Nguyen Ngoc Khanh Huyen found inspiration to create and sell handcrafted hair clips and mirrors adorned with seashells after encountering similar products on an e-commerce platform.

In April, Huyen spent VND1-2 million (US$40-80) from her own savings on launching her business and started to air her products on TikTok. 

The venture quickly garnered significant customer interest.

According to Huyen, who is originally from the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai and now a third-year international business major at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, one of the most important steps is sourcing quality seashells. 

"Purchasing shells from e-commerce platforms can be expensive, so I turned to Facebook groups where they cost VND40,000-60,000 [$1.6-2.4] per kilogram,” Huyen said. 

“However, this method comes with risks, such as substandard shells."

Now being skillful with her craft, Huyen can make a hair clip in about three minutes and a mirror in around 30 minutes. 

However, balancing her business with her studies was initially challenging for Huyen. 

Later, she got more and more accustomed to the workflow, and started to outsource production tasks to external partners and packaging to family members, allowing her to focus on promo content creation and save time.

Currently, Huyen sells her seashell-adorned hair clips and mirrors on Shopee and TikTok, earning around VND6-10 million ($240-400) per month.

In addition, she decided to rent a space for her store 'Em Xinh Lung Linh' (Radiantly Beautiful Girls), located on the first floor at 57 Le Quang Sung Street in Ward 2 , District 6. 

She said that having a dedicated space not only provides storage for her products and a comfortable area for creativity, but also helps attract more clients.

The hair clips fetch VND39,000 ($1.56) apiece, while the mirrors sell for VND119,000 ( $4.77) each.

Huyen's products appeal to a diverse customer base, including middle and high school students, university students, office workers, and anyone who buys them as gifts. 

She has also received orders from Vietnamese customers living abroad.

Looking ahead, Huyen plans to expand her offerings beyond handcrafted seashell products to include beauty care items and other stylish products for women.

“As a student entrepreneur, I’m not worried because I have nothing to lose, and the initial investment was insignificant,” Huyen said. 

“For students aspiring to start a business, I recommend choosing products with low investment costs to minimize risks and trying to gain much valuable entrepreneurial experience.”

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