She opened a sex shop in HK
I've interviewed Vera, who launched her own sex shop in the heart of Central
Howdy people from the 852,
So you've probably heard of Feng Shui - this traditional Chinese art of arranging spaces to achieve harmony
But do you know the “Feng Shui Index”?
That’s an index developed to track the performance of Hong Kong-listed companies using Feng Shui.
Each January, some local investors compare the Feng Shui index's predictions of the upcoming year to plan their investment strategy.
Take a look at the Feng Shui Index's 2022 forecast and compare it to the actual 2022 performance of the Hang Seng Index.
In this edition of Better Read Paul:
Introduction: Sam’s Club — The American warehouse — will soon offer free delivery to their customers based in Hong Kong
The Classified Ads Section: Featuring 3 local entrepreneurs who are looking for advise, business partners or investors
My Entrepreneur Portrait: Vera Lui is the founder of the sex shop Sally Coco based in Central
PS: I create professional websites for companies. (Here is an example)
Last year, I noticed a market opportunity: Since local web agencies are slow and expensive, I can offer a way better service for a more affordable price (50% cheaper).
Back in January, I decided to try out this new cross-boarding shopping trend - visiting the American warehouse store Sam's Club in Shenzhen to stock up on cheap bulk items for the whole month: toilet paper, napkins, water bottles, roasted chicken and even frozen dumplings.
And now, Sam's Club is taking things to the next level. In about 2 months, the warehouse chain will be offering free delivery to its Hong Kong customers for purchases up to 599 RMB (around 660 HKD) on their website.
This is definitely bad news for the local Hong Kong retail sector, especially e-commerce players like HKTV Mall.
They're going to have a tough time competing with the savings of cross-boarder bulk buying.
If you're interested in trying out a Sam's Club run yourself, here's how I did it:
I grabbed a Sim Club SIM card at the nearby 7/11 (90 HKD, no China’s Great Firewall with this one)
I signed up for a Sam's Club membership using a Chinese phone number (Around 260 yuan)
Google Maps' offline mode helped me to find the warehouse in SZ
The total transportation cost from Hong Kong Island is around 100 HKD.
Thank you for reading me,
Paul
PS: I've shared Vera's Reels interview on Instagram, and I must say this second video is significantly better than the first.
The first 7-Eleven in Hong Kong opened in 1981, the store is located in Happy Valley.
The 50th store opened in Kwai Chung on October 6, 1983, while the 200th was inaugurated at Tai Po Centre on May 7, 1987, 6 years later. Crazy growth.
The Classified Ads Section
Cedrine Domergue - Les Delices de Patience
I've started a crowdfunding campaign to finance the deposit needed for a new commercial kitchen space. This is part of my plans to take my online pastry business to the next level - I've been running it single-handedly since 2020.
Richard Au - CEO of Karmanomics
Are you looking for a job or looking to help people and society? Why not both. Philanthropy is about helping people and giving back. Karmanomics, a new AI/W3 platform for Philanthropy is looking for a CEO and A-Team. Do you want to make a difference? Please contact me: richard.au@karmanomics.io
Dario La Torre - Founder of Grow Your Pie
We are a Boutique consulting firm specialising in cross-border e-commerce and global supply chain design, helping our partners and clients leverage Asia and China for their growth needs. Our experts craft effective go-to-market strategies and support seamless implementation, adding value and unlocking new opportunities for your business. We are seeking new partners and customers to join us.
PS: If you want to be in this section, it’s this way!
SEEN IN HK
I found a a batch of great pictures taken in Causeway Bay.
The Entrepreneur of the Week
Vera was recommended by another business owner I know. It's refreshing to shine a light on industries that don't often get their time in the spotlight, considering the topic of sex is still a bit of a taboo subject in Hong Kong's conservative climate.
Here is her story (Check my video interview with her as well)
My name is Vera Lui, I was born in Hong Kong in the 1980s. I studied in the US, in New Jersey, in the 2000s, first in a community college and then at the university where I earned a degree to become a cartoon animator.
During my studies, I worked part-time to finance my studies and launched small businesses such as selling earrings and bracelets bought in China on my campus (No Taobao at this time, I was buying in Hong Kong. I already had the taste for business thanks to my father who had launched a pharmaceutical sales business.
After working for a year in animation in New York for an independent studio, I then decided to return to Hong Kong to attend a friend's wedding, where I met my future husband Picco who was working in the start-up world.
Shortly after, Picco offered me to move in with him in Hong Kong, so I stopped my American adventure and returned home.
Big difference with the US, Hong Kong society is very conservative and there was not much sex education. (Basically, your teacher was telling you to be careful, sex is bad, don’t sin etc..)
Anyway, neither Picco nor I knew much about sex even though we were already in our twenties.
So one day, Picco offered me a vibrator and I had my first orgasm at 23 using it the same evening, even though I had to google to learn how to use it.
This is when I decided to help women discover their body and sexuality.
I therefore launched an e-commerce site (No Shopify at this time, Picco built it) where I was selling different types of high-quality vibrators manufactured by Western brands (Lilo Fun Factory or Crave).
But who is Sally? In truth, there isn't a single Sally. Everyone can be Sally. Sally represents a person with a strong personality, independence, open-mindedness, and abundant sexual knowledge.
At first, the business was not taking off, I was trying to promote it as best I could but we were still far from the era of social media, people were not as open as today, and the lack of sex education did not help.
Until an editor from the magazine More contacted me to do an interview, which finally allowed the business to take off thanks to the media coverage.
However, I quickly realised that people had a lot of questions and that exceptional customer service was essential, as they did not always know how to properly use the products they saw on my site.
As the business grew, I decided to rent a warehouse in the New Territories to store my products, as I no longer had enough space at home (And sex toys all over the closets, which did not make my guests comfortable!).
Very quickly, many customers came knocking on the warehouse door to ask for advice. I then decided to transform the warehouse into partly a showroom and partly a storage space, in order to guide my customers in their purchases.
In 2012, I decided to launch a YouTube channel to share sex advices
My first YouTube video on how to find your G spot quickly went viral, with over a million views in a week (A record 10 years ago) and over 200 emails. That's when my business really took off. (Today my Youtube channel has more than 100.000 followers)
Finally I opened my sex shop in Central — Sally Coco — next to the famous escalator.
But who is Sally? In truth, there isn't a single Sally. Everyone can be Sally. Sally represents a person with a strong personality, independence, open-mindedness, and abundant sexual knowledge.
Between 2012 and 2019, I opened four new sex shops across the city, my turnover was growing fast helped by the power of social media.
But the protest in 2019 and the Covid crisis killed the growth, many expats and local left the city and my turnover suffered.
Now the business is gradually recovering, which is encouraging. I'm considering to organise more events at the shop to refocus on the core purpose of my business: helping people have a deeper understanding of their sexuality.
If you want to get in touch with Vera, you can go on Instagram or LinkedIn
PS: Great case study on how the menstrual application Flo has managed to generate millions in revenue on iPhone
If you have not done it yet:
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Until next time!
Paul from Hong Kong,
I like how you profile small businesses and local entrepreneurs.