Building a business locally is already hard in itself: having to think of everything from scratch– from operations and products to marketing and sales, but what more having to do it abroad?
Creating a business venture overseas and far away from where you grew up in makes it all the more difficult, as you have to be more careful and do extra research to fully understand your market. Doing business overseas means less chances of being a success but modern tao ke Kevin Teng, Kpop merchandise businessman in the Bay Area, proves that the Chinoy entrepreneur can overcome these obstacles and more.
Starting out small
Kevin did not become a successful businessman overnight. It was a product of years of hard work when he started out as a software engineer for a tech company in San Francisco.
After working for a company for five years, Kevin’s Chinoy entrepreneur instincts kicked in and he realized he wanted to become his own boss. “I wanted to try something new and build something that I can truly call “my creation”. I was also severely burnt out from the tech scene; having worked very hard for all those years and not feeling fulfilled,” he said.
Browsing through numerous business ideas, it was his housemates (who are now his business partners), Pip and Chesca Rueda-Reyes, who gave him the lightbulb moment of his future business venture: a Kpop merchandise store in the Bay area.
“My housemates came back from a trip from Florida and they told me how much fun it was to go to a KPOP store. We were surprised to find out that there was no store like that in the Bay Area. This gave me a lightbulb moment and motivated me to do extensive research on importing and finding suppliers,” Kevin shred.
With his creative business planning, he was able to bring to life ‘SarangHello’, the K-POP go-to shop in the Bay Area envisioned to be a safe and positive community for every K-POP fan in San Francisco.
After gaining his parents’ approval and getting everything ready, Kevin set out to develop and launch his brainchild– but like every business, this did not come without challenges.
Bumpy road before success
Kevin and his team had plans to launch SarangHello at a nearby mall, Stonestown Mall Galleria, but the pandemic took hold and they were not able to push through.
Nevertheless, living the Chinoy value of determination and persistence, Kevin took this obstacle and turned it into an opportunity for his business.
“I honestly felt a little discouraged and scared since I no longer had a source of income, but I decided to take the down time as an opportunity to pivot our business into e-commerce. Fortunately, with my Software Engineering and Pip’s design skills, it was very easy to get everything setup. By May 18, 2020, we launched our website, saranghello.com” he said.
When SarangHello was up and running online for a couple of months, Kevin realized that only a small number of Bay Area residents were shopping on their website because of shipping costs and their customers wanting to see their products in person. Again, Kevin took this opportunity to innovate his business and created a pop-up store during the holiday months of November and December
Lo and behold, this decision proved to be the best and pivoted SarangHello to its success. “On our first day, we did not expect to have an extremely long line that wrapped around the block. There was an average wait of 2 hours to get into our pop-up; mainly due to our 2-3 people capacity in store,” he shared.
They outgrew their pop-up spot and decided to create a permanent establishment for SarangHello, which they opened in May 2021.
Since then, SarangHello has only grown upward as it continues to be a haven for every K-pop fan. The store is very active on social media and has even organized meet and greet events with Kpop stars in their store.
The SarangHello success
Despite the challenges, Kevin and his team were able to propel SarangHello to success. Today, the store is more than just a Kpop merchandise store. It has grown to become a positive and inviting community for those who are passionate about K-POP music, drama and beyond.
“What really sets SarangHello apart from other K-POP businesses is our customer service and genuine love for K-POP. We engage with our customers very frequently and share our love of K-POP through social media. Be it an Instagram Live or trying to do a viral Tik Tok dance,” he said.
With the modern tao ke that he is who bravely ventured and started a small business overseas, Kevin Teng shares an important piece of advice that he learned throughout his journey: celebrate your failures.
“We often disregard an idea because of the fear of failure. Experiencing failure is the best teacher. Failure gives you the insight on what you need to improve on whether that be on an idea you are executing or on yourself. We’re always a work in progress,” Kevin shared.
Check out more of Kevin Teng and SarangHello by visiting their website (https://saranghello.com). You may also check them out on Twitter (@saranghellosf) and Instagram (@saranghellosf) for the latest updates.
