The bold guy from the 80s generation.

(Baonghean) - After graduating from university and securing a stable government job, Nguyen Sy Nhu (Hamlet 14, Dien Yen Commune, Dien Chau District) decided to "change course" and return home to open a uniform manufacturing workshop, driven by a desire to start his own business in his hometown and create jobs for local workers. After two years of operation, the An Phuoc Khanh garment company, owned by Mr. Nhu, has achieved annual revenue of billions of dong and created jobs for dozens of workers…

During her high school years at Dien Chau 2 High School, Nhu was an exemplary class leader with academic achievements consistently ranking among the top in her class. After graduating from the Faculty of Environment, Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and working in the city for four years, many were surprised when Nhu returned to her hometown at the end of 2011 to be closer to her parents and family and to start a career in her hometown. The first person to support Nhu's decision was none other than Ho Thi Thiem – her high school classmate and later her wife. At that time, Thiem was an accountant at a company in Saigon earning tens of millions of dong per month. But because of her love and faith in Nhu, she was ready to leave everything behind...

Nguyen Sy Nhu instructs workers on a new shirt design.

After getting married, Nhu and his wife, already owning a family stall at Phu Dien market, started a clothing business. It was there, through interactions with customers, that Nhu conceived the idea of ​​making group shirts, class uniforms, or uniforms for groups of friends – very popular among middle and high school students, but unavailable in Dien Chau. Initially, Nhu ordered 100 shirts from Saigon to experiment, and simultaneously invested 30 million VND in a heat transfer printer to print them at home. That first attempt was a failure. The reason was that due to haste, the shirts were of poor quality, expensive, and didn't suit the students' tastes. Furthermore, the printer Nhu bought wasn't suitable for the fabric. As a result, many designs that were supposed to look good ended up blurry, ugly, and unattractive.

That failure gave Nhu more motivation and experience to try again. For four consecutive months afterward, Nhu accessed websites every day to learn about printing techniques, and diligently downloaded software to draw and design. “My biggest difficulty before was the printing technique, especially the color mixing. I didn't understand how to make the colors stand out on a dark fabric. Then, through a video online, I discovered that it was thanks to the ink-applying knife; just replacing a regular knife with a bladed knife during the color application process would make the ink show up. Moreover, the heat transfer printing method I used before was unnecessary; simple screen printing would have been enough,” Nhu shared. Because she wanted her second attempt to be perfect, instead of importing ready-made garments as before, Nhu decided to invest in materials and machinery to sew her own products. For the design, Nhu had two cousins ​​who both studied fashion design and could help her. As for the raw materials, Nhu personally went to Hanoi and then to Ho Chi Minh City to "hunt" for them. Nhu recounted: "The day I went to Hanoi, it was raining heavily. I spent a whole morning walking around Ninh Hiep Market and Dong Xuan Market hundreds of times but still couldn't find the fabric I wanted. The things I liked were too expensive. The ones that fit my budget were ugly. Determined to succeed, that same afternoon I flew straight to Saigon and went to Tan Binh Market and Phu Tho Hoa Market, which specialize in selling fabrics from various companies, to choose. I ordered 20 bolts of fabric at once and had them shipped directly to Dien Chau."

Nhu's first order was unexpected: uniforms for the ceremonial team serving at the September 2nd celebration in Thuong village. It was only 30 sets of clothes, but because Nhu's workshop only had one designer and one tailor, and the villagers demanded they be finished within five days, Nhu had to rush around everywhere, barely daring to sleep at night. Despite her worries, when the tailor finished the second set, Nhu still felt it wasn't up to par and reluctantly accepted a loss, hiring tailors in the town to make them in time. Fortunately, after the village's ceremonial team performed successfully, Nhu continued to gain trust and received an additional order of 250 uniforms from Dien Yen 2 Primary School. Following the success of this order, Nhu became bolder, and the idea of ​​establishing An Phuoc Khanh Company, specializing in uniforms for students, workers, and laborers, was born. Simultaneously, Nhu continued to recruit more tailors and seek out new customers. By August 2013, Nhu had secured 15 orders from schools in the district. Some orders for high school uniforms were worth nearly 500 million VND.

After two years of operation, although not yet large in scale, with 15 employees and total annual revenue reaching several billion VND, An Phuoc Khanh Company has gained the trust of customers in Dien Chau district. What makes Nhu happiest is that this company has created jobs for many workers in difficult circumstances, provided a small source of funding to support poor and disadvantaged students in the district, and allowed him to participate in many youth union activities at the commune and district levels. Nhu's future direction is that after a larger and more stable customer base, he will invest in opening a production workshop and establish a chain of stores selling uniforms and office wear for people with average incomes. Sharing more about his "detour," this young man born in 1986 said: "Some people think I'm crazy or foolish for graduating from university and then becoming a tailor. But everything has its value." If I hadn't received a proper education and training, I wouldn't have the mindset and awareness to do business and achieve the results I have today.

Text and photos:My Ha