When Son (36 years old) decided to quit his high-paying job at the bank and move to Nha Trang to work on a farm, his parents sighed, “I don’t want to be happy, can I stand it?”…
Quit your high-paying job and “return to the garden”
After graduating with a master’s degree in finance in the UK in 2012, Mr. Tang Dinh Son (36 years old) worked at a famous bank in Hanoi and has worked for 10 years in this job. Son’s income of more than 1,000 USD/month is considered stable.
However, uncomfortable with the job , Mr. Son decided to “go back to the garden” to work on a farm, a field unrelated to the profession he was trained in.
“For 10 years as a banker, my income is quite high. I live in Hanoi so I don’t have to worry about houses or cars. However, everyday life is repetitive, from home to work. , waiting for my salary at the end of the month, I don’t feel happy. I really want to change my life.
Seeing that living in the city was cramped and stuffy, I decided to “return to the garden” to become a farmer,” Mr. Son happily said.
He shared that he once cherished a plan to “go back to the garden”, so during the time he worked at the bank, all the money he saved was invested in buying land in Nha Trang.
“I chose Nha Trang because I like the climate in the coastal city. At first, I bought the land to keep it as an asset to save, later if the price is right, I will sell it, but I have no intention of going back to work as a farm. Until 2021, I will not be. decided to quit her job and informed her parents,” Son shared.
Leaving a stable job, clothes is a turn, a life “no rain, no sun” to go to a remote place, thousands of kilometers from Hanoi to farm, Mr. Son made many friends and colleagues. “shock” karma. His parents also strongly objected to their son leaving the city to return to his hometown.
“Educated to the right place, got a stable job, then left to work as a farmer. Are you hot, how can you stand it?”, Son recalled his father’s words more than 2 years ago.
A few days later, Mr. Son wrote a resignation letter from the bank, despite his parents’ efforts to prevent him. He put all his faith, gambled with his decision. He was more confident when he accumulated enough money to live in a year without a job or income.
The first time he “went back to the garden” to live, a student from Ha Thanh was beaten by the central sun, he lost nearly 20kg compared to when he did office work. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to hold a hoe with someone who was born and raised in the city.
But Mr. Son was still determined to do it, considering it an unforgettable experience.
Foreign-made chili with Vietnamese soy sauce for sale abroad
While not knowing what plants to plant or what animals to raise, Mr. Son accidentally read a foreign article about a spicy eating contest. Son recalls his time studying for a master’s degree in the UK. He loved spicy food and tried many types of chili with different origins.
“Chili is an indispensable spice and has economic potential, but in Vietnam, if you start a business with normal chili varieties, there is no way to compete with famous brands. From there, I came up with the idea The idea is to invest in growing foreign peppers,” he said.
Thinking about doing it, Mr. Son went online to find out and asked friends abroad to buy seeds for help. Initially, he chose to grow Carolina Reaper peppers because this spice fruit has high economic value, up to nearly 1 million VND/kg.
Having seeds in hand, Mr. Son began to nurse seedlings and plant a few dozen pots to play with, the germination rate was only 30%. Having no experience in agriculture as well as knowledge of chili peppers, Mr. Son decided to only grow it for play.
After researching, Mr. Son found that the climate in Nha Trang was suitable for chili peppers to reach the best heat, but Da Lat was the right place for seedlings. Without hesitation, he decided to rent a garden in Da Lat to produce seedlings.
Initially planted in small quantities, the chili plants grew well and gave high yields, but when Mr. Son replicated the model to over 1,000 plants, the Hanoi scholar received the first bitter fruit. The entire pepper growing area was damaged by pests and diseases.
In addition, many chili varieties are not suitable for Vietnam’s soil and climate, so the plants die, losing all investment capital. The money he saved was “baked” according to the foreign chili dream.
“The first year of starting my business, I didn’t have any income, then it was destroyed by pests, the investment was almost lost. Unfortunately, the money was “thrown out the window”, there were times when I thought I should give up and go back to work. the office makes back the lost money”, Mr. Son confided.
But then his spirit was shocked, he determined to travel everywhere, going to chili growing areas in Da Lat and Dak Lak to learn how to grow and care for chili plants with the belief that he would succeed in the near future.
For many months while studying and “living” in the chili garden, Mr. Son gradually gained experience and found a method to treat pests and diseases for plants. By applying the right techniques, Mr. Son successfully conquered most of the foreign chili varieties.
Currently, in addition to maintaining key chili varieties such as “dragon’s breath”, red, yellow carolina, palermo, habanero to make chili sauce, Mr. Son grows more than 50 other types of foreign peppers to serve visitors.
Every day, 1 hectare of chili peppers yields 1-3 kg of fresh chili, which Mr. Son does not sell but uses to cook his own branded chili sauce.
“1kg of fresh chili will cook 10 bottles of 100ml chili sauce, each bottle costs 250,000 VND, sometimes not for sale,” said Son.
On average, each month, he sells 250-300 bottles of chili sauce, earning about 70 million VND. Total annual revenue from chili is nearly a billion dong, after deducting expenses, he makes a profit of 400-500 million dong.
Up to now, his chili sauce brand has been present in restaurants and supermarkets specializing in selling organic products in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to the main source of income from chili sauce, Mr. Son also has an additional income from selling seedlings.
After being experienced, Mr. Son often livestreams on social networks to share his experiences and answer questions for those who have the same passion and want to start a business of growing foreign peppers like himself.
After two years of leaving the city to return to the garden, Mr. Son reflected, it is really difficult to assess whether this decision is right or wrong. In the short term, he intends to maintain a stable area of chili cultivation on the farm, and later with capital to rent more land to expand the garden.
“Quitting my high-paying job and going home to start a business was truly a bold and risky decision. That initial risk helped me earn a much better income than my previous job,” Mr. Son concluded.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)