ARTICLE Atomy Indonesia aims to be one of the top 10 distribution companies with“Ayo Ayo Bisa”
Atomy Indonesia aims to be one of the top 10 distribution companies with“Ayo Ayo Bisa”
Atomy Indonesia aims to be one of the top 10 distribution companies with“Ayo Ayo Bisa”
Annual average growth rate of 100%, spurring GSGS
In October 2018, Atomy began operations in Indonesia, the largest ASEAN country. Absolute Quality Absolute Price began to spread in Indonesia, which has an area of over 1.9 million square kilometers and a population of more than 276 million people. Three years later in September 2021, Atomy Indonesia is aiming to rank among the top 10 distribution companies, yelling “Ayo! Ayo! Bisa!!!!!” (Let’s go, let’s go, let’s do it).
Communication with members is top priority
Atomy Indonesia General Manager Sung-jeon Kim runs the branch on a foundation of communication. During the grand opening in 2018, he had indicated that he would lead Atomy Indonesia by communicating with members, stating, “Lack of communication can cause misunderstanding and hinder growth. We will create a flexible organizational culture through active communication with members.” To communicate with its members, Atomy Indonesia regularly holds meetings with leaders to understand their thoughts and demands. Face-to-face meetings are currently not possible due to the pandemic, which is why communication takes place regularly through online center manager meetings, center manager bands, and Whatsapp twice a week. In particular, online center manager meetings serve to share and coordinate the branch’s key policies and play a central role in building trust between members and the branch. Through such communication, Atomy Indonesia is pursuing dramatic growth. Sales have more than doubled from KRW 3 billion in 2018 to KRW 8.6 billion in 2019, almost doubling again to KRW 16.7 billion in 2020. In the first half of 2021, KRW 14.8 billion in sales was recorded, a 170% increase from the same period in 2020. Simply put, the average growth rate for the past three years from 2018 to 2021 has been over 100%. The main factor behind this growth is the mutual trust that has been established between members and Atomy Indonesia. As a result, members have confidence and are committed to their business, while the branch endeavors around the clock to fully support them in their efforts.
The “100% Atomians” seminar performs beyond expectations
The business environment in Indonesia is not ideal. It wasn’t easy to hold seminars in many areas, because it is a country composed of the largest number of islands in the world, with a land mass area 20 times the size of South Korea. There were many cases in which people could only participate in seminars by taking a 2.5-hour flight followed by a 1-hour drive, in addition to the difficulty of providing equipment for seminars in areas outside the capital of Jakarta. In 2019, Atomy Indonesia went to great lengths to conduct seminars throughout the year. As a result, 30 one-day seminars and 11 Success Academy events were held in 10 regions, including Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung, with over 13,700 participants in attendance. With the sudden COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, all of those efforts seemed to have gone to waste. However, Atomy Indonesia employees came together to start having webinars via YouTube and Facebook. In 2020, 48 webinars were held in total. From October on, the “100% Atomians” seminar was held every month for members who wished to focus on the Atomy business. Performance was beyond expectations. Members who were unable to attend various offline seminars due to geographic constraints were able to attend webinars. As a result, the number of participating members was over 45,800 in 2020, more than three times that of 2019. For Atomy Indonesia, it wasn’t so much a COVID-19 crisis as it was a new opportunity. This year, leaders began undergoing online speech training in collaboration with the Public Speaking Academy. This was in order to improve presentation skills at seminars, communication skills at meetings, and lecture skills, all of which are essential to the Atomy business. Atomy Indonesia Marketing Manager Putri said, “74 members have undergone training so far and lecture videos from 24 of them were used in webinars. The response has been positive to the extent that some members hold training programs on Zoom in order to pass on the know-how they’ve gathered in the speech training to partners.”
Atomy HemoHIM and GSGS boosts growth
In August 2020, Atomy Indonesia officially launched Atomy HemoHIM. Though originally intended to launch at the same time as the official start of business operations, there was considerable difficulty on account of the strict Indonesian laws on the registration of dietary supplements. An Atomy Indonesia official said about the situation at the time, “We applied for the second time in October 2018 and the third in February 2019, but we had many mountains to climb related to obtaining approval for pharmaceuticals.”
Following the first main review in December 2019, additional test results were requested due to the mixed composition of angelica radix, cnidium officinale, and peony extract being the first of its kind in Indonesia. Just when a month’s worth of test results were about to be submitted, the global pandemic broke out. The entire National Agency for Drug and Food Control of Indonesia shut down operations and switched to working from home, resulting in a delay of the reviews. In the end, Atomy HemoHIM was officially registered as a dietary supplement in Indonesia on the slightly later-than-expected date of April 26, and began selling in August after undergoing various procedures for importation, among other things. With the launch of Atomy HemoHIM, Atomy Indonesia is expecting a local consumer base to be established and sales to increase as a result, providing a new driver of growth. Atomy Indonesia members who are well familiar with Atomy HemoHIM have high expectations. Atomy Indonesia Diamond Master Mardi said, “We have been waiting for the launch of Atomy HemoHIM for a long time,” assuring that “Atomy HemoHIM will be a bestseller in Indonesia.” Living up to expectations, sales in 2020 increased from 2019 by more than 94% to KRW 16.7 billion, confirming the significant impact of the launch of Atomy HemoHIM. Atomy Indonesia plans to strengthen its position in the country through expansion of GSGS in the future. Starting with food products in 2022, the launch of products directly targeting Indonesian consumer demand is expected to make up about 25% of total sales. Consequently, it plans to eventually position itself as a company that explores and exports local Absolute Quality Absolute Price products, moving beyond a simple import and sales company. Atomy Indonesia General Manager Sung-jeon Kim said, “The launch of Atomy HemoHIM is a great help for the business of our members and a driver of growth for Atomy Indonesia.” “In addition to Atomy HemoHIM, the expansion of GSGS products will lend a greater hand to our members’ business,” he added.
Indonesia Center Manager Workshop (November 2019)
Atomy Indonesia sales trend
(Unit: KRW 100 million)
Goal of ranking among top 10 distribution companies in Indonesia within 10 years
and being the vanguard
for becoming a global distribution hub
Atomy Indonesia General Manager
Sung-jeon Kim
: “It will grow into one of the top 10 distribution companies in Indonesia within 10 years.” This is a bold statement by Atomy Indonesia General Manager Sung-jeon Kim. He isn’t referring to the top 10 distribution companies in the industry, but rather the top 10 among all distribution companies. It is a given that the company must rank first in the industry. It’s not out of the question either, seeing that the annual average growth rate of Atomy Indonesia has been over 100% from opening to date. However, General Manager Sung-jeon Kim believes that Atomy Indonesia’s growth isn’t entirely living up to expectations. “It is only about 60% of the original plan, given that Atomy HemoHIM was registered later than expected and the advantages of direct selling have been hampered by COVID-19.” However, he did consider Indonesian awareness of Atomy and the quality of its products to have increased since opening. It is especially a positive sign that people who are not Atomy members are familiar with Atomy and its products. "We will try to deliver results beyond expectations through more aggressive marketing," he emphasized. Atomy HemoHIM, which began the registration process in 2017, was not expected to be finally registered in May 2020 after three long years. The stringent registration requirements of the National Agency for Drug and Food Control of Indonesia were known, but there were several complications along the way, such as unexpected and sudden variables. “The hardest thing was registering Atomy HemoHIM. We even considered giving up on it at one point.” As the saying goes, after the storm comes the calm, and Atomy HemoHIM was successfully launched despite considerable challenges, becoming the flagship product of Atomy Indonesia in one fell swoop. Going forward, General Manager Sung-jeon Kim plans to develop GSGS as another growth area. His goal in particular is to explore and launch products in the second half of the year that meet the demand of Indonesian consumers, who are different from Korean consumers. He said, "GSGS is the key area we are currently focusing on. GSGS products will account for about 20% to 30% of overall sales." Unlike the culture of haste in Korea, the diametrically opposed and more leisurely approach in Indonesia dampens expectations of short-term results. On the other hand, however, building trust translates to the possibility of steady growth in the mid to long term. With a population of 270 million and higher purchasing power parity than Korea, Indonesia’s direct selling market has very high growth potential. General Manager Sung-jeon Kim said, “Atomy will go beyond the Indonesian direct selling market and compete with distribution companies. I’m confident that it will surely be the vanguard for becoming a global distribution hub.”
Member interview 1
Atomy is the best business to get an unfulfilling “minus” life back on the right track
Success isn’t not failing; it’s failing and not giving up
Sharon Rose Master Hendrik Hidayat
Sharon Rose Master Hendrik Hidayat had a incomplete “minus” life when he started Atomy. He was laid off from his steady job and was scratching out a living as an online taxi driver. That was when he discovered Atomy, which was very enticing to him. “There is no need for capital and no monthly maintenance fee. I thought there was no better business to get my “minus” life back on the right track.” After starting the Atomy business, Sharon Rose Master Hendrik Hidayat never looked back. He introduced Atomy to everyone he knew and when he thought there was no one else to talk to about it, he saw some women sitting in a park across the street from a department store. Sharon Rose Master Hendrik quickly began applying Atomy Body Lotion on his hands and arms. Sure enough, one woman approached him and spoke to him. Sharon Rose Master Hendrik naturally introduced the Atomy product and business, signing her up to be an Atomy member. “It’s not hard if you’re confident about your dreams. I believed I could succeed with Atomy, so I only moved forward without hesitation.” The result was success. Despite COVID-19, Hendrik and his daughter, who is in the Atomy business with him, were both promoted to Sharon Rose Masters in April 2021. Equipped with Atomy HemoHIM and vitamin C, he went from offline to online and began spreading the Atomy products and business to more people, regardless of time and distance. Once his passion and efforts came together with the opportunity that is Atomy, his unfulfilling “minus” life started turning positive. “I made it happen, so others can too. Success isn’t not failing; it’s failing and not giving up,” Sharon Rose Master Hendrik emphasized.
Member interview 2
Starting Atomy with passion alone
and getting all the way to Imperial Master
Flying higher in the gale of COVID-19
Sharon Rose Master Aprinda L. Mansawan
When Sharon Rose Master Aprinda was first introduced to Atomy in 2018, all she had to her name was passion. It took her mother four months to finally talk her into it, and despite never having used one of its products, she was drawn to the company motto. She was running a small confectionery store, but her life was in a mess due to a failed business from a few years ago. Because of this, she carried an empty product container and went around telling the homemakers she met about Atomy. "I didn't have money, but I didn't give up. I went from house to house introducing Atomy everywhere I went, including at companies. I went around having meetings every day to try and inspire confidence in Atomy in others.” She didn’t think it was difficult. All she did was endeavor to find a partner who had the same vision as Atomy. Despite the changes COVID-19 brought to the life she had been living and the economic hardship many people experienced in addition to health concerns, she overcame the difficulties by learning about new technology and social media and switching her business from offline to online. “The stronger the wind, the higher the kite flies” became Sharon Rose Master Aprinda’s motto. "You need to have passion in these times. Passion makes the impossible possible.” However, this business wasn’t comprised solely of difficulties for her. Atomy brought much joy to Sharon Rose Master Aprinda. Her sources of joy include her mother’s satisfaction with her daughter being able to achieve what she wanted, her children being able to do what they wanted, and her partners contacting her saying they used Atomy products that helped their business a lot. “A lot of people want to succeed, but I don’t think many of them dream about succeeding together with others. I’m going to keep searching diligently for people who have the same vision and goals as I do in order to make them my partners and strive to reach Imperial Master together.”
Editor: Young-min Lee