4 years, since the days of “losing Tet” because there is no money left in their pocket, Khanh Huyen and her husband now have 5 coffee shops and accommodation areas.
One day in October, “Having a house to listen to the sun and rain” – Huyen’s 3rd homestay in Da Lat (Lam Dong) – opened. As the name suggests, the old-style wooden house is located on a small hillside that is dyed yellow for warm sunny days and peaceful days of torrential rain.
In front of the porch are pots of daisies that are gradually blooming and ripe red persimmons falling. Sitting in the house, the 28-year-old owner caressed the lazy cat by the chair, watching the dew spill down the other side of the hill. She also did not forget to send a photo to show her parents in Ba Ria – Vung Tau about the time when she is feeling the most peaceful when there is still noise about Covid-19 news outside.
“Escape” from the city
Also around this time 4 years ago, Huyen packed his luggage, took a week off from work to go to Da Lat to get rid of constant stress and pressure.
At that time, she was 24 years old, an assistant director of a company in Saigon, where she studied and worked for 7 years. Having more opportunities with external events and projects, she has never stopped doing two things at the same time. The salary is admirable, but in return, she returned home at nearly 12 o’clock at night, unfinished meals and skipped outings with friends.
Going to Da Lat, she stayed at her boyfriend’s homestay at that time, who was also her current husband. In the city of thousands of flowers, after 8 pm, the doors are closed, almost only tourists go out to play. The slow pace of life and the chilly weather and thick fog made her miss Saigon and decided to return.
But back to work, finding herself no longer inspired and even more lost in the bustling city, she knew it was time to choose between the street or the forest. “So I decided to take a break and move to Da Lat, even though my boyfriend was having many financial and business problems at that time, and my parents didn’t agree,” Huyen said.
How much money can both be put into a homestay, due to lack of management experience, many unexpected costs arise? The day the homestay was put into operation because there was not enough money to hire staff, they had to take care of cleaning, decorating, taking, and picking up guests. Having a talent for painting, Huyen paints and decorates the homestay. Many guests come to visit and offer to buy, then ask her to help design their own cafe and homestay.
From here, Huyen and her boyfriend have a new job to get ideas, design, construction, even operate and train staff for cafes and homestays. They roamed together all over Da Lat and neighboring provinces to supervise the workday and night and earn profits. But for the first time, the couple was created by customers, some people paid late until now.
Because of their love for their daughter, Huyen’s parents went to Da Lat to help with the project. The broken rice cooker did not have money to replace it, looking at her father, even though his stomach hurt, he still tried to eat a half-cooked, half-cooked meal for his children to be happy, but Huyen burst into tears, angry at himself to make his parents worry.
In 2018 Tet, the investor has not paid for the project, so Huyen paid for their employees to return to their hometown to celebrate Tet. She shared that because she is also a person far from home, she understands the feeling of waiting for a salary to buy gifts and prepare for reunion days. That New Year, Huyen and her boyfriend could not afford one million dongs, she often joked that she “lost Tet”.
Homestay sweet fruit
The days of “hard work” have not yet passed, but the couple has more projects and capital to revive the homestay. Running a lodging business is not as easy as people think, especially when it comes to doing it yourself. There are days when their working time is up to 17-18 hours.
Check-in and check-out time are the same, but she is always ready to welcome guests who come earlier, have tea, rest before or after hours. There are nights when I always leave the phone for guests to call and get ready to cook noodles at 2am. In return, the accommodation business also brought her many good memories. There are dear customers who make food for them or sit and tell stories for hours about life and work pressures in the city.
Gradually, they received more projects and then had the capital to open a coffee shop of their own. The next homestay, movie set, and coffee shop were born. Huyen shared that she did not always have the funds available to build and had to borrow more and take risks.
In 2020, when she was about to put into operation the second cafe, Huyen had an accident. Unable to directly go to work, the debt makes her worried. At home, Huyen still does her job well, building ideas, and her boyfriend will go directly to the construction site.
“I left the street, but I never gave up trying and trying after I adjusted my spirit. In the future, everything I do reminds me to be more careful,” she said. The first homestay built by both of them on the first day has transferred the management right to another person, a homestay is also leased to the pottery factory.
The 3rd day of construction and operation of the homestay is also when the 4th wave of the Covid-19 outbreak broke out. There are no tourists so business is almost paralyzed. The couple and the staff every day, in addition to decorating the homestay, hoe the garden, grow more flowers and vegetables. Huyen shared that the days in Da Lat made me feel lucky because the people were very conscious of disease prevention and protecting each other. Up to now, she has not advertised too much about homestay and received guests who have been vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccine, coming from green areas to ensure safety against epidemics.
Huyen shared that the peaceful days of the present were exchanged for the hardships of the past. Those who do business, especially leaving the streets to return to their hometown, need to understand that there is no road paved with roses. Investing in anything also needs to determine the customer’s target, calculate the cost and determine that in the first 6 months there may be no customers, capital loss. To serve her job well, she also used to go back and forth between Saigon and Da Lat to study marketing and management.
Many times, Huyen misses the hustle and bustle of Saigon but never regrets her decision. These days are the most peaceful for her, when the wind blows wildly outside, the clouds stream through the window into the house on the hill, and hear the sound of rotten wood burning in the newly built earthenware oven. Follow vnexpress