He is only 22 years old, but currently his FCK Factory crispy mushroom snack business has been able to collaborate with 3000 resellers, 300 agents and dozens of distributors spread not only in Kediri - his home city, but also in other cities in East Java, even in Jakarta.
His name is Ahmad Fikri, a young entrepreneur from Kediri. His introduction to the business world began when he was very young, aged 14 years. "So you could call me a motorbike kid, I liked racing wildly on the street, but because I didn't have enough money to repair my motorbike, I finally sold the motorbike. I was 14 years old, in the 3rd grade of junior high school," said Fikri.
When he entered high school, Fikri started to get to know MLM (Multilevel Marketing). From here he managed to gather around 100 people under his network. In the world of MLM, Fikri was considered successful, but not long after the MLM he joined disbanded due to the owner leaving him.
Fikri also tried his luck by playing Forex and Trading. Fikri calls it online gambling or money game. "From there I didn't do anything, I had capital of 10 million, I got 3 million. From online gambling that million turned into hundreds of millions," he said. Even though he made so much money, in his heart Fikri felt uneasy because he was doing things that were not permitted by religion. His involvement in the money game only ended when he was tricked and lost billions of rupiah. "I was cheated by the person who owned the money game, the total loss was 1.3 billion. From there I was frustrated. I almost wanted to commit suicide," said Fikri.
FCK was originally just a brand for crispy mushroom snack products. This product is marketed by recruiting reseller partners, agents and distributors from various cities on the island of Java.
The crispy mushroom business is growing rapidly. It didn't take long for Fikri to successfully pay off the debt resulting from the fraud he experienced. Apart from being able to recruit partners, Fikri has also succeeded in creating job opportunities for people around him.
Until Fikri finally decided to use mushroom raw materials for his products, he has his own story. "When I was broke, I met my grandparents who were mushroom farmers three times in a row. The grandparents said that if the mushrooms weren't selling, their grandchildren couldn't pay for school. I thought why did God give me mushrooms, why did I have to meet my grandparents who were mushroom farmers? God must have a purpose," explained Fikri. From this thought, he finally tried making crispy mushroom products.
Not only was he able to get himself out of bankruptcy and debt, Fikri's flagship crispy mushroom has even been able to make his partners prosperous. "There are those who can pay off their debts, there are also students who can pay for their own tuition by selling FCK, and can even help renovate their parents' house. That's what impressed me the most," said Fikri.
Being so young yet having achieved success is indeed unusual, as is his business journey which has been full of failures and ups and downs. What is even more unusual, in April 2020, when many businesses closed their outlets due to the pandemic, Fikri instead launched his new business, namely the FCK Factory restaurant, in Semen District, Kediri Regency. Apparently this decision was born out of Fikri's concern for the mothers of local residents who were experiencing difficulties. "With the current Covid-19 pandemic, we can't bear it, because some of the workers are mothers and have children and families," said Ahmad Fikri.
He believes that in this way, he can help open up jobs for many people in need. Even so, Fikri admits that the pandemic has also had an impact on the marketing of his crispy mushroom products. The obstacle he felt the most was delivery. However, Ahmad Fikri is optimistic that sales of the snack products he produces will return to enthusiasm because of the FCK Factory outlet.
Not far from snacks, the FCK Factory outlet also carries a mushroom menu, such as mushroom seblak, mushroom satay, mushroom capcay, mushroom fried rice, and mushroom noodles, mushroom spring rolls and mushroom risol. The various menus served are tailored to the target consumers who come to the restaurant, namely aged 18-30 years. "In the last month of Ramadan, we also offered a promotional package for consumers, namely a meal with 4 free drinks. Of the many menus available, the best seller was Seblak Mushroom," he said.
Apart from the Cement District, Fikri plans to expand his business to other areas. For example, in Bandar Village and Ngronggo Village, each of which is in Kediri City, and will also be open in Magetan. Ahmad Fikri hopes that, with the Covid-19 pandemic still ongoing, the business he started can provide benefits to the affected communities. This even includes providing business opportunities and developing the economic sector around the restaurant.
"Before I opened this restaurant, it was very quiet in this area. However, since I started this business, in front of my outlet, cell phone counters started to appear, and the traffic flow was busy. Especially during the Covid-19 outbreak, the government issued a ban on eating on the spot, as a result, many online motorcycle taxi drivers came here, because I opened online ordering and take away," he said.