectors, such as education, creative industry and social economics.

Many young entrepreneurs and startup owners come from Bandung city and other cities in West Java Province.Q. What exactly do you do for a career?

A. I have several main questions for myself to considering how to start my career as below :
The first thing is to discover my absolute passion. What do I want to do for a living? What is the most exciting industry or sector in which I want to get involved?

You have to relate the answer to your educational background. Will your degree support your future career? Probably most teenagers will still confuse and prefer to let their parents choose for their future, but you also have to consider that it is something that you will live in the future, so you have to know your passion & interest, not only because your parent’s decision, because it is you who will live in that path.

I have researched my future job or dream job and what kind of skills and knowledge I have to gain as the requirement to get into the industry or sector I choose for my future career. What kind of hardness and difficulties will I get if I decide on that job? It will be my challenge, and I need to learn and prepare for the hard and soft skills required for that job.
After I had prepared everything, I started to apply for a job in famous or big companies to gain my working experience and practice my skills. It will take several years to build networking and upgrade my skills until I am ready to run my own company with people I trust as a team. And here I am, standing as CEO of my own IT company, as I have dreamed of it for a couple of decades since I was in university.

Q. When did you discover your desire to pursue these passions as career options?

A. After I graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design in Bandung, Indonesia, I met several people with the same interest in Information Technology and Information Technology Security Systems, as well as Cyber Security. Then I initiated to take an Associates Degree in Computer and Information Systems Security / Information Assurance in Australia several years. That time was when I realized that my passion is in the IT industry, and I have decided to pursue this path for my future.

Q. Can you describe the process of the pursuit of said passions?

A. After I finished my Associate Degree in Computer and Information Systems Security / Information Assurance, I returned to Bandung, Indonesia. I initiated to build of my school for gathering young people with excellent cyber security skills; I named it “CyberLAB Forensics” in Bandung. I managed the curriculum programs for the students. I also cooperated with the government, such as the Indonesian National Armed Forces and Indonesian National Police, to create and train some soft skills and hard skills in Cyberlab Forensics, focus on cybersecurity, and build cyber security programs in the institution. After several years working in the Information Technology industry, I have done networking and connected with many people with the same interest as me. I worked in several IT companies as their top management before building my own IT company. Finally, I gathered information and data, brought my team and

trusted people to create a business information platform, and made an IT services company in 2021 under the name “PT.Teknologi Cakra Internasional,” which has more than 90 employees now. Our vision is “To be the leader in business information and communications solutions worldwide,” and our mission is “To make business easier and add value for customers through innovative information and communication technology solutions.”

Q. Can you tell us about your challenges while building your vision?

A. The challenge we face today is competition between other IT companies in Indonesia and other IT companies that previously existed in other countries. We must be able to keep up with the latest technology developments and have access to advanced technology devices that support competition in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 and Industrial society 5.0. Our company is driven to create innovation by mastering and utilizing technology to answer the needs of the people out there.

PRESENT

Q. Can you tell us more about your company?

A. Teknologi Cakra International is a database & IT Business Development company headquartered in Indonesia. Our target market is startups, professionals, individuals, organizations, government institutions, and well-established companies in the Asia Pacific region, Middle East, Europe, and the USA.

We developed the InterconnectData platform to provide millions of global business professionals with comprehensive data on private and public markets to assist in finding and creating opportunities quickly and accurately.

Our company is supported by advanced technology and tools to present business information data to companies in various parts of the world. For example, we have collaborated with IDX (Indonesian Stock Exchange) in presenting data on IPO companies in Indonesia. In addition, cooperation with Statista in presenting reliable market, companies, and consumer data on more than 80,000+ topics from 170 industries and 150 countries and regions are updated daily. We also work with S&P Global to provide financial analysis and information, more than 1,400 credit analysts and more than 1.2 million credit ratings for the government, corporate, economic, and securities sectors, as well as leading indicators of credit risk analysis, spanning a wide range of industries, various benchmarks, asset classes, and geographies.

We also created the “Makasi” Point of Sales. This application will support every seller and make it easier for sellers and buyers to do sales transactions, improve the efficiency of business activities by helping to summarize daily and monthly transaction reports, and create monthly financial statements for business owners. We created this application to support MSMEs and other businesses in doing business and adapting technology in the current digital economy era. Besides that, we have a brand consultant, “Arthology,” who is ready to help companies to build the image of their products and services, with the support of technology, art, and philosophy, where we will assist companies in creating a brand image that its audience will never forget. We create brand strategies, positioning, brand and logo designs, and both traditional and digital brand marketing strategies that will support the success of a brand in the market.

Q. What is your most tremendous success thus far?

A. I feel that my current success is by having a company that can help many people around me to have good jobs, create jobs for the community, support employees in the company to be able to continue their higher education by providing undergraduate scholarships, increase their knowledge and abilities employees by providing regular training and education, prospering them and their families by giving decent income, and by building this company that can create various products and services in IT and other fields that have many benefits for the wider community and make a positive contribution to the development community economy in Indonesia.

Q. What would you consider to be the most rewarding part of your job right now?

A. The most rewarding part of my job now is when I have created the corporate business plan with my team, including business plans of Internal, External, Strategic, Feasibility, Operations, and Growth Plans. Also to develop and manage every project management in detail with my team, including how to plan, budget, and implement a specific project, monitoring and controlling to ensure those business plans and projects run smoothly and successfully.

Q. Do you believe anyone is capable of accomplishing the same things that you have accomplished?
A. I want every employee in my company to be able to explore their abilities and develop their skills as well as added knowledge and skills that they don’t have, to become potential leaders in the future, whether it’s a manager in their division or department, I can educate, guide, pass on all my knowledge and experiences to whoever the best among the best of them, who can be my successor as CEO of this company in the future.

Q. What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur such as yourself?

A. I can give some advice for your entrepreneurs, such as below:
Challenge Yourself. The biggest Motivation is to keep challenging yourself. Let you treat your life like one comprehensive university education, where you can learn more daily.

Do Work You Care About and Know Your Passion. No doubt running a business takes a lot of time. Steve Jobs noted that the only way to be satisfied in your life is to do work that you genuinely believe in. Choose a career you truly care about and know it is your passion. What is your dream job? Do what you want, do what you like, and believe that the job will be your way to success.
Take The Risk. We never know the outcome of our efforts unless we do it. Jeff Bezos said it helped to know that he wouldn’t regret failure but would regret not trying.

Believe in Yourself and Face Your Fears. Believe that you can succeed and find ways through different obstacles. If you don’t, you’ll find excuses. Overcoming fear isn’t easy, but it must be done. We have to face fear every day in any situation, but we have to exercise and practice how to face it, and it will become our strength.

Find Good People and Build a Great Team. Also, hire Those Characters. Who you’re with is who you become. Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, noted that the fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be. No one succeeds in business alone, and those who try will lose to a great team every time. So build your great team to bolster your success. As you develop your team, hire those with strong character and good values. You can always train someone on skills, but you can’t make someone with good values fit your company after the fact.

Have A Good Vision and Know Your Goals. The founder and CEO of Tumblr, David Karp, notes that an entrepreneur has a vision for something and a desire to create it. So keep your eye clear at all times. Set your company goals and remind yourself of them each day.
Take Action and Do The Right Time. The world is full of great ideas, but success only comes through action. No one succeeds immediately, and everyone has to find a way to get started, so quit talking and start doing. Remember the fact that everyone was once a beginner. As Steve Jobs wisely noted, “if you look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” Feel free to invest time in your company.
Road-test your idea and Understand Your Industry. Road testing your concept can help you get to know your business idea and what changes are needed before going public. Only try to play a business you understand, even if you see many other people making money from them. Truly understanding your industry is key to having success.

Identify a gap in the market. Identifying a gap that needs to be filled is not about doing something new but something different. And while your idea must be profitable, it should also align with your interests.
Know your audience and Your Customers. There will always be a demographic for which your product or service is better suited, so identifying who that might be is critical. Market research will help you identify your target audience’s wants, needs, behaviors, and attitudes and how your product or service will serve them best. In addition, knowing your target customer is one of the primary keys to success. Know those you perform better than anyone else, and you’ll be able to deliver the solutions they need.

Never underestimate the power of a solid business plan. Having a clear vision and focus while staying objective is paramount if you want to be taken seriously and have any chance of your startup getting off the ground (and staying off the ground).

Plan for Raising Capital. And Spend Your Capital Wisely. It’s almost always harder for a startup to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. Make a detailed plan and think carefully about how you will raise capital for your business. When you spend money on your business, be careful to spend it wisely. It’s easy to spend too much on foolish things and run out of capital too soon.
Learn from Mistakes and Complaints. Many entrepreneurs point to mistakes as being their best teachers. When you learn from your mistakes, you move closer to success — even though you initially failed. Bill Gates once said that your most unhappy customers are your most excellent source of learning. Let low customers teach you where the holes in your service are.

Embrace feedback and learn from your mistakes. We all know that making mistakes and accepting constructive criticism and feedback is key to helping your business to move forward and stay competitive.

Build a strong network. From your peers in colleges or schools, your professors in universities, your colleagues at your workplace, your neighborhood, and even your family members, it’s essential to recognize the value and experience they can offer for you and your

startup. Make the most of networking opportunities in your degree, from networking events to industry talks, internships, and even coffee morning catch-ups. It can be in a professional setting. Getting to know your peers casually can transform into a professional working relationship. You are surrounding yourself with a team that’s just as skilled, hard-working, committed, and driven as you is a winning combination.

Have your finances in good order. You might not have all the money (at the moment), but you can still be smart with your funds when starting your business. It’s essential to have a sound knowledge of managing all financial aspects of the company and prepare for every possibility to help keep your business alive.

FUTURE

Q. Where do you see yourself and your company in the next five years?

A. In the next five years, I will see myself as a CEO with more knowledge, working experience, and business networking. I will look for new business opportunities to develop my company’s growth, enhance my networking, increase my business revenue, and improve my employee’s skills and expertise. My company will have hundreds of employees and various IT products/ services that serve many companies and customers. As a result, my company will grow into one of the most valuable IT companies in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific.

Q. Who or what has been the driving force to become who you are and accomplish what have you done?

A. Motivation is the driving force behind my thoughts, feelings, words, and actions, which transfers me from one reality to another, from where I am to where I wish to be. It is an inner positive energy, a combination of enthusiasm and clear perception, that enables everyone to accomplish a task or overcome a challenge. Motivation is the energy that drives me to achieve goals, and it’s necessary for all types of success. I need Motivation in my daily working day to remind myself that I can do my best and never give up in every circumstance I will face to run and develop my company.

Q. Is there anything you want your audience to know about yourself or your business?

A: As a womanpreneur, I have been through many trials and obstacles that I have overcome. This is where I stand as an IT company leader whose journey is still far in the future. I want to remind all women and men, young people, wherever you are. Do good and always think positively.
Study well and work well to achieve success in your life. Nothing is impossible in life and business as long as we try and pray to God, The Almighty. All our efforts and hard work will pay off in due time. As long as we keep fighting to move forward and rise from failures, never be afraid to try something new, and never give up on achieving our goals and dreams.