Quit the engineering profession and hold a debt of 200 million VND due to 3 consecutive failed start-ups. But not giving up, the young man in Quang Nam has tinkered with making products from a typical tree in his homeland and currently has a revenue of half a billion dong/month.
Quit a stable job, go back home to hold a lot of debt
In 2017, after graduating from Da Nang University of Science and Technology, Ngo Tan Quyen (born in 1994, living in Tam Ngoc commune, Tam Ky city, Quang Nam) became a machine-manufacturing engineer at a large automobile manufacturing company. , with stable income.
However, after a year of work, bored with the “morning, coming back” scene that kept repeating every day, and the desire to enrich himself, Quyen resigned from the company to the surprise of his family. family, friends.
Ngo Tan Quyen – mechanical engineer left the city to return to his hometown to start a business with do Bau tree, earning 500 million VND/month.
At this time, find out online, Quyen is impressed with the hydroponic vegetable growing model on the terrace. Seeing that the project has potential, Quyen invited two friends to join forces to rent space in Da Nang to start a business. However, 4 months since opening the company, it has been raining in the Central region continuously. Works received only counting fingers. Friends withdrew capital, had to pay the rent alone, could not stand it, Quyen had to move all the materials out to “sell scrap”. Unexpectedly, while waiting for liquidation, those last assets were stolen.
Running out of capital, going back to his hometown, ready to work as a mechanic, sometimes Quyen runs a motorbike to roam around to make an irrigation system for fruit trees… But this direction doesn’t last long when every year only received a few works, then earned a few dong, then the customer owed money…
Ngo Tan Quyen (far left, left) and his colleagues went to find and buy agarwood trees in Tien Phuoc Agarwood (Quang Nam).
Undeterred, the young man devoted himself to making medicinal herbs, and then producing mini wooden handicrafts, but he did not get better, while the loan amount was up to 200 million VND.
“Unemployed, empty-handed, for 3 years straight I did not dare to buy myself a new set of clothes. At that time, I felt like everything was against me and began to doubt myself. Not only was I pressured. economic power, but also guilt because of hearing many derogatory words. Many nights worry about losing sleep, people lose weight, but the passion and ambition of youth are always burning,” Quyen confided.
The turning point of starting a business with a typical tree in my hometown
“Disillusioned” after 3 bankruptcies, there was a time when Quyen thought about stopping. At the end of 2020, suddenly being introduced to agarwood by a friend, Quyen realized that this is a potential product because Tien Phuoc district, about 30 km from his house, is the land of agarwood of Quang Nam. So he decided to find out and put all his resources into this startup.
“Agarwood is formed from the wound of the Do Bau tree. When injured, this tree will secrete resin around the wound. The sap secreted over time will become denser and eat into the wood fibers. But in the sap of the tree, it contains essential oil. From there, the wood that is absorbed by the resin has the aroma of essential oils and changes color – That is agarwood. However, depending on the location of each tree, it is not a tree. Anyone can create frankincense”, Quyen shared.
Ngo Tan Quyen (far left, left) and his colleagues went to find and buy agarwood trees in Tien Phuoc Agarwood (Quang Nam). Manufactory of products made from agarwood of Quyen in his hometown.
But not all beginnings are simple. Because he is a “novice”, he has no capital, so after going through 3 establishments, the option to buy raw materials has the cheapest price. Bringing 5 kg of agarwood embryos costing 2 million VND for processing, but when he held the finished product in his hand, smelling the unpleasant pungent smell, he knew he had just thrown the most precious coins into the river.
The nth “fall” did not discourage Quyen, but became more and more determined to go to the end, he spent more time tinkering and learning about the world of agarwood. And fate came when Quyen met Mr. Le Minh Quoc, a natural agarwood trader. The right to have Quoc share his experiences on the do Bau tree. Why is there a type of only a few million, but there are some tens of millions, even a few hundred million dong per kilogram…
Sharing the desire to get rich in his homeland, Quyen joined hands with Mr. Quoc to build his own brand of natural agarwood. But due to the field of “picky customers”, he did not have a name, so in the first month, Quyen only sold a few orders on facebook. Not only that, the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic also makes it difficult to send goods. At one point, Quyen thought he had failed again.
Currently, Quoc Quyen Agarwood Factory is creating stable jobs for 8 young people in the locality.
Currently, Quoc Quyen Agarwood Factory is creating stable jobs for 8 young people in the locality.
Many stages of making beads, bracelets from agarwood are done meticulously manually.
Not giving up, the 9x guy continued to stick with the profession and boldly mobilized more capital from friends and relatives to invest in a factory and office with an area of about 100m2 right in his hometown. Thanks to focusing on making a natural agarwood product and putting quality first, Quoc Quyen Agarwood gradually became known to many people.
Currently, Quyen’s factory is processing all kinds of bracelets, agarwood scenes and making products from Do Bau trees such as incense buds, incense sticks, incense without toothpicks, agarwood powder, etc.
Right also takes advantage of social networks to promote products, at the same time recording customer reviews. “Customer care and retention is very important. For me, to retain customers, the product must first be good. When customers are satisfied, they will recommend products to help me. This is an effective marketing method. most”, the right to express.
Quyen is looking for natural frankincense in a newly purchased tree trunk.
The right to always directly check the quality of the product before delivering it to the customer.
Now, Quoc Quyen Agarwood products are increasingly gaining a firm foothold in the market. On average, the revenue of this fledgling business is about 500 million VND/month, 30% profit and growing day by day.($1=24,000 VND)
Not only paying off the debt, finding “gold” in the tree trunk also helps Quyen to regain his confidence in himself. Especially, Quyen’s facility is creating stable jobs for 8 local youths and hundreds of sales associates across the country.
Although the company’s current business situation was affected and revenue decreased due to the economic crisis, Quyen still tried to maintain production as usual, ensuring jobs for employees.
Anh Quyen is introducing products made from Do Bau tree to customers.
The bracelets made from the do gourd tree are very eye-catching.
Some fine art products are made at Quyen’s agarwood workshop.
Regarding future plans, Quyen said that in the near future, he will expand the production scale and make efforts to promote the value of products made from Quang agarwood to the whole country as well as to foreign markets.
“The road to starting a business is full of bitter fruits, not as flat as a salary. For me, the biggest lesson is to learn how to overcome pressure. On the path of starting a business, everyone will have difficulties. But keep engaged, dare to think dare to do, then everything will become better. If 1 year is not successful, then continue for 3, 4 years… Just do it, because only by doing will we know whether we will succeed or not.” Right to experience.
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)