Boss bankrupt because of Covid-19
Two years ago, Phan Van Duong (32 years old, from Ha Nam ) was the owner of four coffee shops, but now he sells coffee on the street. For Duong, finding a place to "stand on the street" these days is also lucky.
Recalling his days as a boss, Duong shared that his first cafe on Chua Lang Street ( Hanoi ) was founded in 2014 thanks to the savings he had accumulated from 17 months of driving a motorbike taxi.
Duong's coffee cart was his own idea and designed by a craftsman (Photo: Nguyen Son).
"The first 3 months, the shop had no customers. During that time, my staff and I only came in the evening to play music, watch movies, then closed the door and left. Feeling discouraged, I wandered on Nguyen Khang Street (Cau Giay District) and accidentally came across a very crowded and bustling music cafe.
When I tried it out, I realized that the cafe was crowded because it had a stage, a band, and singers. I thought I had to follow this model. That night, I stayed up all night planning to change my cafe into a place where people could sing to each other. A few days later, the cafe started to get crowded," Duong shared.
With good fortune and profits from the first cafe, Duong invested in a second cafe. By 2020, he owned four cafes and a makeup store.
"Back then, every time I earned money, I invested in opening more shops. When the fourth cafe started operating, I had nearly 1 billion VND in cash left," Duong shared.
Mobile coffee shops are gradually becoming familiar to office workers (Photo: Nguyen Son).
With 4 cafes, after deducting all operating costs, Duong pocketed nearly 100 million VND per month. At that time, Duong thought he had "won", until Covid-19 hit. There was no income, and the savings gradually disappeared.
After spending his own money to maintain the shop for a year, the capital was exhausted, so Duong borrowed money from outside to survive. When the loan amount reached nearly 500 million VND, he was forced to close all the shops.
"At first, I was sorry for the effort of building it, so during the social distancing period, I used my own money to pay for the premises and employee salaries. The premises alone cost 18 million VND/shop, 4 shops cost nearly 80 million, and the salary of 12 employees is also several tens of millions of VND per month.
When I ran out of money, both my own and the money I borrowed with interest, I had to close the shop because I couldn't survive with the monthly interest of 30-40 million VND," Duong said.
To have money to pay the monthly interest, Duong rushed out to the streets when everyone was staying home to avoid the epidemic. He drove a motorbike taxi, sold fruit, worked as a broker for clothing wholesalers at Ninh Hiep market... He did anything, as long as it made money.
Duong finds joy with his own startup model (Photo: Nguyen Son).
"At that time, the monthly interest payment was due, so when everyone was at home, I sneaked out to find work. Driving a motorbike taxi did not earn enough income, so I went online to look for more work and saw that people were looking to buy oranges and lemongrass to prevent the epidemic. Seeing the opportunity to make money, every morning I woke up early to go to the wholesale market to buy oranges and lemongrass to sell on apartment groups...
The income from 2-3 jobs helps me earn enough money to pay the monthly interest. After the pandemic, I asked the lender to reduce the interest so I could go back to work to gradually pay off the principal. By the end of 2022, I will have used both the money from work and the money I borrowed from relatives to pay off the loan with interest," Duong shared.
After paying off his debt, Duong struggled to think of a way to continue earning a living. Knowing his situation, an acquaintance introduced him to a job as a delivery boy for clothing businesses in Ninh Hiep market.
Learning how the motorbike taxi drivers at the market make money and thanks to his close relationship with the factories, he introduced customers to the factories to earn more commission.
For each customer referral, he gets paid 5,000 VND/product. If he quotes an additional 2,000 VND to the customer, he earns 7,000 VND for each product.
"Each customer coming to the factory to buy goods must order 200-300 products before the factory agrees to make them, so thanks to that, I can pocket millions of dong a day. There are months when I earn tens of millions. This job is "good", but a few months later, regular customers work directly with the factory, and intermediaries like me are unemployed," Duong confided.
When the boss is out... standing on the street
With some capital, Duong returned to Hanoi and tried to restart his business with a mobile coffee cart model. Before the pandemic, he had also run a coffee business like this, so Duong had no difficulty starting again.
"After the incident of having to close 4 cafes, I no longer have enough money to reopen the shops. Moreover, after the pandemic, the general economic situation is difficult, opening a shop is extremely risky.
I watched a startup fundraising program, there was a friend in Ho Chi Minh City who came to raise capital to start a mobile coffee business model. I saw this as an opportunity for me in Hanoi," Duong shared the reason why he chose to start a business again with a mobile coffee cart.
After 4 months of starting his business, Duong sells 120-150 cups of take-away coffee every day, earning nearly 20 million VND/month (Photo: Nguyen Son).
Duong Tinh, compared to opening a shop, a mobile coffee cart is more convenient because it does not cost money to rent a space, tables, chairs or decorations, and it is easy to attract customers if the products are of good quality. He wandered around the streets looking for a business location.
"While sitting drinking iced tea on the sidewalk on Cau Giay Street, I saw a man selling tofu pudding with a lot of customers. I asked and found out that this man had been selling here for 7 years, so I decided to choose this as the place to start my business," Duong affirmed.
After four months of "standing on the street", he sells out 3 liters of concentrated coffee every day, equivalent to more than 100 prepared cups, serving office workers, priced from 15,000-20,000 VND/cup. In addition to traditional coffee, he also adds fruit juices to the menu to serve more female customers.
"I didn't start a business following the current trend. I spent a month observing and researching each location before deciding to "settle" there. I grind and brew coffee on-site using a machine. Customers who come to buy can see the whole process with their own eyes, so they trust and support me a lot," Duong shared.
Realizing the high demand for take-away drinks, Duong opened three more points of sale on Duy Tan Street, Ngoc Khanh Lake and Xuan Thuy Street. He sells on De La Thanh Street, and at the remaining three points, he provides vocational training for young people who do not have stable jobs and want to start a business.
Having successfully started his business, Duong has helped many people in similar situations start their own businesses (Photo: Nguyen Son).
"My income is mainly from one location where I sell, the other 3 locations I support for free. I used to be like them, driving a motorbike taxi, working in an office, so I understand the difficulties everyone is facing, so I support them to start a business," he shared.
As one of the three people supported by Duong, Hoang Duy Huynh (24 years old, My Duc, Hanoi) stands selling drinks at Ngoc Khanh Lake (Ba Dinh District) every day. After more than 2 months of starting his business, Huynh sells 50-60 cups of coffee every day.
Before starting this business, Huynh had worked in many different jobs, including office work and motorbike taxi driving, but the income was not enough to live on or the work was hard and dangerous.
Huynh is also starting a mobile coffee cart model (Photo: Nguyen Son).
"In 2018, I went to Japan for 4 years as a student, studying and working at the same time. By the beginning of 2022, I returned home with almost nothing in hand. After that, I applied to work as an office worker for a real estate company but only lasted 2 months because the income was not enough to live on.
"I quit my office job and became a motorbike taxi driver. One day, I accidentally met Mr. Duong through social media with his mobile coffee business model. I asked him out and he helped me," Huynh said.
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