Girl dropped out of master's degree, earns millions every day from selling banh gio

Finding the environment for her master’s degree unsuitable, Pham Ngoc Thanh Lan (27 years old), residing on Le Van Sy Street, Ward 1, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, decided to quit her job and sell banh gio. This decision of hers surprised many people.

"Hearing this news, my whole family was shocked. My parents are both lecturers. Both of them used to work at the Food and Foodstuff College under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Yet the only daughter in the family with a bachelor's degree in business administration dropped out of her master's degree to sell banh gio," she recalled with a laugh.

*Thanh Lan decided to drop out of her master's degree to sell banh gio.*

Bold decision

Thanh Lan said that in 2020, she started studying for a master's degree after quitting her full-time job at a major brand. During her studies, she realized that it was not suitable. So Lan decided to quit school, stay home to make banh gio and sell it online in 2021.

The opportunity to make banh gio started before Lan started her business. In 2017 and 2018, Lan's parents retired. With her skillful hands and love for food since she was young, Lan's mother always searched for recipes and started her own business. Lan found it quite interesting, so she researched and learned new dishes on the market to help her mother.

*Lan's kitchen is always filled with joy.*

Lan realized that salted egg rice cake was a new but very popular dish, so she suggested that her mother make this dish and find wholesale customers to sell it. However, Lan's mother did not agree because she thought it was just a matter of taking the work for profit. The girl felt that the effort her mother put in was not commensurate with the profit she earned. Seeing the great potential for customers, the girl was determined to develop this product by starting her own business.

The thought of dropping out of school became more and more urgent for Lan. She had been pondering this for a long time because studying for a master's degree meant a lot to her parents.

"At first, my family did not support me because they thought the job was too hard and the income was not much higher than an office job. After seeing how passionate I was about the job, my parents gradually relented and supported me. My mother often came to the shop to help, and my father often helped his daughter wipe banana leaves to wrap cakes when he was free," Lan said.

The girl who graduated from the Business Administration major of Saigon University (HCMC) started her business from very small things. From cooking and baking at home, then renting a level 4 house to make a bakery to have more space... After the Covid-19 pandemic, the general economic difficulties made Lan struggle for a long time. The girl confessed that she had only experience as an employee before, so operating and developing a restaurant was quite difficult. Lan was both the main chef and the owner of the restaurant and had to manage the staff, books and everything.

However, the girl refused to borrow money from her parents because she was aware that her family's economy was not good. Lan saved money and borrowed money from outside. Even though she had changed her location for the third time, the young girl still did not give up.

A young girl's delicious pot of banh gio

Every day, Lan starts her work early in the morning by steaming the rice cakes that were made the day before. Only in the evening does she have time to go to the market and buy goods, because this is when vegetables and meat are imported to the center of Ho Chi Minh City. This way, she ensures that the ingredients are always fresh and affordable. Many days, Lan has to wait until midnight at the market just to get the exact ingredients she wants.

The girl's secret to making banh gio is quite simple. It is always keeping in mind that everything must be "fresh". For example, Lan often buys pork from the oven to the shop, then starts to clean and grind the meat herself. Every step of making the cake is very meticulous.

*Lan started the process of wrapping banh gio.*

*Hot banh gio portions are ready to be delivered to customers.*

Not only following the secret instructions from her mother, this girl also attended cooking classes at the Asia-Europe Vocational School, interned and worked at the Sheraton Hotel... to gain more experience. The more she worked, the more Lan realized that cooking was a passion, not just a hobby wanting to do food business.

Every day, Lan sells more than 50 banh gio (VND38,000 - 75,000/portion) along with other dishes and this number gradually increases towards the end of the year. Daily revenue is about VND3 million. Near Tet, there are days when revenue is more than VND20 million.

*Salted egg rice cake is the most popular dish of her shop.*

"During the Covid-19 pandemic, my mother and I made nearly 200 banh gio every day, staying up all night. But I was very happy to realize that despite the obstacles in transportation, customers were still willing to spend money to buy the banh gio that I made. During Tet, my family delivered more than 500 banh chung every year. There were many days when I stayed up until 3am and woke up at 6am to deliver to customers on time. Although I was tired, the effort was worth it," Lan said.

*Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Thanh Lan's mother, is helping her daughter make banh gio.*

There is a customer who lives in Binh Duong province but orders nearly 200 cakes every time. Or many customers, even though the shipping fee is higher than the cost of buying the cake, they still order. There are many regular customers from the first day the shop opened, they even recommend it to others, so Lan really appreciates it.

Currently, Lan is very happy with her job selling banh gio. She is satisfied with the job she has chosen and the path she is taking brings her happiness every day. The young girl is determined to work hard every day to soon have a restaurant where customers can sit and enjoy banh gio instead of just ordering online.

"Many people asked me why I dropped out of school to sell banh gio. Hearing this, I was not sad at all because it was all my choice. I just briefly explained that this is the career I will pursue for the rest of my life. I have no regrets and feel proud. I am grateful to my parents for their support, especially my mother, who... inspired me to be passionate about cooking," Lan said.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/cap-vdv-viet-nam-lot-top-50-doi-dancesport-the-gioi-lua-tuoi-trung-nien-20240902173515161.htm