Still at school and with her family living far from a major city, Ngô Vũ Thảo Quỳnh nevertheless resolved to establish an online book company with friends and achieved initial success.
An excellent student in Bình Dương for 9 consecutive years, Ngô Vũ Thảo Quỳnh gives people an impression of maturity far beyond her age of 15 from the very first meeting.
An avid reader, Quỳnh insisted in grade 8 that her father let her travel to Ho Chi Minh City for the book fair. From then on, whenever the event took place, she would “sneak away” from her family and attend alone. There, she had many opportunities to meet older people who shared her love of reading. Recognizing her maturity and potential, someone once asked, “Would you like to open a bookstore together?” Thinking it was just for fun, Quỳnh nodded. That was the turning point that made her a co-founder of the online bookstore Rubikbooks.
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Although she has been learning the ropes of business for 2 years, Quỳnh still retains much of the innocence of a 15-year-old. Photo provided by the subject |
Thanh Diệu, one of Rubikbooks' founders, shared: “It was a fortunate coincidence that we met Quỳnh. At the time, she wanted to try building a brand. Although she was young, we saw that she was mature and passionate, so we wanted to give it a try.”
Diệu says Quỳnh is highly creative, eager to learn, and very responsible. Working with her is quite interesting. Sometimes, the girl's ideas even go well beyond what Rubikbooks can actually do.
Online business does not need much working capital, only effort from members, so Quỳnh's group needed just 6 million đồng to get started. Rubikbooks initially had 5 members, then 2 quit. After more than 2 years, membership grew to 8 across Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Đà Nẵng and Bình Dương. They tried many approaches, from introducing it to friends to promotions and social media publicity, and secured their first 100 orders.
With limited initial capital, the team gradually worked through small orders, sourcing books through publishers’ agents. Over time, Rubikbooks could buy directly from companies and stock more than 500 titles in its Ho Chi Minh City warehouse. To cut costs, team members also delivered orders and shipped them by post themselves. Online revenue in Ho Chi Minh City alone now exceeds 20 million per month. Orders in other areas incur additional C.O.D (cash on delivery) fees and still depend on postal operations, limiting revenue to around 3–5 million per month. Rubikbooks also seeks sponsorship from publishers to organize offline events with authors.
Although the youngest, Quỳnh handles many important company tasks, including events, visuals, content management and brand direction. She taught herself Photoshop and other publishing software to design posters and book covers. She also attends writing classes and branding and communications courses, paid for with her own saved prize money.
‘When organizing an event, another company may sometimes hold a gathering on the same day and invite the same author. I had to strengthen and enrich the interactive content for readers and offer exclusive gifts to participants,’ she said.
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This multitalented girl can write prose and poetry, take photographs, design, and work in communications. |
When she first started working, Quỳnh was stressed and constantly sleepy at school because she often stayed up until 2 in the morning discussing plans online with her team. After getting used to the work pace, she learned to balance and organize work and study. “I never expected entrepreneurship to be so difficult. Disagreements in the team and events with poor results… often made me want to quit. Then I realized that even the hardest problems have solutions; what matters is patiently trying to find them,” Quỳnh shared.
She revealed that Rubikbooks would soon recruit more staff in Đà Nẵng and open a book café there on 20/9. Initially, the café would not hire employees, relying instead on help from friends.
“I am developing the idea of a café-bookstore model for Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in the future. I will display photographs I have taken myself. They may not be beautiful, but that is better than copying other people's photos without permission. At the center of the café will be a large board where customers can write the title of their favorite book,” Quỳnh shared, adding that she would turn it into a meeting place for author talks and book signings.
Quỳnh said her inseparable companion is a “Brainstorm notebook,” where she quickly records passing ideas, even those considered crazy. “For example, someday I want to open a cylindrical café hanging from a tree, covered with straw on the outside so it looks like a miniature bird’s nest…” she shared.
Still “rebellious” as she approaches 15, Quỳnh often “sneaks away” from her family to Ho Chi Minh City for meetings, classes, or events. “I simply think that if I like something, I should do it. Hesitating over something already puts you a step back mentally. Worrying only wastes time and makes you ill,” Quỳnh said. She used to be afraid of traffic whenever she went out, but now dares to travel to Ho Chi Minh City alone. Sometimes, in the rain, she has to hurry to catch a bus back to Bình Dương before it is too late. She concluded that when you have big dreams at an early age, the first challenge you face is your family, because parents always want their children, especially daughters, to choose comfortable careers.
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