SHORT REPORT ON THE

MOTIVATIONS AND
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF
JAMU ENTREPRENEURS
Presented at the SSHRC funded International Seminar
on Jamu Entrepreneurship at the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Carolyn Szuter
UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK Canada

Introduction
Gender roles (set of social and behavioural norms that are considered to be socially
appropriate for individuals, based on sex) influence the motivations and management strategies
of entrepreneurs, as well as the construction of entrepreneurial identity. Jamu entrepreneurs,
usually women, may have unique motivations and management strategies because informally
making and selling jamu is associated with traditional feminine identity (to maintain ones own
health, especially reproductive health, and beauty for her husband, and in caring for ones family
by providing medicine when needed). This report seeks to shed light on how gender may
influence women (and some men) to start informal jamu microenterprises, and how gender may
influence resource accessibility, and management strategies to fulfill business and household
responsibilities. It is hoped that this investigation will shed light on a form of entrepreneurship
in central Java that is dominated by women, and how government, non-government
organizations, businesses and others can continue to support jamu sellers, and the work that they
do1.
Research Questions Explored:
This report explores jamu entrepreneurship and the importance of gender roles. More
specifically, the following research questions are explored;
What motivates jamu entrepreneurs in Yogyakarta to run their own business and what are their
management strategies?
This question implies two sub-questions:

The government of Yogyakarta has to date, done a lot of work to help informal jamu sellers, through partnerships
with individuals, businesses, and other entities to provide trainings and education, provide loans, and other resources
(including bikes, blenders, and other materials to make jamu).

How do the existing social and behaviour norms (considered to be culturally appropriate
for women) in Java, especially with regard to existing gender roles and relations,
influence entrepreneurs motivation to operate a jamu business and their management
strategies?

How do Javanese gender roles and relations, in Yogyakarta, impact the social
construction of jamu selling, and therefore the motivations and management strategies of
jamu entrepreneurs in regards to their businesses?

Moving forward, this report will define important concepts (including entrepreneurship and
entrepreneurs, informal work, and microenterprises), provide an overview of the theoretical
and methodological perspectives guiding the research, and discuss the findings and insights
about jamu sellers (with some discussion about how jamu sellers compare to other entrepreneurs
from other regions of the world). The conclusion will include the limitations of the research, as
well as policy recommendations.

Definition for Entrepreneurship

Gender inequality and different gender roles compel women and men to behave in
different ways, therefore, process based models which focus on cognitive processes, beliefs, and
behaviors of entrepreneurs are useful for defining the terms, entrepreneur and
entrepreneurship (Gartner, 1988; Segal, Borgia, & Schoenfeld, 2005). This report uses a
definition for entrepreneurship which was originally proposed by Moore and Buttner (1997), and
subsequently modified by Heilman and Chen (2003); an entrepreneur is someone who has
initiated a business, is actively involved in managing it, and owns at least 50% of the firm
(Heilman & Chen, 2003, p. 349). This definition speaks to a process-based approach, considering
the how by including behaviors of entrepreneuring (actively managing a business). In order to

include considerations about context, (because cognitive processes and behaviors are affected by
contextual factors including cultural gender stereotypes (Gupta & Turban, 2008)) the definition
is modified to include people who have taken over a business of a previous entrepreneur. It is
common for women in Yogyakarta to become a business owner after a prolonged mentorship
with an elder who has then given them their business.

Definition and context of informal work:

The Asian Development Bank defines informal work as precarious employment with the
characteristics of a household business where all liability falls on the owner and expenditure for
production is often indistinguishable from household expenditure (ADB, 2011, p. 47). the
informal economy is an important source of employment for women (Franck, 2012; Williams,
2009); in a survey specific to Yogyakarta, it was found that 81.9% of the total employment was
informal (ADB, 2011) and in Indonesia, eighty percent of women who work, work within the
informal sector (ADB, 2002; Johnson, 2011; World Trade Press, 2010). Informal work is
associated with lack of access to healthcare resources (Vosko, 2007); since Indonesian women
are disproportionately present in the informal sector (ADB, 2002; Johnson, 2011; World Trade
Press, 2010), they are more likely than men to experience precarious work conditions.

Definition of micro-enterprise:
This report uses the definition of microenterprise given by Tambunan (2009);
microenterprises are small informal businesses which employ less than five people and often
owners dont employ anyone or use unpaid work from family members. Only one of the
entrepreneurs interviewed for this research does not fit this description (she employs more than
five people).

Definition of gender identity

People are socialized to a particular gender (male or female) starting at birth, according to
their biological sex. Males are socialized differently than females, and individuals learn to
internalize this experience of socialization, eventually self-identifying as a male or female
(Kessler & McKenna, 1978). Gender identity (also referred to as gender role identity and sex
role identity) is different from biological sex, rather it is the way a person feels about their own
gender; for example, men and women often identify as the gender that is associated with their
biological sex but they can also identify as the opposite gender or neither. However, individuals
do not have total control of the identities that are ascribed to them by others (Foote, 1951)
because they are situated within places with unique social mores, policies, economies, and
gender expectations (Essers & Benschop, 2009). This is important because the way that we see
ourselves and the way that others see us, are interlinked (Charme, 2000; Lewis, 2013; Watson,
2009).
The particular behaviors that are associated with a gender are called gender roles
(Kessler & McKenna, 1978), and individuals can approve of, and participate in their assigned
gender role in different ways (Kessler & McKenna, 1978, p. 10), though the identities that men
can access are different from identities that women can access; commonly within patriarchal
cultures, women find it more difficult than men to conform to ideals of entrepreneurship, because
such ideals are often normalized as masculine (in terms of expected characteristics and
behaviors) (Lewis, 2013; Patterson, Mavin, & Turner, 2012). An example of limitations that
women experience with accessing entrepreneurial identities comes from Italy, where Bruni et al.
(2004a) found that two women owners of a family welding business were often mistaken for
secretaries; the non-identification of the sisters as entrepreneurs is apparently determined less
by any particular action on their part than by the association of their femaleness with the role of

women in business organizations (p. 417). Gender roles (in any given culture) are not static and
can change over time; new generations can construct gender differently than older generations.

Methodology and Theory

This research has been prepared, conducted, analyzed and presented while utilizing the
following perspectives: feminist theory of entrepreneurship, feminist postcolonial theory, and
institutional theory. Interviews with thirty jamu sellers (two men and twenty-eight women) and
four key informants were carried out, after participants gave consent, during June and July 2013,
in Javanese, and recorded with audio recorders. The recordings were then transcribed in
Javanese, and translated to Bahasa Indonesian and then English. Transcripts were then sent to
the author, who conducted the analysis with NVivo software, using grounded theory methods.
This research seeks to show that jamu sellers come from a diverse array of backgrounds,
with different demographic characteristics (including entrepreneurs age, gender, marital status,
number of children, education, and regions from which sellers are from) and types of businesses.
Research participants were found through jamu associations and by approaching individuals at
work in different areas of the city. We also asked sellers if they could recommend other jamu
sellers to interview. All participants gave consent before interviews were conducted. Interviews
were semi-structured, and lasted one to two hours each.
The author conducted this research as a part of her masters thesis in sociology at the
University of New Brunswick in Canada. Her supervisor, Maria Costanza Torri, is the principal
investigator of the SSHRC funded project, which enabled her to travel to Indonesia to learn from
jamu sellers. Her thesis subject is gender, entrepreneurship, and traditional medicine. She was
originally interested in this research and subject matter because of her own experiences with
micro-entrepreneurship with her own craft business sewing artful beautiful collage bags from old

clothing and discarded fabric. She was inspired to understand the experiences of other craft
business owners, and when she learned of the opportunity to study jamu sellers, she was very
excited to join the project! Jamu sellers, may not be hand-craft business owners, but they
certainly craft their handmade jamu in unique and inspiring ways, as the author learned while she
conducted field research in June and July of 2013.
Self-reflexivity is an important component of this research, and feminist research in
general (DeVault, 1996; Doucet & Mauthner, 2007; Ramazanoglu & Holland, 2002); it is the
authors intent to avoid any marginalization of the participants and their experiences. The
author wishes to acknowledge that it is impossible for researchers to represent the voices of
participants, as Spivak (1988; 1992) argues; rather the goal is to acknowledge all of the voices
that are present in telling the story of the research findings. The story, and stories which are told
in this report, do not only come from the participants, but also from the author (who decides the
way to tell the story through her writing), as well as the transcribers and interpreters. The author
also wishes to avoid homogenizing the experiences of jamu sellers; it is important to honor the
differences in experiences, and see that not all jamu sellers are the same. This does not mean, of
course, that it is not possible to see similarities in their experiences. Because this research is
focused on participants who live and work in Yogyakarta, Indonesia it can be assumed that
participants are embedded in very similar cultural contexts (especially with regard to gender
expectations). This does create a lot of similarities in the reported experiences, but of course,
sellers can interpret their experiences differently and make a variety of choices in how they
manage problems, and acquire and put to use the resources that are available to them.
Individual experiences are just as important as social structures. The theory presented in
this report acknowledges the importance of both structural and individual perspectives. Societal

gender norms are a particular social structure of interest, which individuals can interpret and
internalize in unique ways. With regard to understanding the effect of gender in
entrepreneurship, feminist research of entrepreneurship has found that feminine business values
and characteristics are often devalued in patriarchal societies (Calas, Bourne, & Smircich, 2009).
Women are usually socialized in different ways than men, leading them to act (relationally)
different than men, and structure their businesses differently (Ahl, 2003, 2006). For example,
because women typically have the gender role of caring for children and the family, when they
choose to start a business, this role is still a daily duty that they feel compelled to fulfill.
Therefore, women business owners often adopt a slow-growth strategy to their business,
purposefully staying small, so that they can continue to do both jobs manage their business,
and manage their household (Cliff, 1998; Costin, 2012). Men in patriarchal societies often do
not have to fulfill dual roles, and instead feel free to focus more of their energy into their
business, which enables them to grow faster than women owned enterprises (Cliff, 1998; Costin,
2012). In addition, men typically have greater access to resources including loans, unpaid family
labor, and self-efficacy (possibly because of the presence of more public male role models in
business) (BarNir, Watson, & Hutchins, 2011). Women in Indonesia (and elsewhere) tend to
have only small businesses (micro-enterprises), and experience more barriers to business growth
including low levels of education, few training opportunities (Tambunan, 2009), lack of access to
credit from formal lending institutions (Abdo & Kerbage, 2012; ADB, 2006; Bushell, 2008), and
more household responsibilities (Tambunan, 2009).

Findings and Discussion

This section of the report will focus on a discussion of the findings regarding the
motivations and management strategies of jamu entrepreneurs, and the impact of gender roles on

their work. The discussion will start by providing some demographic information about the
participant sample. Non-economic motivations will then be discussed, including time flexibility,
making close friendships, providing customers with a health promoting product, and preserving
Javanese culture. A discussion about sellers economic motivations will follow, including topics
such as risk aversion, desire for independence, need for income, and feelings of being pushed
into selling jamu. Jamu sellers were found to have both economic and non-economic
motivations, however, both categories of motivations tie into each other, and it was reported that
making income to support the family was first and foremost of importance to most sellers.
Following the discussion about motivations, the focus will turn to management strategies, which
will touch down on access to and management of resources, categorized into three groups: social
capital, human capital, and financial capital.

Demographic characteristics of participants in the sample

Most of the interviewed sellers have had their business for twenty years or more (over
half the sample), a little less than a quarter of the sample participants have been operating for at
least ten years, three out of thirty for less than four years, and four out of thirty for five to nine
years. Most participants are from central Java, but a few are from further away (East Java and
North Sumatra). All sellers in the sample were married at some point in their lives; at the time of
the interview twenty-two were married, six were widowed, and one was divorced. Some of the
widowed sellers had experienced separation from their husbands during their marriage.
Marriage status was an important consideration of the participants, since marriage is considered a
rite of passage in Java, women especially are expected to get married and have children before
they turn thirty, and the act of getting married has an impact on the identity of people in Java,
because it is associated with harmony and belonging within communities (Klaveren, Tijdens,
Hughie-williams, & Martin, 2010; OShaughnessy, 2009). All sellers except for two reported

having children more than half of the participants have two to three children. Most of the
sellers in the sample had little education; of the twenty-six interviewees who reported about their
education background, only one seller had some college education, two went to senior high
school, nine went to junior high school, and the rest only went to elementary school or had little
to no education. The ages of the sellers in the sample range from thirty to eighty years old.
More than half of the sample consists of people who are age forty to fifty-nine. Three were
thirty years old, and about a quarter of participants were older (age sixty to eighty).

Non-economic motivations
Time flexibility
Five sellers reported that time flexibility is important to them with their job. Ten sellers
reported that their main priority is to be a good wife and mother. Time flexibility is important to
jamu sellers so that they can take care of children and the household, as well as their jamu
business. Sellers have strategies to limit the amount of time that they make and sell jamu, so that
they have enough time to tend to all their duties in the household (make meals, take care of
children, clean jamu pots and pans/utensils, wash clothing, etc.). Some sellers mentioned that
using a blender helped to save them time. Others say that they get unpaid help from family
members (especially with childcare duties), while others mentioned the importance of building
up a regular clientele, to help save time in the process of selling jamu.
One seller, age thirty, and married with two young children explained; I only work
selling jamu for 2 or 2.5 hours per day. Selling jamu is more comfortable than other work. I am
still able to take care of my household and all my children. Jamu sellers typically spend all day
working. When they are not working with their business, they are at home tending to their
household. A fifty-seven year old married seller with seven children explains; if I am not able
to wash the dishes or wash the childrens clothing in the middle of the day, I will do it at night.

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Having flexible work hours is important to maintaining all of ones responsibilities as a wife,
mother, and entrepreneur.
Jamu sellers usually reported that having flexible hours with their business was beneficial
to their workday, and that they appreciate their work because it allows them greater control of
their time. This is consistent with other research (Akhalwaya & Havenga, 2012; Cliff, 1998;
Cromie, 1987; Drew & Humbert, 2012; Harvey, 2005; Humbert & Drew, 2010). We also see in
previous research, that women entrepreneurs are often most concerned with benefiting their
family, through their work. So if their work gets in the way of their family duties, they will not
continue the business (Drew & Humbert, 2012; Kirkwood, 2009). Many of the informants
specified that they did not have an interest in selling jamu until after they were married and had
children. This shows that many may be drawn to this work, and perhaps other entrepreneurial
pursuits, in order to maintain their gender role and fulfill gendered expectations in their
household.
Close friendships and customer health
Ten sellers reported that they are motivated to make close friendships with their
customers. Initially, by looking at the data, we see that having close friendships with customers
has to do with building social networks and social status. One seller, age 52 and married with
three children explains; People respect me The buyers are like close relatives of mine. There
were also old customers who sometimes missed me [when I wasnt selling] and they gave me
presents. We also can see that those who have closer friendships with their clients, often
experience more success with their business and acquiring new and returning clients. Sellers
who are very well liked by their customers can sell more jamu, because customers will buy more
product, and recommend the product of that particular seller to their family and friends. When

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jamu sellers can gain the trust of their customers, and prove that their jamu can fit the health
needs of their customers, they are also more able to get returning clients. Twelve sellers
(including the male sellers) reported that they were motivated to produce a jamu that customers
felt provided them with health benefits. Customers who believe that a particular jamu sellers
product fits their body best2, will seek out only that sellers jamu.
As mentioned in the discussion of time flexibility, having regular clients can reduce the
time that it takes to sell jamu, and thus making friendships and producing a jamu that provides
health, which leads to building up a regular clientele, is also associated with having work-life
balance (maintaining balance with time spent working in the home and outside the home)
(Bourne & Cals, 2013; Mueller & Conway Dato-on, 2013) and being recognized for ones work
and social contributions (Akhalwaya & Havenga, 2012; S. Singh et al., 2011). This can also lead
to the ability to generate more profit, and so we see that non-economic motivations are also
linked with the desire to make income.
Promoting Javanese culture
Seven sellers reported that promoting Javanese culture through their work is a motivation
to sell jamu. Five sellers reported that promoting their culture is not a motivation, and they are
just interested in supporting their family with the income that they get through selling. For those
who are motivated to preserve their culture, they mentioned things such as carrying on traditions
or practices such as continuing their parents business, continuing the Javanese traditions of
mutual support, by provide care and support for the community with their jamu business. This
finding is unique among entrepreneurship literature. The topic could use more exploration, as

Jamu sellers reported that customers would often tell that their jamu fits their body, and that those customers
would only buy jamu from that seller. It was explained that the recipes of jamu is less important than the seller
whom makes the jamu, or the hand that makes the jamu.
2

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jamu is an important cultural commodity of Java and because jamu knowledge is traditionally
shared between women in families (Handayani, Suparto, & Suprapto, 2001), this type of
traditionally entrepreneurship is perhaps more accessible to women than men, in Java.

Economic motivations
Risk aversion
Thirteen out of thirty jamu sellers reported that they started their jamu business because it
was a low risk endeavor which did not require too much capital to start up. In addition, raw
materials (jamu ingredients) do not cost much, many can borrow the kitchen appliances that they
need to make jamu, bottles are easy to get, and the risk of loss is not too bad. Other research has
similarly found that women prefer to do work which will not take up too much of their financial
capital, because they do not want to put their family in a risky financial position (Maclean, 2013;
Brush, 1992; Bock, 2004; Loscocco and Bird, 2012; Mahadea, 2001).
Not all sellers reported that their jamu business was a low risk endeavor. Some needed
sufficient capital to start their business, and during the time that the research was conducted,
economic inflation caused fuel prices and prices for jamu raw ingredients to rise, and many
sellers complained that their business was no longer making a good profit. In addition, some
sellers reported that they are expected by customers to provide jamu on credit, and customers do
not always pay what they owe. This puts jamu sellers into debt, and at an economic
disadvantage with their business. Noneconomic risks were also reported by sellers including the
risk of being sexually harassed while selling, and the risk of feeling intense shame during the
start-up phase of their business.
Desire for independence
Six out of thirty sellers have a desire to be independent. For some, this means that
they wish to work independently, and not have a boss who is pushing them, often these

13

sellers (three out of the six) mentioned that having a temperamental boss was very
stressful, hinting that they were perhaps mistreated at past jobs by employers. Other
research about gender and the workplace have revealed that women are often mistreated
and exploited in factories, especially in developing countries (Harley, 2007; Soni-sinha,
2009). It has also been found that women wish to start businesses in order to have control
over their work environment (Devine, 1994; Winn, 2004) and their operation procedures
and daily activities, especially with regard to work and pay schedules (Akhalwaya &
Havenga, 2012; Franck, 2012; Noritake, 2009; Strier, 2010).
Others associate independence with not having to rely on a spouse for income. Some
sellers mentioned that they wished that they could get more help from their family with their
business, and being financially independent was more of a necessity, and a burden, rather than a
preferred goal. One seller, fifty-five years old and married with three adult children, explains;
Sometimes my daughter helps me on Sunday when she doesnt work. My husband never helps
me... Even though he is a [job removed to protect privacy of seller], he does not take me to my
place of selling, I just walk myself. He does not want to take me, he thinks it is better to look for
passengers so he can try to earn money himself. Another seller told the story about her husband
marrying another woman as his second wife, without her consent, and then giving all of his
resources to her. Entrepreneurial motivations attributed to financial independence has been
discussed in research findings (Akhalwaya & Havenga, 2012; Al-Dajani & Marlow, 2013;
Noritake, 2009); for example, Al-Dajani and Marlow (2013) found that women who worked to
bring in extra income to the family could establish greater power and control over financial
expenditures in the household. On the contrary, my research reflects how financial autonomy
does not necessarily provide empowerment, especially for women who have husbands who are

14

not supportive. In the situation of some jamu entrepreneurs, financial autonomy is a push
motivation because women feel that they have no other choice.
Need for income:
Sixteen out of thirty jamu sellers reported that they initially started their business
because they felt pushed to do so, out of a need for income (or in a few cases, because a
family member told them that they must work this way), rather than pulled by their own
interest. All jamu sellers reported that they need income in order to pay back debts, put
money into savings, to have donations for nyombang, to pay for childrens education, to
improve housing, and to improve mobility (such as purchasing a motorbike).
Many who started out selling jamu because they were pushed, eventually gained a lot of
success with their business, and their motivations changed, to reflect their desire to continue to
have access to resources that they have when they sell jamu. For example, one seller, age fortynine and married with two adult children, told the story about how she started to sell jamu
because of a failed business deal, which left her with a lot of debt; Before, I never thought that I
would become a jamu seller. I really had a will to do anything as long as I could pay my debt,
and also relieve my stress. She went on to say that she continued to sell because it enabled her
to; contribute some money to [her] community, pay the electricity, pay back [her] debt, and
have some savings. Other research has similarly found that pushed entrepreneurship is not a
static state to be in (Aidis et al., 2007; Eijdenberg & Masurel, 2013; Franck, 2012; Humbert &
Drew, 2010; Kirkwood, 2009; Williams & Gurtoo, 2011b; Williams, 2009).

Management strategies
The management strategies of jamu sellers in business and family life - are very much
connected to, and affected by traditional gender roles. The findings show that access to
resources are impacted by gender; some resources are less accessible, while other resources are

15

more accessible, therefore, gender roles can be enabling or constraining. This section will
discuss the impact of gender on social capital, human capital, and financial capital resources in
terms of accessibility, and strategies to overcome daily and long-term constraints.
Social Capital
Social capital includes social networks, public reputations, and knowledge of shared
values of social groups. The gender and reputation of a person, can affect their access to social
networks, and legitimacy as an entrepreneur. The more networks that one has knowledge of, and
access to, the more resources they can gather. Therefore, social capital is very important to
entrepreneurs. Jamu sellers can access knowledge, tools for producing jamu, paid and unpaid
labor, business partnerships, loans, etc. through a variety of networks. Jamu sellers work hard to
build halal reputations to maintain network ties and build more and stronger relationships.
Sellers must behave according to societal gender norms in order to appear legitimate in
their entrepreneurial position as a jamu seller. This means that they must look healthy and
beautiful, behave as a good wife and mother by using income to care for the family, appear
friendly and caring, and not appear to focus too much on the importance of generating profit for
her business (as this is not aligning with her role as caretaker, unless she specifies that it is for
her children/family/donation to community funds). Part of maintaining the appearance as a
caretaker, jamu sellers feel pressure to give their jamu to anyone, regardless if they pay.
Offering jamu on credit, or for free can create financial difficulties, as three sellers reported that
engaging in allowing customers to buy on credit, has caused them to go into debt, making it
difficult to continue their business (difficult to purchase more ingredients). Customer debt was
reported by some sellers as a good way to keep the business of some trustworthy clients, but
there is little that sellers can do (other than gently remind clients) to enforce payment.

16

When sellers were asked about how others see them, they responded in three main ways;
thirteen sellers reported that they feel their business is considered normal and five report that
they are proud of their business and others seem them in a positive light, but eight out of thirty
jamu sellers (all women) reported that they felt they had to prove to others (family members,
neighbors, customers) that they could do the work of a jamu seller, before other people
recognized their capabilities. At least seven informants reported that no matter how other people
treated them, maintaining polite behavior and a friendly appearance (smiling) towards everyone
was of utmost importance.
The reputations that sellers strive to build and maintain are built off of the ideal image of
dedicated wife and mother, but sellers are sometimes also associated with prostitution. This puts
sellers are at risk of being targeted for sexual harassment while working. Sexual harassment is
connected to issues of workforce gender inequality in Indonesia; women jamu sellers are limited
in their access to entrepreneurial identities and, if they step out of gendered expectations of
behaving halal, such as selling jamu at night, they are threatened with a reputation of offering
plus plus services. Jamu sellers are also limited in the networks that they have access to, in
order to do business, for example, women jamu sellers avoid providing a jamu for male vitality,
because of the associated risks of being sexually harassed and labelled as immoral.
Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted sexual advances. Eleven sellers (all
women) reported that they have been sexually harassed while selling jamu, and one seller
(female) experienced harassment from a man who tried to steal from her. Seven sellers reported
that they never experienced any form of harassment, and others in the sample did not comment
on the issue. Many of the sellers who spoke about their experiences explained that their
harassers were joking; Perhaps they are just kidding. Sometimes they attempted to persuade,

17

and sometimes they also touch me. But that is only joke. This behavior from men is rarely
challenged, and when women are targets of harassment, it is their loss (jamu sellers can lose
customers, if the customer sees that the seller is upset), while their harassers often receive no
punishment. Some jamu sellers reported they must sometimes alter their selling route to avoid
harassment, and others must ask a friend, relative, or spouse to accompany them on their route.
Women who are targeted by harassers are hurt by this, experiencing emotional drain which
creates barriers to effective selling.
When women report their harassers to authorities, it is difficult to process the case.
Indonesias Criminal Code lacks a definition for sexual harassment, and only covers indecent
acts that violate social norms or using force on another to commit an obscene act (Setiawati &
Dewi, 2014; Yusran, 2013). Furthermore, the term that is used to describe sexual harassment
and sexual violence, perbuatan cabul which translates to obscene act, is not specified; there
is no explanation as to what acts can be considered obscene (Yusran, 2013). Law enforcers,
therefore, can interpret a sexual harassment crime in many ways, and lawyers representing
victims of sexual harassment often end up arguing with police investigators over the charges that
should be pressed; Article 289 (on obscene acts) has a harsher punishment than Article 355 (on
offensive behavior) which police usually use (Setiawati & Dewi, 2014). Sexual harassment acts
are often viewed simply as admiration for another persons beauty, but this is highly
problematic; sexual harassment can be an expression of power over another individual (ADB,
2002; Equal Rights Advocates, 2014)
The different social perceptions associated with jamu sellers (women as prostitutes and
women as caretakers) make it harder for women jamu sellers to build entrepreneurial identities
independently from the culture and social context where they live. Jamu sellers focus their

18

energy on building identities as mothers, wives, and caretakers in order to avoid being associated
with prostitution. There is obvious pressure for women jamu sellers to moralize their social
position as entrepreneurs by playing down their role as a business woman and instead play up
their gender role associated with the home wife, mother, and caretaker roles. Regardless of the
knowledge that is required to become a successful seller (i.e., medicinal values of plants and
jamu recipes), the title of expert is rejected because jamu sellers recognize that customers could
use this against them if they are unsatisfied with the product. Sellers, therefore, have little choice
in conforming to the gendered care taker role, and in this way, are kept under (patriarchal)
control.
One pressure that jamu sellers do not feel is that of industry or government. According to
the interviewees, despite the existence of jamu factories throughout central java, the regions
population values fresh jamu more highly than factory produced jamu. Small scale jamu
producers are respected for producing an authentic, hygienic, and natural fresh jamu as compared
to less popular factory products, known to include chemicals (preservatives). Therefore
although jamu sellers feel pressure from communities, to act within a certain realm of behavior,
they also feel that they are appreciated more than their large scale counter parts within Central
Java. Informal, small-scale jamu sellers are a cultural symbol of Java (Krier, 2011), and
therefore are encouraged to continue their activities by government, which does not regulate their
production, but does provide financial support and resources such as bikes, and supplies for
making jamu.
Jamu sellers also generally have non-competitive relationships with other sellers that they
regularly encounter. It was reported that sellers usually avoid selling in a specific area at certain
times if they know when other sellers will be there. Many reported that they will collaborate

19

with those who sell around them, to ensure that they do not take the business of others; a seller,
age forty-five and married with two adult children elaborates;
When I was looking for a selling region, I had to look for a region where
there was no one who was already selling jamu there. If, for example, there
are those who sell jamu in the region, I must look for another region. There
could be one or two jamu sellers in a region and I could sell there with
conditions; I can sell jamu at a different time than the others. I do not dare to
sell jamu in a place at the same time with other sellers because I am afraid
that I would another sellers clients. Sellers are consider as brothers/sisters so
I would feel uncomfortable if I was considered to be taking a buyer of other
people.
This behavior is a reflection of Javanese collectivist values of helping one another. Other
research has found that women business owners wish to build non-competitive business relations
with other women because of an awareness of patriarchal gender inequality which creates
constraints on womens businesses. Women prefer to help one-another, because they understand
the pressures of engaging with entrepreneurial pursuits as a woman (Bhimji, 2010; Harvey,
2005; Heemskerk, 2003; Ntseane, 2004; Williamson et al., 2004). Working together, can lessen
the hardships that sellers are exposed to.
Human Capital
Human capital is the knowledge, education, talents, skills, and labor of the worker or
workers in an organization. For jamu sellers this includes paid and unpaid labor, knowledge of
jamu and business, and prior work experiences. Girls and women in Java typically have more
access to knowledge of jamu (and medicinal values of local plants) than boys and men, because
of the associated gender role for women to be caretaker in the family. However, historically girls

20

and women have received less access to education than boys and men, fewer employment
management opportunities, and less access to unpaid familial labor (Tambunan, 2009; World
Trade Press, 2010).
Sellers utilize the unpaid labor of family members (and neighbors and friends) to save
costs, and time with their business, and sellers with young children need childcare in order to
work as a jamu seller. Seventeen sellers reported that they use the help of unpaid familial labor,
or from a neighbor. Only one seller has hired employees (a total of seven men) who work for
pay and one elderly seller (who can no longer carry jamu on her back) has business partnerships
with other people who buy her jamu borongan (wholesale), and sell it. Unpaid family labor
does a variety of work, including (but not limited to) helping with household tasks, washing
dishes and pans used to make jamu, assisting in jamu production, and assisting in the marketing
and selling of jamu. Eleven of the seventeen get help from their children (usually daughters),
seven have help from a spouse, and two receive unpaid help from a neighbor. Some sellers have
little access to unpaid familial labor, even though they give the majority of their earnings to the
family. Previous research finds that women typically have less access to familial labor than men
(Blumberg, 2001; Danes, Craft, Jang, & Lee, 2013; Silvey & Elmhirst, 2003). Jamu sellers seem
to have more access to the labor of their children, which is also reflected in previous research of
women entrepreneurs (Blumberg, 2001). Access to unpaid labor is impacted by gender, as
women in patriarchal societies often have inferior positioning to men within households. Sellers
with more labor (paid or unpaid) have an advantage over those who do not, as this allows them
to focus their energy on more aspects of the business.
Knowledge of business management comes from previous work experiences. Jamu
sellers have diverse work backgrounds; some grew up helping their mothers (or grandmothers, or

21

neighbors) with a jamu business, some had other employment before selling jamu (such as work
in factories, in agriculture, as a tailor, and selling other commodities such as batik or food items),
and others apprenticed for a jamu seller before starting their own business. Fourteen out of thirty
sellers learned to make and sell jamu by apprenticing for another seller before starting their
business. Other research conducted on women entrepreneurs in Indonesia has also found that
respondents often gained business knowledge and self-efficacy of their abilities by learning from
a personal mentor (Loh & Dahesihsari, 2013). Every jamu seller interviewed reported that they
learned how to make jamu from another person, twenty three sellers specified that their teacher
was a woman, usually a female family member. As mentioned, women tend to have more
cultural legitimacy as jamu producers and sellers.
Jamu sellers also reported that they gained knowledge from trainings, often provided by
the government, as well as large-scale producers of jamu (factory produced jamu). Trainings
often provide information about how to make hygienic jamu (using boiled water, and glass
bottles, rather than plastic bottles), information regarding the medicinal value of plants and how
to use or not use them in jamu recipes (some jamu ingredients need to be used carefully,
especially with pregnant women), and how to manage finances. Sellers also can receive supplies
(such as aprons, masks, blenders, and bicycles) and money at these trainings. Trainings that are
held by large jamu industrial producers often serve the marketing interests of the large
companies micro-enterprise owners who attend these trainings are encouraged to market and
sell the factory produced jamu, and to share recipes with large scale producers. Regardless, jamu
entrepreneurs receive many training opportunities, more so than women entrepreneurs in other
regions (Al-sadi, Belwal, & Al-Badi, 2011; Bushell, 2008). One seller also gained knowledge
about jamu from books.

22

Eighteen out of thirty sellers answered the question; Is it important to protect your jamu
recipes? Most reported that they would share their recipes with anyone, because the most
important thing about jamu, is the hand that makes the jamu, not the recipe. This is explained in
more detail by a seller, age forty-five and married, with two adult children;
People buy jamu from certain sellers, probably because of the compatibility
reason. Buyers feel suitable with a specific jamu seller because of the warmth
in the service of that seller. Buyers, have been able to feel and distinguish the
jamu from one jamu seller to another and suitability makes buyers want to
continue buying only one specific jamu sellers product. If the client buys
from a different jamu seller, the jamu would have a different taste and
different compatibility.
A few participants did report that they would only share their recipes with close family or
friends, and some sellers are only willing to share part of the recipe, as a way to ensure that their
product authenticity in the market, but still appease those who ask. Passing on knowledge about
jamu is important to some sellers; five reported that they wish to pass on their business to their
children, or to clients.
Financial Capital
Women jamu sellers often make half or the majority of household income, and are the
financial managers of household income. However, their mobility and business growth is often
limited because of lack of access to financial capital. Only two jamu sellers reported using
formal financial institutions, most access savings and credit from informal financial institutions,
such as arisans. The ADB reports that only 25% of microenterprise owners in Indonesia have
access to formal finance institutions, and women are a minority in this. There has been little to
no effort of formal lending institutions to appease to the needs of women or small business

23

owners. Women often need their husbands signature in order to get credit from formal lending
institutions, and married women must use their husbands tax number when banking, which
makes it difficult for them to open up their own checking accounts (giving them sole control).
Jamu entrepreneurs need finances in order to afford ingredients and equipment to make
and sell jamu. Jamu sellers also focus on spending a large portion of their earnings on their
childrens education, and towards donating to nyombang (community funds). Women jamu
entrepreneurs may feel compelled to put their earnings towards the needs of their family, rather
than invest in their business. This is because of their gender role as caretaker. Start-up funds,
loans, and financial management systems often come from arisans in jamu associations or other
community lending groups, as women jamu sellers may feel uncomfortable accessing loans or
savings through banks because of constraints associated with policies that discriminate based on
gender. Other types of aid that jamu sellers can access comes from a variety of different
government offices including the sultan of Yogyakarta, the women empowerment office, and the
ministry of social affairs. Aid also comes from Muslim women praying groups and large scale
industry. As mentioned, some sellers have also received aid in the form of training.
Most of the interviewees are interested in continuing to sell jamu, even in old age, and
some would like to expand their operations to make more jamu products, such as instant jamu.
Many sellers are getting older and foreseeing the need to change their business so that they can
sell in a stall, rather than carrying bottles on their back, which is harder in old age. Changing or
expanding an operation takes financial capital something that many jamu sellers (especially
women) are lacking access to especially for those who must work to support their family and
dont receive familial support in return. Interest in growing their business (and passing it on to
another once they can no longer work) shows that most sellers are proud of what they have

24

accomplished and wish to see their work live on. Providing more jamu products means that
sellers would need to form partnerships or access more labor, which can be challenging for those
with less capital and business resources. The findings show that most small scale jamu sellers do
not have the financial capital to expand their business operations. Women jamu sellers are
expected to run their business so that the income can be used to support their family (buying
clothes, daily food, paying bills), therefore plans to grow a jamu business require more resources
and support which are often inaccessible. In conclusion, jamu micro-entrepreneurs, in the face
of many (daily and long term) constraints that can limit their entrepreneurial pursuits, utilize
their resources to adapt their businesses and their business behaviors to the cultural and
economic climates that they live and work in.

Conclusion
Jamu sellers associate their work with their gender role as wife, mother, and caretaker;
they prioritize fulfilling their gender role by tending to household duties, and work outside the
home is done in order to provide for their children (daily food needs and education). In this way,
jamu sellers focus more on helping rather than entrepreneuring. Instead of business goals
based solely on profit and growth, jamu sellers seek to maintain a work-life balance, meaning
that home duties and business duties are equally important. Business duties are looked upon as a
way to help husbands to fulfill their breadwinner roles; by contributing income to the household.
Sellers also take an active role in contributing to their community (i.e. giving money to
nyombang, and providing jamu for free to those in need), because of an interest in maintaining
harmony with the community which contributes to their legitimacy as a well-behaved (halal)
jamu entrepreneur in the community where they live and work.

25

Jamu sellers are business savvy; they strategize wisely to reduce costs, and time spent
working, while focusing their energy more towards building their social networks, business
relationships, strong friendships, and good reputations. Reputations are managed by engaging in
business behaviors that are culturally appropriate for women (and men), which fit gender
expectations. Such behaviors entail smiling while selling, and maintaining a friendly and caring
appearance. This inspires more trust, from customers, in the efficacy of a jamu sellers products.
Although entrepreneurship has been described as an empowerment mechanism that
helps women and their families to break out of poverty (Cornwall, 2007)3, it is also known that
women entrepreneurs are embedded in systems of inequality, which can hold them back from
succeeding in their business goals (Ardrey, Pecotich, & Shultz, 2006; Kabeer, 1998). Many
jamu sellers wish to grow their businesses by gaining more clients, hiring employees, and selling
in more locations, or opening stalls in highly trafficked areas. However many cannot access the
financial capital that they need and want in order to make improvements with their business. In
addition, some sellers cannot access familial labor or help from friends.
Indonesian women entrepreneurs tend to start off with less access than men to important
business resources (Tambunan, 2009), as previously mentioned. However, because jamu
knowledge is gendered, this type of traditional entrepreneurship may be more accessible to
women than men. Still, even with this advantage, there are gender specific risks of selling jamu,
such as the association of jamu sellers with prostitution, which can make it difficult for women
who wish to sell jamu. The threat of being labelled as a prostitute limits women jamu sellers
abilities to access entrepreneurial identities that transverse the prescribed gender role of wife and

Informal micro-enterprises are characterized by low entry barriers such as low start-up capital, little skills, and a
simple technology (Tambunan, 2009), making it an accessible way to earn money and sustain household income.

26

mother; business behaviors that fall outside this role are therefore avoided, such as selling jamu
at night or focusing on profit rather than helping.
Thus, we can see that many constraints associated with managing a jamu business are
created by larger social structures that actors are embedded within. Gender inequality is not
easily rectified, regardless, governments can make some changes in policy which may help a
process towards positive change. Indeed, the Indonesia government has already made efforts in
working towards more gender equality with the ministry of womens empowerment, and policies
such as the domestic violence bill and the enactment of a thirty percent quota for women in
parliament (Kuswandini, 2010). This type of work can and should continue.

Policy recommendations
The government of Yogyakarta has already done a lot of work to partner with other local
businesses and agencies to provide jamu sellers with support in the form of loans, trainings, and
supplies. Continuation of this type of support would be very helpful. Ideas for further support
include; give jamu associations more resources which can be put towards helping a greater
number of women who wish to engage in jamu micro-entrepreneurship, as well as those already
established owners who wish to expand, grow, or change their business. Networks between
jamu associations and hospitals, doctors, and patients (who might prefer to be treated with
traditional medicine, rather than Western medicine) could also be established. With greater
financial resources, jamu associations can set up training certificate programs for those sellers
who want to get certified to make jamu for hospitals and doctors. Other possibilities could
include setting price standards for jamu, provide training in marketing (this was suggested by a
few participants), and provide a system for sellers to enforce payment of jamu offered on credit4.
4

The author wishes to note that these ideas for policy are solely her own (aside from the suggestion for trainings in
marketing), a better way to establish policies to help and protect jamu sellers would be to speak directly to sellers
themselves and ask about their needs, and how they would like the government to assist them.

27

Limitations of research
This research is limited by a small sample size. In addition, only jamu sellers were
interviewed, while interviewing family members of sellers, as well as customers of jamu sellers,
may have provided more sides to the story, particularly with regard to how other people perceive
the role of jamu sellers, and what is expected in terms of how they behave, and appear. Family
members could also provide input as to the perceived role of a jamu seller in the home. It would
also be interesting to interview sex workers who are associated with selling jamu, to gain more
understanding of how these two very different types of work might be connected. It may be that
these two occupations are not intertwined, but since the association between selling jamu and sex
work exists, it would be beneficial to interview a person who engages in both jobs.
As mentioned previously in the section on methodology, the author sought to
acknowledge that the stories told by the research data are stories that are told not only by the
informants, but also by the people involved in interviewing, translating, and transcribing, as this
becomes a shared process in reality, even down to the information that informants choose to
share with their interviewers (which may be information that they interpret the interviewer to
want to hear). Therefore, the information provided in this report, which is supported by the
interview data, cannot provide a complete representation of the reality that jamu sellers live.
Furthermore, the findings can only be generalized to the participants in the research, rather than
all jamu sellers in Yogyakarta. Nevertheless, this research provides valuable insights into the
motivations and management strategies of small-scale jamu sellers, and the entrepreneurial
environment that they operate their businesses within.

28

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