From the rough, dry, black coconut shells that seem to be just for throwing away or using as fuel, through the skillful, creative hands of Nguyen Bang Nhi (Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province), they have been transformed into many unique, novel types of jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces, hair clips, coconut paintings...
Nguyen Bang Nhi and her husband introduce products to Mr. Eric - a French customer at a coconut handicraft workshop in Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province.
In addition to coconut jewelry, coconut shell paintings with bamboo trays made to order are also her strong product lines such as: lotus paintings, coconut garden paintings, coconut harvest paintings, or even combining lotus and coconut in one painting. Bang Nhi said that lotus has become the main idea of many coconut shell paintings.
With a passion for creativity and constant learning to enhance the value of products, up to now, many coconut shell paintings and portrait carvings on coconut paper by Nhi have been honored to be chosen by provincial leaders as gifts from Ben Tre to central leaders and in diplomatic work.
Persistence to success
Nguyen Bang Nhi graduated with a major in product design, Faculty of Industrial Fine Arts, Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture. “Initially, my only capital was my passion and encouragement from my family. With the knowledge I acquired at school and additional research, I designed and made it myself, with the support of my parents in boldly investing in cutting and grinding machines,” Bang Nhi shared.
From some of the first jewelry designs, in 20219, Bang Nhi was fortunate to be introduced to participate in the Coconut Festival and received support from the Provincial Investment Promotion and Startup Center. Receiving initial positive signals from customers, Bang Nhi actively participated in fairs and events, spending time learning about marketing to promote products.
“At first, I didn't know how to do marketing communications, but I worked hard to gain knowledge by participating in all the fairs, events, etc. to promote.
The product gradually received feedback to improve, gradually following the needs of customers. In 2022, I got married and moved to Huong My commune (Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre province). From this time, I have been pursuing the goal of starting a business, such as participating in competitions and many events organized by the locality," Bang Nhi added.
After nearly 3 years of hard work and perseverance, Bang Nhi has achieved some initial results. There are 3 types of products, including: coconut jewelry, glass box coconut paintings, and bamboo tray coconut paintings, which are recognized as 3-star OCOP products. Of which, coconut jewelry has been exported to Australia and France, and is currently being upgraded to 4-star OCOP. In startup competitions, Bang Nhi has almost conquered the judges, winning many awards such as: Encouragement prize in the 8th national "Agricultural Startup Project - Innovation" competition, organized by BSA in 2022; First prize in the Provincial Startup Competition in 2022.
By 2024, Bang Nhi continued to win high prizes in awards such as: First prize in the 2024 Women's Entrepreneurship Competition; Second prize in the 2024 OCOP Gift Basket Product. Up to now, Bang Nhi's factory has contributed to creating jobs for nearly 10 workers, including 2 regular workers at the factory.
Mr. Tran Truong Ninh - Bang Nhi's life partner, is also an important companion in his wife's entrepreneurial journey.
He supports his wife in finding raw materials, connecting with partners and building a supply chain for the product. According to Mr. Ninh, Bang Nhi's difference is her perseverance, eagerness to learn and always listening to customer feedback to improve designs, creating more unique and attractive products.
Setting goals for the 6th year of starting a business, Bang Nhi revealed that she is currently focusing on building ISO 9001 and 5S standards (sorting, arranging, cleaning, caring and being ready), aiming to build a production workshop into a demonstration and tourist service location, contributing to making handmade products from coconut shells the pride of her hometown Ben Tre.
Sharing her experience and secrets to success in the first 5 years of starting a business, Bang Nhi said: Hard work and perseverance are important factors for a sustainable start-up.
Next, determine the business model, with target customers, value delivered, design products according to requirements, local product characteristics, build a cultural story for the product to create a brand.
Nguyen Bang Nhi shared: During the process of starting a business, although it started from a passion for design, there were times when I was forced to know and do all the other jobs even though I didn't like them such as: Pricing, business, finding customers, building input and output channels for products, customer data...
In general, no matter what size, you have to do everything. There are many things that even though startups don't want to do, they have to do them in order to standardize, expand and develop.
Source: https://danviet.vn/gao-dua-vut-la-liet-lan-loc-goc-vuon-mot-nguoi-ben-tre-nhat-vao-lam-do-trang-suc-ca-lang-phuc-lan-20250312152806877.htm
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