Nanning, 11 Nov (ZXS) -- Taiwan's second venture in Guangxi has rekindled hope for the "track."
China News Service reporter Jiang Xuelin Lin Hao
From a sales champion in the store to a member of the catering industry, Lai Junhong, vice president of the Taiwan Compatriot Investment Enterprise Association in Nanning City, Guangxi, has experienced the process of pressing the "pause button" in business in recent years to changing the track and starting again. "I've been in contact with the restaurant industry before, but I'm not familiar with it, and it's a second time in an unfamiliar track." Lai Junhong said.
In the ASEAN Friendship Park in the Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area of Nanning City, a dining car called "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" is particularly attractive, and the place where Lai Junhong started his second business is on this dining car. Recently, when the 2023 cross-strait media Magnificent Guangxi Tour Interview Group visited, Lai Junhong was busy greeting tourists who came here to buy Taiwanese food.
On 11 November, Lai Junhong, a young entrepreneur from Taiwan, was interviewed by media on both sides of the strait, and was photographed by Wang Yizhao, a reporter from China News Service
The three-year epidemic has had an impact on many industries, and some Taiwanese young people who originally started their businesses in Nanning have encountered difficulties. How to help these Taiwanese youths get out of their predicament and rekindle their enthusiasm for entrepreneurship has become an issue of common concern to the Nanning Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office and the Nanning Taiwan Compatriot Investment Enterprise Association. With the support of the Nanning Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office and the Nanning Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee, on November 3, 2022, the "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" dining truck "officially departed" in the Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Nanning Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office, the "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" aims to provide a platform for the display, sales and trial operation of the products of the Taiqing in Yong, and create a path for the Taiqing to start a business in Yong.
Lai Junhong said that the support provided by Nanning to Taiwanese youth has ignited his passion for entrepreneurship and seen hope. During this year's Spring Festival and "May Day" holidays, business is particularly hot, and the turnover of the dining car is tens of thousands of yuan (RMB, the same below). Business has been good in the first half of the year, with a monthly turnover of more than 10,15 yuan, and a monthly turnover of 5,<> yuan at the peak. In the second half of the year, the business was a little weaker, but the average monthly was about <>,<> yuan, and it was a small profit.
The "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" dining truck concentrates on a variety of Taiwanese cuisine. According to Lai Junhong, the dining car usually sells Taiwanese milk tea, hot dogs and other special snacks; Every holiday, the Taiwanese businessmen who open restaurants in Nanning make their special foods such as Taiwanese braised pork rice and send them here to promote and sell. At present, more than a dozen Taiwanese enterprises have put their products on the "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" dining car to promote sales.
Lai Junhong's family lives in Changhua County, Taiwan. In 2014, he came to Nanning to open a shop to operate lighting. "The lighting company I work for has 368 stores in mainland China, and my business in Nanning has developed smoothly, ranking 2015th in 225 and 2016th in 35. My sales also won the sales championship of the store in Nanning. Lai Junhong said.
Due to the epidemic and the recession of the industry, Lai Junhong's business encountered difficulties, but with the help of the local Taiwan Affairs Office and the Nanning Taiwan Compatriot Investment Enterprise Association, he successfully changed the track and gradually found a sense in the catering industry.
"When I first changed careers to catering, it was really difficult. But no matter what industry you do, you have to work hard to persevere, do it, and feel that doing catering is quite interesting, and slowly stick to it. Lai Junhong said.
"In the past, I was in the lighting industry, and a single business was tens of thousands of yuan in turnover, and the money came quickly, but suddenly I came into contact with this business that only had a few dollars per order, and I was a little uncomfortable at first." Lai Junhong said.
Lai Junhong said that in fact, he was quite lucky, and his business was not bad after changing careers. "If I had run the 'Dream Fulfillment' food truck at the beginning and had no business, I might not have the confidence and the motivation to start a second business. When business is good, if your products are favored by the public, you will feel quite proud and more and more confident. ”
Lai Junhong said that the "Nanning Dream Fulfillment" dining truck that set sail in the Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area is just the starting point for him and other Taiwanese youths to start a new business, "I hope that more Taiwanese youths will join our team, and when the time is ripe, we will launch more 'Nanning Dream' dining trucks in different locations." (ENDS)