WOODEN PENS AND THE FEELINGS OF A STUDENT WHO CANNOT WORK FOR ANY COMPANY!
Mr. Trần Quốc Nhẫn
Profile information:
Mr. Trần Quốc Nhẫn (1989) Took the “X-StartUP” course in 9/2014 With strengths in Internet Marketing, he launched the Bút Gỗ Việt project with the website: http://www.butgoviet.com/ The person's Facebook Gift products are expected to launch at LuckyGift.com.vn Please send all cooperation and investment inquiries to: support@yup.edu.vn Entrepreneurship course details at See YUP here Further Insights from CEO Tạ Minh Tuấn Follow the stories of Yuppies from YUP Facebook
I will always remember 1 day in early 2013, 2 years after I graduated. Still carrying my work briefcase, I returned to my room and lay back, exhausted after 8 hours at the company.
I kept asking myself the same question: I know successful people are those who take charge of their own lives. So why am I still lying here? Why am I still endlessly pursuing projects for someone else's company? And so, throughout 3 Tết seasons, my heart was weighed down each year by the thought: ‘Again this Tết, I have nothing to bring home for the family!’—No, it was time to stand up. Leave this place and create something of my own.
I began to ponder, absorbed in my thoughts. If I went into business now, what should I do? I realized that the market urgently needed and lacked safe fruit and vegetables. Back then, shops selling such produce were nowhere to be found. I thought this was 1 good idea if given adequate investment.
In 6/2013: I left an Internet Marketing company entirely and switched to selling insurance from month 7 to have time to research a clean fruit and vegetable business model.
By 12/2013, after half a year of research, I realized the clean produce sector was not an easy challenge for me at that time because I lacked capital and resources. I temporarily set aside my ambition to establish Vietnam's first international-standard clean farm. Yet it remained a major goal for the next 5 years. I believe ‘the greater the difficulty, the greater the result when you overcome it.’ I am determined to make it happen.
During that time, I realized the life skills and entrepreneurial mindsets I had learned from seminars over 3 long years, from 2011-2013, were not enough. I needed more knowledge and practical experience of starting a business in Vietnam. And I chose YUP. Thank you, YUP, for giving me wings!
The Questions Kept Repeating in My Head, and I Decided to Establish VINA TQN Limited Liability Company, Hoping to Build My Own Brand
My friends, this was only the beginning of 2 major developments that affected me in late 2013. I had to think of myself as 1 failure when my family lost trust in me after I changed jobs more than 4 times in succession. At the same time, my girlfriend broke up with me because she no longer trusted or believed in me—a young man with no future and no stable income. My friends did not think I would achieve any success either. Under pressure from all sides, I reluctantly accepted a continued life as an employee from late 2013.
And 1 business ‘signal’ seemed to answer my hopes. Around this time, 1 female friend gave me 1 WOODEN PEN. What was fascinating was that it had my name—Trần Quốc Nhẫn—engraved on it. I was immediately so ‘captivated’ by the gift that I shared it on my personal social network. To my surprise, a few days later the first unexpected ‘orders’ fell from the sky! I realized this was 1 good opportunity for me. That was the birth of the idea for my own business project, Butgoviet.com! Wow, so has my life turned a new page?
This time, without thinking much more, I started immediately. I launched butgoviet.com while seeking suppliers and manufacturers to produce this range of wooden pens for the market. My Time Working at Internet Marketing Companies Has Given Me Confidence and a Wealth of Marketing Ideas for This New and Exciting Project.
By 3/2014, I was still maintaining my 2 main activities: first, working in sales for 1 flavoring company; and 2nd, devoting all remaining time to launching the Bút Gỗ Việt project. I remember clearly the day 14/4/2014. Being a cautious person, even after building strong confidence in this project, I allowed myself to borrow only 3.5 million from a friend as starting capital.
Within 14 days of selling engraved wooden pens, I earned my first 7 million through my own thinking. My modest result was that monthly revenue gradually rose from 30 million to the current 150 million/month over the past 9 months, from month 4 to month 12. I would surely never have known I could do these things if I had remained a salaried employee! I am not boasting about my achievements, because for 1 business this is a small amount of revenue. However, at least I no longer worry every day about what I need to do to earn money. At least I can now give my family 1 complete Tết celebration and have everyone's trust and support. At least I have moved beyond the stage of being 1 employee. In 10/2014: I established a joint-stock company with an acquaintance from my insurance days, but we disagreed on many issues during our work together. I then decided to separate and operate independently to continue nurturing the Bút Gỗ Việt project, which is also my passion. In 12/2014: After that unsuccessful partnership, I drew valuable lessons—things I could only experience by officially starting a business and, of course, things no school could teach you.
Sometimes I feel discouraged with everything, especially myself, and ask: ‘Must I find a job like before and collect a regular monthly salary? Must the project into which I poured my heart and energy die prematurely like this???’ Those questions repeated in my mind until I decided to establish VINA TQN Co., Ltd. to build my own brand, continuing my passion for gift products engraved and personalized to customers' requests. My deepest aim is to give customers the most distinctive, unique products, allowing each person to design their own. Then not only my colleagues and I, but customers themselves, will be devoted to our products.
ButgoViet's products
And in the near future, I will make a strong push into gifts for individuals and organizations under the brand LuckyGift.com.vn Much of what I learned and felt during this business venture came from YUP: – Daring to act & take risks is 1 of the greatest values YUP has given me. I learned from YUP's speakers: ‘Keep walking, stumble, get back up, and continue. Only then will your entrepreneurial road gradually become shorter.’ – Khi còn chưa tiếp xúc với các doanh nhân thành công, ví dụ như anh Tạ Minh Tuấn. Tôi cảm thấy như anh là người rất cao, thật khó để tôi tiếp cận chứ nói gì tới việc nói chuyện với. Nhưng mọi suy nghĩ của tôi hoàn toàn đảo lộn khi nhận thấy sự nhiệt huyết, tâm huyết của anh trong việc đào tạo những nhà khởi nghiệp tại YUP lớn đến thế nào. Nó thật sự còn lớn hơn cả các công ty kinh doanh của anh. Vì vậy, đối với tôi. Tạ Minh Tuấn là 1 người anh mà tôi vô cùng kính trọng – How YUP helped me when I was most exhausted and defeated: when I was tired, memories of the past returned, making me feel as though I was still just an ordinary salaried employee and still a nobody. At those moments, YUP's saying helped me regain my composure: ‘If you want what you have never had, do what you have never done!’ I immediately asked myself, ‘What would Tuấn, teacher Lý Trường Chiến, and the other YUP speakers do in this situation?’ In this way, I found the right solutions to my problems. And Finally, If You Want to Take Something Away from This Article, Here Is My Advice: If you want to do business or start a venture, you should first have a product or service. Then move one step at a time, small but steady. With each small daily step, the day you reach success will come closer! I wish you success, and once again, thank you to YUP for helping me and hundreds of others realize our entrepreneurial dreams!
