PANGKALPINANG - Siti Nurhasanah's boarding house business in Pangkalpinang City remains operational to this day, despite the impact of the extensive growth of housing developments in Bangka Belitung on the boarding house business.
Nevertheless, Siti Nurhasanah explained that there is still demand for boarding houses. As a result, her boarding houses are still occupied.
"Back then, there weren't many housing developments like now, so boarding houses were in high demand. But even though there are many housing developments now, there are still people looking for boarding houses, and mine is still occupied," said Ana, as she is often called, some time ago.
Starting her boarding house business in 2013, she initially had four boarding house units. However, over time, in 2021, she gradually built two more boarding house units.
With the support of the Micro Small Business Financing (PUMK) program from PT Timah, she was able to build two additional boarding house units in a strategic location in Kampung Keramat, Pangkalpinang City.
"Alhamdulillah, now there are six units. Recently, to complete the new two units, I utilized PT Timah's PUMK program because building requires a significant amount of capital," she said.
According to her, the boarding house business is still promising, especially if the location is strategic. However, the challenge is finding tenants who do not create problems.
"I am somewhat selective in choosing boarding house tenants and prioritize those who are already married. They also have to report to the local neighborhood head. This is to avoid unwanted incidents," she said.
She is grateful that with the capital from the PUMK program, her boarding houses are now completed and can be rented out. This has added to their income.
"I initially learned about PT Timah's PUMK program from a friend, then I tried to study it, and it turns out this program provides many conveniences. So, I was able to complete the construction of the boarding houses," she said.
She hopes that PT Timah's PUMK program will continue so that it can help other MSME entrepreneurs continue developing their businesses.
"The PUMK program from PT Timah has helped my business; hopefully, it can continue because it will make it easier for other business owners to develop their businesses," she concluded. (*)
