Chandevipha Hourn

In 2017, Vipha represented Cambodia in the ASEAN Data Science Explorers Regional Competition with her storyboard “Creating Equal Opportunities and Decent Work for All”. Never had she thought that a few years later, she could contribute to solving the problem first-hand by providing job opportunities to society with her co-founded food start-up, Bao Time.

Bao Time is a food start-up serving the best quality Taiwanese bao bun with good quality ingredients at a reasonable price. As a co-founder of Bao Time, Vipha started this business as a combination of passion and hobby. Aside from being addicted to food, she saw the growing demand of online food businesses and the trend of tasting new foods. After taking so many attempts, Vipha and her team finally launched this business. It took her a lot of effort, commitment, and despite all the challenges she faced, Vipha and her team managed to achieve a very high customer retention rate, positive feedbacks, and enormous supports from customers.

Not only becoming a profitable business, but Vipa also envisioned Bao Time as a way to create real-life impacts on society. “In the future, we aim to foster job growth for our local community and support our local farmers”, Vipa stated.

As a final statement, Vipa mentioned several points for us to keep in mind when starting a business. First, she reminds us that growth mindset is a key to becoming an owner. We may face many struggles, but with enough hard work, commitment and dedication, we are not going to stuck there. Planning and executing effectively is also important. With a proper plan but no execution, the business is nothing. Thus, make sure to plan things, execute effectively, and monitor the progress and effectiveness along the way. Also, if necessary, seek help. If we feel stuck, try to get some help from mentors, instructors, or any networking community. 

“If you believe that you have a great business idea or any project that could solve a problem, just go for it!” – Vipha