11th grade girl starts business with scent

Launching the scented candle brand JAROS Candle while still an 11th grade student, Nguyen Hoan Le Vy (Vinh Long) was successful in generating revenue from it.

Nguyen Hoan Le Vy with her own brand of scented candles - Photo: NVCC

The girl born in 2005 is a new student at Greenwich University Vietnam, and is also an official delegate to the 7th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnamese Student Association last week.

Talking to Tuoi Tre , Le Vy said that she has an endless passion for scents. At first, she just bought scented candles to use, then she liked them and suddenly thought why not try online business.

And when the wholesale business was quite good, she wanted to establish her own brand with this scented candle line.

Steady steps

* Can you call that your entrepreneurial opportunity?

- I am passionate about starting a business , and luckily I have a sister who is knowledgeable about chemistry, so I asked her about establishing the JAROS Candle brand. JAROS is the abbreviation of the names of jasmine and rose, which are flowers with a heart-touching scent, and are also the English names of my two sisters.

I hope the products we create find customers who share the same passion for feeling relaxed and enjoying every time they burn one of our scented candles.

* What challenges did you face early on and how did you overcome them?

- Perhaps the most difficult part at first was finding a reputable source of raw materials. Because of the impact on users' health, finding materials such as wax, incense, and wicks that meet all these factors is not simple. Not to mention, I myself am a newbie and do not have much experience in market research and business.

However, with the help of my sister, when consulting the market for scented candle materials, I decided to choose manufacturing facilities with certificates of raw material standards and product testing certificates that are reputable enough to import. I think the input materials must be meticulous to achieve product quality on the market.

* Refer to market information, how is your product being evaluated?

- I am happy because the signal is quite good when the product is loved and supported by many people. Through the survey, we know that there are also many customers who come back to buy the product in a scented candle market with many designs and types. That stimulates me to explore and research to create more products with diverse scents and new designs to suit consumer needs.

We currently have four product lines, diverse scents, and accept processing and making gifts for some businesses according to diverse requirements in terms of design and scent.

Want to inspire entrepreneurship?

* Vy participated in raising capital from a startup program. Why did you want to try this program?

- I also want to challenge myself, seize more opportunities to bring my own brand to the big sea, as a way to build and develop the brand. And I have raised capital, had the opportunity to rub shoulders, learn, and connect with many other people.

* The young lady chose to study communications, there must be some connection?

- Since I was little, I have loved being a presenter, I love communicating in front of a crowd, I love giving presentations, I love standing in front of the camera. Choosing this major is also to satisfy that passion.

Furthermore, I think this learning will definitely help in some way with the story and startup brand I am working on, so that I can find a way to bring my product to a wider audience, for example.

* What are Le Vy's plans for the brand she has started to build?

- In the near future, I will definitely launch many new collections with more diverse designs and scents so that people have more choices according to their needs. In the long term, JAROS needs to become a brand close to nature, using environmentally friendly production materials, contributing to environmental protection and safety for users' health.

* Returning from the recent 7th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnamese Student Association, what did you bring to this important forum of Ho Chi Minh City students?

- Personally, I feel very happy and honored to be one of the 459 official delegates summoned to attend the congress. After two days of the congress with many exciting activities and forums, I had the opportunity to share with some friends about my passion for starting a business.

At the same time, I also learned many interesting things from other friends, clearly feeling the youthful dynamism that students in an active and dynamic environment like the city named after Uncle Ho have.

Tuoitre.vn