Startup Company Strategy to be Sustainable through Financial Services Product: Mitra Bukalapak Study Case

Abstract

Mitra Bukalapak is a B2B platform that digitalises 13.1 million Warung or Kiosks to be able to sell physical, virtual, and financial products. Today, this company is still having a negative contribution margin. Research has been conducted and shows that non-T1 cities are having the highest Mitra Bukalapak agent growth. This due to the unbanked people are demanding to get a certain service. A questionnaire has been sent to Mitra Bukalapak’s agent and an in-depth interview with internal stakeholders has been done to collect the data. The analysis of the data is conducted through qualitative and quantitative analysis and found 3 potential business strategies for the company. VRIO framework is used to identify Mitra Bukalapak’s competitive advantage internally. External analysis is done through STP marketing strategy and 7P marketing mix analysis. As the result, developing a new product portfolio can be one option. Tapping into a new market and concentrating on the high-growth market in T2 and T3 cities can be another. Also boosting revenue from existing customers by giving a higher charged fee can increase the take rate. This study aims to propose a strategy for Mitra Bukalapak to get a positive contribution margin specifically through its financial services product.