A 22-year-old entrepreneur who owns multiple businesses has managed to keep her stance firm amongst the downpour of Covid-19. Tiffany Dwi Putri is an alumna of Management and Science University (MSU).
Tiffany graduated with a Bachelor in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the School of Hospitality and Creative Arts (SHCA) and graduated in 2018 before further pursuing a Master in International Business and Entrepreneurship in England, United Kingdom.
Right after her Master’s degree, she opened up a car wash business by the name Bugatti Car Wash. While the business was speeding up, Tiffany took it to her dream to set her foot into the F&B business.
“The first business that I opened was Bugatti Car Wash, it opened in November 2019. After that, I wanted to expand into the food and beverage industry. Hence, I bought a franchise brand and opened a branch restaurant in my hometown. It was Hey Steak Pekanbaru, one of the biggest branch restaurants of Hey Steak Indonesia,” she said
Her restaurant franchise, Hey Steak, is a self-service ‘all you can eat’ style eatery. The patrons of the restaurant may take as much food as they desire at a buffet table area. When asked about what sets her franchise apart from others, she attributes it to the uniqueness of her restaurant.
While her restaurant provides food services to its patrons, Tiffany’s car wash business, Bugatti Car Wash, offers vehicle washing and auto detailing services. She goes on to state that her car wash business offers great services to their customers as well as provides promos, and while they wait for their vehicles to be serviced, they may wait at a designated comfort cafe.
Owning a restaurant has always been a dream for Tiffany that started in her teen filled years. Her choice of venturing into her selected businesses was also a calculated undertaking that she had thought of well before initiating the business.
She states, “The food and beverage industry has been my dream since I was 15 years old. I already thought that the restaurant business is a long-lasting one because food is an important aspect of daily life for all humans. I chose this restaurant simply because of the smaller number of competitors, which meant less contest and more returns.
Many people might say that what Tiffany has done is a major achievement given that she is just 22 years old. However, for Tiffany, her sense of achievement is different, as she goes on to state, “Since the companies just started a year ago, I think we don’t have a solid sense of achievement yet.
“Rather we would achieve our sales target daily. For me, owning and well maintaining the restaurant and car wash business is the biggest achievement.”
As impressive and noteworthy as it is for a person such as Tiffany to own two separate businesses, it was not always easy as she had to face many challenges along the way.
“The challenges [to me] were to meet customer expectations, maintaining the quality of products and services during tough times, and dealing with competition from competitors because this is a service-based business and that means customer satisfaction is the most important part of it all. Sometimes, in crowded conditions, it was challenging to give the perfect service with the same manpower, but now I am able to handle it well since I have learnt it the hard way. I will expand the business and upgrade the quality of the services to increase customer satisfaction going forward,” she said.
Before venturing into the entrepreneurial field, Tiffany’s starting line was her alma mater, MSU. She had stated that the main reason she went to MSU was that it offered the degree she wanted to study.
“MSU provided great facilities, professional staff and also a quality curriculum. MSU also supported us students to feel comfortable during our studies by providing a good environment. Moreover, I learned about soft skills, which will be useful for me especially being a fresh graduate with basic skills that helped me to face the working environment,” she said.
Her time at MSU was fruitful as she experienced many profitable curriculums that prepared her for her future career.
“The practical classes such as Housekeeping, Basic Western, and Fine Dining taught me a lot of skills. In addition, soft skills class and management class were the theory classes that were very useful in my businesses later on. These soft skills that I learned as part of my curriculum at MSU nurtured me to be industry-ready,” she said.
Looking back on the days of her undergraduate studies at MSU, Tiffany can’t help but reminisce the fond memories she had gained there.
“There are a lot of unforgettable experiences during my time at MSU. But one of the most unforgettable experiences was going to Perth, Australia under the Global Mobility Programme (GMP) with my classmates. My most memorable moment was getting a Dean’s List Award,” she said.
When asked what her greatest inspiration was, Tiffany looks no further and points a finger directly to her very own Wonder Woman, her mother.
“My mom was the key driving force behind each of my successes, and I’ll always make her proud,” she said.
Still filled with youthful aspirations and an undaunting mindset to tackle new ventures, Tiffany is looking forward to expanding her business in the future and opening branches of her restaurant all over Indonesia.
Tiffany gives her formula for success to those who are desiring to set their foot in entrepreneurship.
“Be ambitious and work hard, and you may be committed to doing what it takes to make your business succeed,” she ended.
As a top university in Malaysia, MSU prioritizes student development to enhance graduate employability. With 98.7% of its graduates successfully securing employment within six months of their graduation, leading to MSU’s ranking by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) as Malaysia’s #1 for graduate employability.
Blending technical vocational education and training (TVET) with traditional academic curricula, MSU enhances competencies with industry internship, community and creative entrepreneurship, as well as global exposure; empowering MSU graduates with the well-roundedness desired and sought after by employers.
Further, various skills enhancement programmes that are aimed to improve students’ competitiveness are offered to students.
The Graduate Employability Skills (GEmS) and Personal Enrichment Competencies (PEC) programme at MSU serves to improve the students’ soft skills.
In all, as an applied, enterprise, holistic and international university, MSU offers foundation, undergraduate, postgraduate and flexible programs through an entry system that facilitates admission of students from all walks of life, where it aims to TRANSFORM LIVES and ENRICHING FUTURES.
For a full range and information on programmes offered at MSU, please call 03-5521 6868, email enquiry@msu.edu.my, or visit their website at www.msu.edu.my.
Management and Science University alumna Tiffany Dwi Putri.
