Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

Rizky Arief, CEO and Founder of HMNS Perfume shared his experience of starting a business at YES! We Talk on Saturday (09/11/2024). His journey began with a love for literature from a young age, which later led him to work as a copywriter after graduating from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 2016 with a degree in Geological Engineering. His experience as a copywriter made him realize the powerful impact that writing can have on marketing products. "When working as a copywriter, I once wrote something on Facebook that went viral. Because it went viral, sales went up. That's when I realized how powerful storytelling can be," he explained.

Rizky uses the analogy of people as user interfaces in his approach to business. Because people are the user interface, he says, we must understand the stories around them for a product to make sense. This perspective inspired him to name his fragrance brand "HMNS" (human), which he believes is not just a fragrance but a story.

"You can sell anything if you can tell a story," he added.

But he also emphasized the importance of experience in writing. To become a good writer, we need to learn the theory of writing and more about our experience. This experience gives us evaluations and feedback that can improve our writing. However, every writer has their unique style. Therefore, in addition to experience, understanding one's writing style or how we tell a story is essential to becoming a skilled writer.

Finally, Rizky shared some tips for running a business. He emphasized the importance of having clear and realistic goals and achieving them gradually. "Focus on the goal at hand. We need to know if that goal is achievable or not. If not, how can we achieve the goals after that?" he concluded.

Reportage: Najwah Ariella Puteri

Editor: Kurnia Ekaptiningrum

Sustainable Development Goals