Watch video: https://youtu.be/Bl5TH5AxiIY
Listen to podcast: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-szkce-19f685c
Introduction
Right out of college around the 2000s, I spent a couple of years teaching English in China.
I had studied the country and was excited to experience it first-hand.
China was emerging as the world’s manufacturing hub and the country’s inevitable rise was making the daily headlines.
By immersing myself in-country for two years, I was able to establish valuable connections that would eventually help me along my entrepreneurial journey.
After learning Mandarin during my second year of teaching, I pursued an Asian studies masters degree at the University of Hawaii from 2001-2003.
However, it wasn’t until around the Great Depression of 2008-2010 did I have the chance to produce my very first made-in-China product.
The opportunity
At the time, my brother had just graduated from medical school and got a job at a plastic surgery clinic in Dallas, Texas where he complained that his patients needed to apply ice pressure to their face during post-facial surgery but he didn’t have a solution for holding the ice pack.
On a couple of trips home, he mentioned this and we got to discussing some possible solutions.
As he described and envisioned a nylon stretchable wrap that would go around a patient's head with pockets to hold the ice pack with velcro, we had my mother sew some samples.
On follow-up visits, my mother and I presented a suitable sample that he eventually approved.
Enter China
After getting our prototype out, I started emailing my former students who were now working in the manufacturing and export industries in China.
One student, in particular, wrote back telling me she was working with a textile manufacturer and that she thought they could produce the medical wrap for me.
After receiving some samples, several months later I purchased about 500 of them.
Reveal Medical Compression Wraps hits the market
On visits to my brother’s Dallas clinic, I would see patients walking from the reception with my very own compression wrap around their head, which brought a smile to my face.
By 2010, I was supplying the largest nation-wide plastic surgery clinics by selling into their central hubs in the Midwest, Southwest, and East Coast.
Months would go by as I would be selling 100s of these medical wraps.
From highs to lows
All was going well until the plastic surgery franchise wanted me to implement a Just-In-Time delivery for all of their clinics, something I was incapable of as a solo entrepreneur.
When I wasn’t able to deliver, the company took my samples and contracted a large medical supply company to produce them, losing my business in one fell swoop.
Conclusion
While the ride was fun when it lasted, I learned that entrepreneurship can be rewarding as well as heartbreaking.
There can be so much anticipation and excitement when you are grinding away and something eventually works.
However, just by the same token, in my case, my dreams were deflated just as quickly when I couldn’t provide the service the company was requesting.
Over the years, I was able to slowly sell all of my inventory to my brother at a discount and close up shop.
While I learned a great deal from my first entrepreneurial experience, it wasn't my last.
P.S. Check out my newest service: www.ChinaVietnamSourcing.com
www.InternationalVinh.com
0 comments