Economic growth gives birth to small business
Economic growth gives birth to small business
Strong economic growth is creating opportunities for small and medium-d enterprises to develop within Laos.
Mr Anouphong Malaihuk, 27, is one of those people who has found business success thanks to the growing economy and the consequent surge in demand.
The owner of a construction materials unit in Vientiane, Mr Anouphong employs six staff, five of whom live with him. Their salary ranges from 800,000 kip to 1.2 million kip per month.
His business produces girders, concrete cement fittings, tanks and vents. He has moulds for girders of three different s and has the capacity to create 40 of them a day. The largest of these sells for 50,000 kip per metre.
Although he spends about 50 million kip per month on cement, metal, sand and stones for construction, on average he takes in 70 million kip, leaving a healthy profit.
During the rainy season, heavy downpours make it difficult to continue working, but anything produced in this period is stored away for the drier weather when customers need materials.
From May until August, he and his staff turn out many small concrete stakes for fence-building, because people often erect fences at this time as it is easier to dig the land. However, after October they need to become creative and can be found designing new supplies tailored to customers' wishes.
Mr Anouphong delivers his products directly to the customer for no extra charge and says this makes his company more attractive to the buyer.
In the early days, he didn't know anything about the production of construction materials. He never learned any vocational skills and was not involved in a family business. Formal education was something he missed out on but this didn't hamper his ability or determination to run a business.
It was his desire to try something challenging, with the opportunity to be creative, that spurred him on, and he learnt as he went along. He can confidently say that success has now finally arrived.
Over the next two or three years, he hopes to expand his business and buy some land to diversify his operations. If all goes to plan, he will also have enough money to buy a car and some additional equipment for the company.
vientiane times
