Nghe An: 9X from a fishing village gets rich from a job reserved for "old people"

Vu Dai Loc, Dong Loc hamlet (Dien Ngoc, Dien Chau) (far left) dropped out of university to return to his hometown to start a business. Photo: Nguyen Quynh.

Loc was born in 1994, the eldest child in a family of 5 siblings. Loc's family has a tradition of going to sea, currently owning a pair of small-capacity trawlers. In 2012, after graduating from high school, Loc passed the entrance exam to the Faculty of Law, Vinh University. After studying there for 2 years, although he still had a strong attachment, due to his family's poor circumstances, seeing a "flock" of younger siblings studying, and in addition to his passion for the profession, Loc decided to drop out of school and return to the village.

Seeing his son drop out of school, Mr. Vu Van Hoi (Loc's father) was initially "shocked" because all the family's hopes were placed on his eldest son, hoping that after graduating from school he would escape the arduous life of going to sea. However, Mr. Hoi did not stop his son, on the contrary, he supported him when he explained his reasons for dropping out of school to return to his hometown to start a business.

Knowing a little bit about net repair techniques, which he learned from his father, he was confident. Loc said that in 6th grade, he learned from his father how to mend nets, and by 11th grade, he could make a complete net like he can now. Many friends teased him that he looked like an old man, because this job was originally only for the elderly in the village.

Initially, Loc decided to accept torn and damaged nets from fishermen to repair. After borrowing 100 million VND from his parents to buy tools and materials, Loc spent time knocking on the doors of every boat owner in the village to ask if anyone had a damaged net, he would accept to repair it. Through Loc's hands, torn nets were patched firmly, and poorly made nets were repaired to "fish better". So more and more fishermen came to him.

Vu Dai Loc's production facility provides jobs for 10 workers. Photo: Nguyen Quynh

I wondered what a “good fishing” net meant. Loc explained that when fishermen buy new nets, because they buy them from many places and from many different net weavers, some catch a lot of fish, while others don’t. So they bring them to me for adjustment. When adjusting, they have to examine them carefully, to adjust the buoys, add balls, and weave more mesh, so that when they go out to sea to fish, they can fish effectively. If a net catches a lot of fish and the fish can’t escape, it is considered a “good fishing” net.

After a period of building his brand, to meet the increasing demand for work, in addition to weaving nets himself, Loc also hired 10 people from the village to work at the workshop. To increase production value, in addition to repairing nets, Loc boldly spent money to buy fishing line, rope, buoys, etc. to weave new nets himself.

Loc bought the materials for weaving the nets all the way from Nam Dinh to reduce the intermediate costs. After purchasing the nets, they were woven together piece by piece, then tied with rope, buoys, balls, and weights to form a complete net. On average, each net over 100m long was woven within 4 days, and about 7-8 nets were woven each month. Depending on the type of net, the mesh size would vary, but on average, each completed net cost about 48-50 million VND.

Vu Dai Loc (far left) talks with officials of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union. Photo: Nguyen Quynh

When asked how much profit he had made after 3 years of starting the business, Loc just smiled and said that he had only calculated the expenses, not the profits. Because whatever he made, he spent it back to buy materials and expand production. The cost of buying materials and equipment for those years was roughly over 1 billion VND, not to mention the daily wages for workers, which was 200-250 thousand VND/person.

Although Loc is in the process of starting a business, he is also very responsible to the locality. Recently, he donated 30 million VND from his income to build rural roads and volleyball courts. This is truly a very valuable work.

Comrade Ngo Thanh Cong - Deputy Secretary of Dien Chau District Youth Union

Loc's goal is to expand the factory in the near future, in addition to manufacturing, to trade other equipment for the marine industry. Currently, Loc's net supply and repair market is mainly in the commune, in the district and some ship owners in Thanh Hoa.

“I strive to expand the market to other districts and provide many types of nets and fishing gear that fishermen need,” Loc shared. “However, to do that requires a lot of capital, especially self-financed capital to avoid having to depend on bank loans. Hopefully, I will have access to more preferential loan sources in the future.”

Not only is he a dynamic young boss, Loc is also an enthusiastic member of the Youth Union; and is also a member of the Economic Development Youth Club of Dien Chau district, established in October 2017.

The Economic Development Youth Club was established under the Resolution of the 26th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Dien Chau District, term 2017 - 2022, with the goal of organizing activities for young people to meet, exchange and help each other develop the economy. Because it was newly established, it currently has only 28 members. In the coming time, when it becomes stable, it will admit new members./.