Female billionaire started her business with zero capital
Báo Dân trí•21/10/2024
(Dan Tri) - After nearly 30 years of working as a clam raker, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bien (Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province) became a billionaire and is one of 63 people voted as Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers in 2024.
Starting a business with zero capital Ms. Nguyen Thi Bien, 51 years old, is living in a spacious 2-storey villa in Quang Trung village, Hoang Thanh commune, Hoang Hoa district. Her family's property is all thanks to clam farming. In 1996, like many other women in the coastal areas of Thanh Hoa, Ms. Bien went clam raking every day to earn a living. From a clam raker for a living, Ms. Bien became a clam farming billionaire (Photo: Hoang Duong). "Back then, there were a lot of clams, mostly red clams. We often went together to rake them and then brought them to the market to sell," Ms. Bien shared. In 2000, while accidentally selling clams in Nga Son district, Ms. Bien met a Chinese trader who specialized in buying clam meat. Realizing that the red clam breed in her hometown was sought after, she decided to change direction to buying clams from people in the commune to sell. In the early days of starting her business, due to lack of capital, Ms. Bien bought on credit from people who raked clams in the commune. After the traders took the goods, she used the interest to pay off the debt to the people. Over the years, from starting with zero capital, she became a famous trader throughout the region. Recalling the early days, Ms. Bien said that it was the most difficult time that she and her husband had ever experienced. Every time she went to trade, she had to ride her bicycle around the villages and hamlets and then hire a boat to carry the clams to sell. In 2006, realizing that natural clam resources were becoming scarce, she researched and went to the South to buy clam seeds to sell to people raising them at sea. "Not only do I sell to people in Thanh Hoa, I also export to many provinces and cities, such as Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh," Ms. Bien said. Portrait of female billionaire Nguyen Thi Bien (Photo: Thanh Tung). By selling clam seeds and purchasing clam meat, Ms. Bien's family's economy has gradually stabilized and prospered. To increase income, she invested in renting and buying clam farms in Hai Phong, Thai Binh and Nghi Son town (Thanh Hoa). Currently, she owns more than 50 hectares of commercial clams and clam seeds. Vietnamese farmer excels at clam farming Ms. Bien said that clam farming is sometimes like gambling. After nearly 30 years of working with clams, she has experienced many hardships. There was a time when she lost several billion VND due to lack of farming experience and the effects of the weather. "A clam farm requires an investment of about 5 billion VND. If the weather is kind, it will yield a harvest, otherwise it will fail. There are years when there are storms and the newly released clam seeds die all over the farm. Like the recent storm, dozens of hectares of my clams in Hai Phong were completely lost, causing a loss of 4.7 billion VND," Ms. Bien shared. Despite facing many difficulties and failures, during nearly 30 years of working in the clam industry, she has never thought of giving up. Currently, she supplies thousands of tons of commercial clams and clam seeds each year. The markets that Ms. Bien targets are processing factories and aquaculture households in all provinces and cities in the North and some provinces in the South. On average, each year, after deducting expenses, Ms. Bien's family earns a profit of nearly 5 billion VND. Although it was very difficult and hard, Ms. Bien never thought of giving up clam farming (Photo: Hoang Duong). Not only is she good at business, Ms. Bien also creates jobs for nearly 20 regular workers, with a salary of 10 million VND/month and hundreds of workers every time it is harvest time. In addition, thanks to clam farming, she and her husband have raised 4 children to go to university and college, and have stable jobs. In the future, Ms. Bien hopes that Thanh Hoa province will plan a clam farming area in Hoang Hoa district so that she can invest and expand the model in her hometown. Mr. Le Ba Hai, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hoang Hoa district, said that Ms. Bien has been a typical farmer in the locality for many years. According to Mr. Hai, with her outstanding achievements in labor, production and business, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bien was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister; the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province awarded a Certificate of Merit and was certified as a good farmer and business household at the provincial level and was honored as an Excellent Vietnamese Farmer in 2024.
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