Known for bringing the biggest luxury automotive names to Indonesia with his company Prestige Motorcars, Rudy Salim sits down with Exquisite Taste to tell stories about his road to success and the supportive family that stands by him through thick and thin.
E: As one of the most successful businessmen in Indonesia, what do you think are the keys to success?
A: Firstly, consistency is paramount because no major business enterprise in this world achieved their success overnight. The main goal that every business should always strive for is consistency, and in turn, sustainability. Don’t give up easily. If you fail, try again and learn from the experiences of your previous failures, as those are valuable lessons not just for your next business project but also your life. Innovation is also extremely important for any business that wants to have long-term success. Any business that would like prolonged relevance, has to be aware of and adaptable to the ever-changing trends of the market that you are tapping into. It is absolutely crucial that your business does not get left behind by these changes, so you have to regularly creatively innovate to prevent monotony and to broaden your target demographics.
E: How did you get into the luxury automotive industry?
A: The automotive industry has always been my prime passion for as long as I can remember. When I started this business, it was my dream to transform it into the biggest and most trustworthy supercar importer in Indonesia. There were not a lot of supercar importers back then in 2012. I immersed myself in anything and everything related to automotive imports in Indonesia, such as export-import licenses, rules and regulations. We tailor our showrooms according to our target demographics in the surrounding neighbourhood. For example, in the suburbs of Pluit and PIK, there is an overwhelming demand for sports cars and luxury vehicles, so this particular demand is well-reflected in the type of vehicles that we offer in our showroom for those areas. However, I also would like to say that we are currently aiming to meet the appetite from other areas by offering not just luxury vehicles and supercars, but also electric vehicles and mainstream cars.
E: In addition to running a luxury automotive company, you also delve into culinary and retail businesses as well. How do you decide which business you want to create and develop? Is there a formula to it?
A: Prestige Corp is now a holding company that has more than 27 subsidiaries managing various ventures, including retail and culinary entities, and is still actively expanding. Frankly speaking, there is no specific formula when choosing a business venture. You just have to rely on your instincts, experience and knowledge to identify the project that has the most potential out of the bunch. And once you have chosen a project, you have to stick to it no matter what, and give it your all and give it your best, so that it can be a prosperous venture that can sustain itself over a long period of time.
E: Throughout your years running businesses, what is the most memorable/rewarding moment that you’ve experienced?
A: I have been doing what I am doing for more than a decade, so I can say with absolute certainty that there are a lot of rewarding memories and moments. These memories however, would not have existed if not for the hard work of everyone working in every department of Prestige Corp, whether the front office people or people behind the scenes.
E: As a family man, how much does your family play a role in your business and success?
A: I would not have become who I am and what I am today without the support of my family. They completely understand the sacrifices that I had to make during my initial career, especially the time I had to spend on my businesses instead of a quality time with them. As a young entrepreneur just starting his own business, this understanding was all that you could have asked for from your family. Every second that I spend working is with my family in mind. My wife’s and my parents’ roles are especially crucial, as they have been supporting me from the very beginning, and without their unconditional support and prayers, I would not be where and who I am today. However, as time has passed and the businesses have grown and stabilised, I am now able to repay them by giving them my total commitment and devoting all my life’s work to them.
E: Is there any future project that you would like to share with the readers?
A: Absolutely. Right now, one of the projects that I am working on and really excited about is a collaboration with Raffi Ahmad from RANS Entertainment. The plan is to build Jewel Garden in PIK, which is our flagship project for our F&B and Lifestyle department. It will be implemented with an open space concept and, once fully developed, this area will look and feel like a lush garden and be filled with a great deal of tenants, paving the path for it to become a brand-new trendy destination for people from PIK and its surrounding areas.
Exquisite Taste Volume 39
Rudy Salim
