The couple Quoc Khanh – Bich Van invested more than 350 million VND to run a mobile coffee business in Da Lat, bringing in a revenue of up to 30 million VND/month.
Every morning, when the “city of thousands of flowers” is still asleep, the 9x couple drive through the bumpy and foggy roads to the pink grass hill (Lac Duong, Lam Dong) to sell coffee. . The car is open for sale from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. for tourists to take photos, then continue to move to the pine forest along Tuyen Lam Lake for sale at 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Since June, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, they rented a place in the Trai Mat area, where many tourists come to watch the sunset and the valley of lights, register a semi-permanent business. Also from here, they live in the car to look after the shop and twice the city social distance, they go home to live near the business point.
Living in Da Lat City and having a passion for travel, Khanh and Van work as guides and organize tours to discover local experiences for foreign guests. In addition, they run a coffee shop in the city. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 severely affected the tourism and service industries and no longer had international visitors, the couple was forced to change their business form.
Having strengths in camping, coffee business, and love for cars and trips, they decided to make a “mobile home” to both travel and do business.
They bought a 5-seat van truck TMT K05S, life 2021, the rolling price is 300 million dongs. At the ideation stage, contrary to the usual way of referring to the available car and then choosing the appropriate details, the couple drew the design from their personal needs. In which, the car is a dispensing counter and mobile kitchen, while sleeping, living, and amenities in the car are secondary factors.
The idea of the car started in December 2020 but it was not until February 2021 that the couple started implementing it. Vehicle repair time is one week. The main material for the car interior is industrial wood, with a good water-resistant surface and easy to clean, but after half a year of use, it expands because of water absorption, causing the cabinet to jam. The car also has a sleeping pad (size 1.9×1.4 m), completely separated from the dispensing area. The car has a rechargeable battery for 5V, 12V, 220V, enough for 3 days and 2 nights and 60 liters of domestic water, and a public toilet.
To serve the business, the car is fully equipped with a coffee machine, the most compact kitchen. In addition, it is also a decorative tool for customers to take photos in many different contexts. The cost to complete the car is more than 50 million VND.
Due to not changing the structure or fixed drilling, the vehicle is allowed to circulate and is registered every 2 years. Khanh still remembers a happy memory when he was on the road when he was asked by the traffic patrol to stop to check, making both hearts flutter because they did not know what violations. But then they were allowed to go right away and the reason for stopping the car was because the car was too pink and white, too fancy.
“My wife and I also gave the funny policeman a bottle of home-cooked tea and he praised the car for being beautiful and the tea was delicious, so we were very happy,” Khanh smiled and said.
From March, the couple officially sold mobile coffee on the car. The first two days started at the same time as the show of singer Ha Anh Tuan in Da Lat, so they stopped the car right in front of the performance gate. Then they target customers who are couples, photographers in the pink grass hills and pine forests. The couple set up a tent to cover the rain and sun and arrange specialized camping chairs around for guests to rest and drink.
The car is small, with colors suitable for the poetic scenery of Da Lat, so it attracts many tourists to take pictures and buy drinks. This mobile “coffee shop” also gradually became familiar to many young people in Da Lat and appeared in many check-in photos.
When the Covid-19 epidemic became complicated in many localities and Da Lat stipulated that the restaurant only sell takeout, the couple left Trai Mat for a fixed sale, minimizing operating costs. The number of customers at this time decreased significantly, one day they only sold 2 drinks. Especially during the time when the city implemented social distancing, they also had to temporarily close, making business difficult.
Since the fixed sale, the couple seems to move to live in the car, to conveniently take care of the shop’s belongings. They slept in the mobile home, cooked in the open air, and only took turns going home to clean up. The couple shared that they do not face many inconveniences and difficulties when living in a “mobile home”, even with the cold, rainy weather of Da Lat, it is warmer and more comfortable in a car than in a tent.
Currently, when Da Lat allows restaurants to be served on-site, coffee carts are open for sale from 9am to 9pm daily, both selling goods and taking photos and sightseeing for guests. Although only serving local customers, the shop is always full in the afternoon, a time frame to watch the sunset. Revenue a month recently is 30 million dongs.
Building a car to serve both travel purposes, but Khanh and Van have just arrived in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa). Thanks to the car, their trip is also more cost-effective, especially because they can travel in many routes as well as a stop for rest and personal hygiene anywhere. In the time to come when the epidemic is under control, the couple fulfills their dream of driving across Vietnam and selling coffee along the way. Follow vnexpress