Acceleration of starts up business in agriculture through improvement of production, financial and marketing system

Due to increased unemployment among graduates, the University of Darussalam Gontor-Indonesia provided a program for strengthening entrepreneurship in start-up businesses in the agricultural sector. To achieve this objective, a community empowerment program was created that includes four strategic levels namely, 1) assessment; 2) training; 3) mentoring; and 4) monitoring and evaluation. This program was applied to 8 start-up businesses in sub sectors such as horticulture production, aquaculture, livestock, and agro-industrial. Assessment analysis resulted in three main targets on the entrepreneurship training program including 1) improvement of production; 2) development of a financial system, and 3) expansion of the marketing network. After 6 months, the community empowerment program improved acceptable and profitable production through different technology implementation methods. To build financial systems, every group recorded financial data through a Microsoft excel program template, and created a strategic plan based on present information and educated projections. Furthermore, every business unit had to be proficient in operating the website and with social media accounts for developing marketing network. General evaluation confirmed that this program could gradually enhance the skills of business owners/entrepreneurs. Good education in entrepreneurial skills in start-up businesses could drive sustainable performance and growth small-medium enterprises.