- An idea born on the hospital bed of a Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics graduate
Sometimes business ideas come entirely by chance, without surveys or costly research—just a flash of inspiration that opens a precious, life-changing opportunity. For Phạm Hoàng Phúc, a graduate born in 1992 from Bình Định, the idea of selling rural specialties took shape right on… a hospital bed.
For many people, a traffic accident is certainly not a happy memory, but for Phúc it was an unforgettable turning point. He recalled that after 2 painful operations that cost him 13kg and left scars crisscrossing his abdomen, his family came from the countryside to visit him as he recovered in hospital, bringing plenty of nourishing food. His favorite was Bình Định chili salt. He said: ‘An idea I had long forgotten suddenly returned—to bring my hometown’s specialties to provinces and cities nationwide, giving those far from home some comfort for their homesickness and introducing people elsewhere to Bình Định’s delicious food.’ As soon as he left hospital, the young man set about realizing that idea with just VND 5 million. Phúc and his older sister spent considerable time researching the market, defining the brand and selecting a logo, finally choosing a catchy name for their product: chili salt sauce. Initially, the siblings struggled to choose ingredients, because authentic Bình Định flavor required fresh ingredients, so they had to go directly to the source. Short of capital, Phúc promoted the product on social media, created a Facebook fan page, developed a detailed step-by-step advertising plan and offered delivery to customers’ doors to build credibility. Gradually, the product became known beyond Bình Định natives living away from home, and customers everywhere liked this distinctive dipping salt. After just 2 months in business, Phúc made nearly VND 10 million in profit. Phúc said his chili salt sauce had a distinctive flavor and paired easily with snails, seafood, grilled food and fruit… so it sold very well, while customers spread the word and helped expand his brand. Phúc is now planning to bring more Bình Định specialties to people while refining a more professional business process and applying for state permits.
- A young woman earns half a billion a year from rural specialties
Also born in 1992, Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Oanh is another example of success from choosing rural specialties as a small-business idea. Unlike Phúc, she began considering it while working in import-export at a large company, so limited resources created many initial difficulties. Fortunately, her husband supported her and worked alongside her to develop the plan.
With VND 50 million in hand, Oanh spent most of it renting a shop, buying sales equipment, and hiring delivery staff. She chose specialties from her husband's hometown of Phan Rang, including forest honey, sterculia gum, basil seeds, and garlic. With limited capital, she initially bought only small quantities of each to test customer preferences. Yet the long journey to Saigon raised costs considerably, and the couple had to cover losses in the first months. Fortunately, Oanh's husband worked in IT, saving them website design costs and giving them an effective advertising channel. By month 7, revenue began rising and the constant losses stopped, so they decided to intensify online marketing. Her website is now better known, with hundreds of loyal customers regularly ordering Phan Rang specialties and generating nearly VND 50 million in monthly profit.
- After two failures, building a company worth billions of đồng
Nguyễn Thị Mến was born in the late 1980s and grew up in Đà Lạt, whose mild climate is suitable for many kinds of fruit, including the widely grown persimmon. Her family chose persimmons as their main crop and invested several hundred million dong, only to lose everything because of tricks played by Chinese traders. This family setback troubled Mến deeply. To help, she went online and appealed to friends to buy their produce. Although the support was modest, it opened a new path for her: e-commerce, the shortest route for bringing Đà Lạt specialties to consumers.
And then that young woman resolved to learn more about online business, investing 30 million dong in a virtual store with the dream, like so many others, of turning the virtual into reality. But because she lacked experience, she failed again, not only losing her capital but also taking on a sizable debt. Even so, that setback helped her understand e-commerce better and strengthened her determination for her next plan. In 2012, Mến set up a website dedicated to selling Đà Lạt specialties, initially offering mainly fresh and dried persimmons. To make her website more widely known, she actively posted on classified advertising sites, social media, and so on, gradually bringing more customers to the brand she was building. She shared that, at the time, soft dried persimmons attracted the most interest from foreigners, while Vietnamese customers also frequently bought them as gifts. Her dried persimmons are all made by hand to preserve their natural fragrance, rich sweetness, and just the right chewiness, particularly without added coloring or preservatives. This also means that their price is usually a little higher than elsewhere, but she believes customers will taste the difference. The results were just as she expected: orders increased rapidly, allowing her to earn hundreds of millions each month. Once she had accumulated a reasonable amount of capital, she decided to establish a company and register her own brand to expand the business. She said that in the very first quarter after its establishment, the company's revenue reached 200% of its previous level, while peak holiday months brought her profits of up to 300 million dong. Mến also continually brought her products to trade fairs and exhibitions to promote them, while increasing her purchases of persimmons from local farmers and bringing the region's specialties to more people. These are just 3 of the many success stories about selling rural specialties; in reality, many people have transformed their lives through their hometown's simple dishes. One thing all 3 stories have in common is that they chose online business as the first stepping stone for their ideas, because it requires little capital and makes customers easy to reach. Hopefully, these stories will give you more motivation to bring your own hometown specialties to other places.
