IT engineer transforms shoeshine hobby into lucrative career

One October afternoon at his shop in Hanoi’s Dong Da District, Phong receives five customers in an hour, all seeking shoe polishing or luxury bag maintenance. “After nearly four years I have realized that quitting IT to shine shoes was the right decision,” the 38-year-old says.

His love for shoes began at an early age. His mother, Nguyen Thuan, recalls how at the age of five he treated his first pair of shoes as a prized possession. “He would not wear them outside, saving them for the Lunar New Year.”

While at university he once bought a pair of shoes for VND1.2 million (US$48) from the VND1.5 million his mother gave him for buying clothes. As an IT worker, he was always impeccably dressed in leather shoes, trousers and shirts, regardless of the occasion. Unwilling to entrust street shoeshine boys with his cherished footwear, he began importing shoe care products and taught himself how to maintain his collection.

Back then leather shoes were just a hobby while IT was his main source of income. But despite getting a salary of thousands of dollars a month, the stress of his job left him deeply unhappy.

He began planning a career change as soon as the opportunity arose, and started by moving to a Singaporean IT company where weekends were free. With more spare time, he frequented coffee shops in Hanoi. The owner of one shop, aware of Phong’s passion for shoes, encouraged him to start a business. “He suggested I sell shoes, but I thought about professional shoe maintenance as very few people offered that service.”

In 2017 he spent his weekends at the coffee shop, polishing shoes. Curious onlookers would ask about his work, and he offered to care for their shoes. From that point on, he worked his IT job during the day and polished shoes at night to return to customers the next day, free of charge.

Word quickly spread, and new customers began to seek him out. This led him to research shoe care techniques on international websites. He started posting videos and photos of his work on social media, drawing enough customers to open a home-based shop in Long Bien District, while still maintaining his IT job. He also partnered with a well-known luxury store in Hanoi to provide maintenance services for their clients.

By 2019 he made the bold decision to quit his IT job and focus entirely on shoe care. Even as “suit-clad shoeshine boys” were trending in the city, he carved out his own niche by targeting high-end customers who owned luxury items. He closed his shop and worked behind the scenes for luxury stores, earning a monthly salary while learning more about the business. But working seven days a week was a bit stifling. “So I began taking monthly motorbike trips to clear my mind,” he says.

Handling luxury items worth tens, and sometimes hundreds, of millions of dong meant there was considerable stress again. On one occasion he mistakenly cut a Gucci bag strap to the wrong length, and on another he damaged a Chanel handbag, and both times customers had to be paid compensation. “I was so stressed I could not sleep. Even when I did, I dreamed about my mistakes.”

But he accepted that learning involved a cost. One memorable job saw him repaint the edges of a Louis Vuitton bag for a VIP customer. Unfamiliar with the bag’s structure, he spent a month sanding and repainting it. Now, with more experience, he can complete the same task in a day or two.

Three years of working with luxury goods taught Phong everything from repairing and maintaining leather shoes and bags to running a shop and understanding the tastes of high-end clientele. He also gained marketing knowledge to attract more customers. From April to September 2020 he worked for a handmade leather goods store to expand his knowledge of materials.

Phong polishes shoes outside a street café in 2021. Photo courtesy of Khoi Nguyen

Four years of hands-on experience gave him the confidence to launch his own business. But just as he opened his shop, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, leaving the shop without clientele. “No one was going out, so there was no demand for shoe shining,” he says.

Facing financial pressure, he realized he could not remain idle. When lockdown measures eased, he and his staff set up a shoe-shining station at a friend’s coffee shop in a high-end apartment complex. Hoang The Manh, 34, one of Phong’s employees, recalls: “I felt a bit embarrassed, but he remained calm and persistent.”

His price of VND100,000 per pair, 10 times the street shoeshine rate, meant customers were initially scarce. But after he and his team continued to show up every weekend, meticulously restoring old shoes, customers began to come. “Eventually some even drove their cars over to bring me shoes for care.”

During the week he would take online orders. Once a customer called him late at night to pick up shoes. After driving nearly 20 kilometers, he found the shoes were beyond repair. But when he left the customer neither offered to cover his travel expenses nor even thanked him. Another time a customer called him after midnight in the winter, and despite being wrapped up in his blanket, he got up and went. Phong’s mother Thuan had felt a mix of pride and concern when her son swapped a stable, high-paying job for a niche career. “I understand success comes at a cost, and so I have always supported him,” she says.

The end of the pandemic brought a surge in demand for his services, giving his career a big boost. In 2022 he began to use TikTok to advertise his services and demonstrate proper shoe care techniques, attracting a large number of customers. By the Lunar New Year of 2023 his business was booming, and he had more work than he could handle. Today he operates two stores, employs over 10 people, and generates monthly revenues of around VND400 million.

Phong instructs his students on shoe polishing techniques in 2024. Photo courtesy of Khoi Nguyen

Reflecting on his journey, he believes passion is crucial for finding an idea and staying motivated during the early years of starting a business. He also emphasizes the need for patience and accumulating skills through real-world experience to achieve long-term success.

Though she has never voiced it, Phong’s mother is proud that her son dared to leave behind stability to follow his passion. “My husband and I were raised to study hard and secure a stable job. We never once thought about stepping outside our comfort zone, but my son did.”

Today some of the coffee shop customers from the pandemic days still visit his store with their luxury items. But they no longer call him a shoeshine boy. He is now an “artist.”