In recent years, the industrial structure of Hong Kong has become more homogeneous. Although many young people in Hong Kong have dreams and talents, they lack the stage to display their talents, and many people embark on the road of entrepreneurship.
Affected by social events in 2019 and the new coronavirus epidemic, three young female entrepreneurs from different industries encountered different types of difficulties after starting their businesses. In response to changes in public consumption habits under the epidemic, they transformed into e-commerce and started online businesses.
One of the entrepreneurs, Liu Yichuan, launched his own brand, Reborn Story, in 2018, which provides spinning and weaving teaching courses, and sells hand-twisted threads and different types of hand-woven products.
She likes to use colorful yarns, because "where there is color, there is light." She believes that there is a lot of thought behind textiles, which is conveying "we (Hong Kong people) insist on what we think is valuable."
Liu Yichuan: Let more people realize that Hong Kong has its own products
Liu Yichuan was originally an event planner in a theme park, but he didn't like his profession very much.
She has always liked weaving and creation, and she also took a vacation to Taiwan to learn spinning skills.
Realizing the lack of original brands in Hong Kong, she started the brand Reborn Story in 2018, and officially established a studio in 2019, offering spinning and weaving teaching courses, selling hand-twisted threads and different types of hand-woven products, which have been held about 100 times so far. "Retro Spinning Craft" Experience Workshop.
Liu Yichuan said that he will first purchase raw materials from Nepal, Thailand and other countries, and then obtain natural materials such as bamboo fiber, banana silk, rose silk, seaweed fiber, etc., and make yarns, and then weave them into hair bands, coin purses and hair clips. It takes a lot of time and effort.
"I hope that through this platform, more people can realize that Hong Kong actually has its own products. We insist and bury our value, and we are still very much alive!"
Liu Yichuan likes to use colourful yarns to make hand-knitted items because she believes that "where there is colour, there is light".
(Photo by Liu Mengting)
Business fell to 2% at the beginning of the year, switched to online sales and received orders from Italy and India
Liu Yichuan named the purple fabric "Sunset" and the green fabric "Pastoral".
Because she believes that "where there is color, there is light", and she wants to let the outside world know about Hong Kong through her works. "Although the world is so dark, we can continue to insist on what we feel."
When he first started his business, Liu Yichuan held market sales promotions in different parts of Hong Kong, and even went to Taiwan and other places to set up markets to attract tourists.
However, since social events and the epidemic, business has been continuously affected. During the epidemic, the market is often temporarily canceled, and it is not possible to go to other places to sell.
She pointed out that since the outbreak of the epidemic, business has become bleak, especially in the period from January to March this year, which was only 1% to 2%.
But she never gave up and continued to operate online platforms, hoping to bring her products and beliefs to more people.
Fortunately, many people's consumption habits and concepts have changed under the epidemic, and online orders have gradually increased. Currently, business is improving. 30-40% of overseas customers order online, mainly from Taiwan, Italy and India.
Huang Weier, the owner of the hand-made gold bag shop, thought that "Hong Kong is really a major cultural and creative force. There are many foreign cultures in Hong Kong, but we should stick to our own" and insisted on it.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Huang Weier: Many foreign cultures in Hong Kong should stick to their own
Huang Weier originally worked in health care in the HA, but she has been interested in handcrafts since she was a child. In October 2018, she began to sell handmade gold bags at the market.
She is very talkative, and often gets along well with customers at the market and attracts business.
In 2019, Huang Weier resigned and officially founded his own brand "Madeby_meow", a fully hand-sewn gold bag specialty store.
She admitted that she had "a little regret" at the beginning of her resignation. In 2019, she rented a shop in Lai Chi Kok for three months. However, the shopping atmosphere in Hong Kong was poor at that time. The business volume was zero for four days a week, and she refused other part-time jobs. work, with no other options and fallbacks.
But she thought that "Hong Kong is really a unique cultural and creative force, there are many foreign cultures in Hong Kong, but you should stick to your own", so she persisted.
Huang Weier recalled that in the past, he mainly increased brand awareness by setting up stalls in markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shenzhen and other places, and after returning to Hong Kong, he would sell products to foreign guests attracted by the market. There is no guarantee." But the epidemic blocked her way to set up a stall in other places, and the local market was always cancelled.
After a few setbacks, Huang Weier started to run a social platform, maintain online customers, and maintain online contact with Hong Kong people who immigrated to foreign countries.
She recalled that New Year and Christmas were the peak seasons last year, but 20 to 30 percent of the business was offline, which "forced me to transform."
Ceramic pot designed by Zhai Jialin.
(Photo by Liu Mengting)
Zhai Jialin: The 15-year-old business was forced to transform due to the ups and downs of the epidemic
Zhai Jialin founded the BowTieShopHK brand in 2007 to provide men with unique pottery accessories, using ceramics, leather, wood and other materials to make pottery innovatively. She also collects fabrics from different countries to make patterns, such as Japanese kimono fabrics to make kimono designs. Boil.
Zhai Jialin has worked in public relations, exhibition design, etc. It was very difficult to start a part-time business at first. She recalled that in 2017, there was an order to make 200 pots in a week. She was on vacation, so she worked around the clock to complete the order by herself. .
In 2019, she resigned from her full-time job and devoted herself to the design business.
Leather, wood and ceramic pots designed by Zhai Jialin.
(Photo by Liu Mengting)
Large-scale formal events such as weddings and conferences have a large demand for pots, which is also Zhai Jialin's main market.
She said that the brand has physical stores in Hong Kong Sheung Wan, Taipei and Melbourne, but in the past it relied more on offline operations. Apart from Facebook and Instagram, there were no other online platforms and no e-commerce.
However, since the epidemic, the gathering activities have been repeated in response to the epidemic situation, and the pot business has fluctuated accordingly.
Especially from February to March 2020 at the beginning of the epidemic, Zhai Jialin had almost zero income. "The epidemic made me think about transformation, and I was not surprised." So she actively ran an online page and opened her own online store. With its own online store, Facebook and Instagram attract 40-50% of the business.
Po Leung Kuk and SF Hong Kong jointly launch "Online Marketplace" to support 40 young entrepreneurs
Po Leung Kuk and SF Express (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. jointly launched the one-year "Cultural and Creative Online - Youth Entrepreneurship Support Program" launched on the 16th. A three-week "Online Market Fair" competition will be launched, and the official website "Cultural and Creative Market" will be launched. Go Online - Online Marketplace" uploads brand and product information for young entrepreneurs to attract customers.
Each of the 40 participants will receive a subsidy of 5,000 yuan for shipping costs, and about 30 e-commerce marketing courses will be provided to help young entrepreneurs equip themselves.
Po Leung Kuk and SF Hong Kong jointly launched the one-year "Cultural and Creative Online - Youth Entrepreneurship Support Program" launched on the 16th, and will launch a three-week "Online Market Fair" competition.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Liu Yichuan, Huang Weier and Zhai Jialin are three of the participants.
They are suffering from the situation of market opening and unstable market conditions under the epidemic. They all believe that "consumer habits and concepts have changed" under the epidemic, and they began to think about transformation. The website and supporting facilities involved in the plan "helped a lot".
However, Huang Weier is worried that if the product is sent overseas, the shipping fee plus tax for a single product will cost more than one hundred Hong Kong dollars, and the shipping subsidy of 5,000 yuan can only serve about 50 customers.
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