“We are happy and you should be happy, too!”

Ms. Lin Tingfei, Founder of the Lavender CottAge

Lin Tingfei | Profile |

Education
‧ EMBA in Culture and Creative Industry Management, Feng Chia University

Experience
‧ Piano teacher

Current Position
‧ Founder of the Lavender CottAge Co., Ltd.

What opportunity and what belief to allow two almost strangers to know each other, and make the decision resolutely to start a business together to achieve their dream? to become the best partner to each other, and continue to expand their dream into a happy business of eight brands? On March 3, 2006, the Feng Chia alumni Monthly conducted an interview with Lavender CottAge’s founder Lin Tingfei and its executive director Huang Wangcun to ask them to share with all alumni their story.

The Most Remote Cafe
A Tug of War between Reality and Dream

“The most remote cafe?” Just to hear it would prompt curiosity. Not to say that it is a dream of "two girls." What inspired the two young girls to give up their original work willingly to go to the remote mountain area to start a cafe? This would take a lot of determination, and what is more, courage to do so. "If not now, there will never be a tomorrow." This is the key to the two girls’ decision to start their business. They started it from a simple dream, and then to transform that dream into reality from scratch. And then the Lavender CottAge . Their Executive Director, Mr. Wang, once said: "Right from the beginning, the Lavender CottAge would ask itself all along the way in facing expansion: ‘Do we like it? Are we happy with it? Is it meaningful?’” Consumer satisfaction and gratification is always the priority of the two founders of the Lavender CottAge so making money or not is of little importance. But to keep a balance between reality and dream is the most practical issue. Although there would be times that the two partners would have a tug of war over reality and dream, yet as long as they remained partners to each other, they could tide over all difficulties and look forward to the future.

Two Girls’ Purple Dreams

"We are hopelessly in love with coffee, travel, and with the drifting of light and smell. We would capture them with either a paint brush or musical note to keep the sensations! In this happy purple hill, we dreamed to create a happy land. And in this land of purple, we hoped that friends who came would leave with a very good impression,” so said Ms. Lin Tingfei. The Lavender CottAge’s official website has a large purple background; the sight of it seems to give web surfers the smell and the touch of lavenders. A cascade of light music is backed up by the chirping of birds. Viewers might have the illusion of walking into nature, as if to share the two girls’ fantasies!

Ms. Lin Tingfei was originally a piano teacher tutoring students in Kaohsiung while Ms. Zhan Huijun was a staff member at a foreign bank in Taipei. Zhan had a dream of "cultivating an acre of lavender" while Lin had a dream of "opening a cafe full of happiness."

Word-of-mouth Marketing
Transforming the Impossible into Possible

Growing up in the care of those who loved them, both gave up their original steady jobs and on November 9, 2001, they went to Xingshe, Taichung to pursue their dream—the establishment of the first coffee shop in Xingshe and naming it after their dream "the Lavender CottAge."

It was their first experience of being farmers, first experience of cooking, and first experience of building a house. And they had to find shareholders to raise funds. As Xingshe was not a tourist spot, there were virtually no visitors. Nor were there cable TV, bus service, and web connection. There were just 20 households around. At the beginning of the business, because there often were inconveniences unimaginable, they had to apologize to the guests all the way to the door. And“we had difficulty breaking even because what was ordered cannot match with the cash received," Ms. Lin smiled and talked of the hardship of owning a business! But despite these setbacks, the two of them deemed it a very valuable and interesting experience!

They just fought their way up courageously, starting everything from scratch, making the impossible possible. What they relied on is enthusiasm and the fantasy about the future. And then, the prototype of their dream came to reality. After three months’ hardworking, they officially started their coffee shop business. What is interesting is that the two of them never had the experience of running a coffee shop, not to say any relevant experience. But in the course of running the business, they constantly asked themselves: "What do we want to do? What do we want to give consumers?"

Despite all difficulties, they eventually turned all kinds of fantasies into reality, and built a cafe in the Xingshe mountain area, a seemingly ridiculous move to the local people who suffered the severe 921 earthquake disaster. But it is exactly this move that attracted, instead, visitors for they would like to know what kind of people they are who dared to take such a risk?

By word of mouth, they succeeded in marketing themselves, and gradually they were known to the public! For 16 years, they earned themselves a place not without pains and tears. But now they can laugh and say that “ours is the most remote cafe" with a sense of pride for the self-ridicule!

Ms. Lin is a courteous lady always wearing a cordial smile on her face. What is more, there is no sign of arrogance or snobbishness in her. For instance, when she would like to buy a car, after some consultation with her colleagues, she chose the one least glamorous and most common in Taiwan despite the fact that, being the founder of the business, she could afford a more luxurious car. "I actually chose the most common one in the company," Ms. Lin beamed with the telling. She is just so modest and polite, regardless of her being a successful business woman!

An Iconoclast of Tradition
“Doing business is not just selling goods; it is to produce a sentiment of happiness!”

With the Lavender CottAge’s business becoming steady, the idea of opening a branch came to the minds of the two ladies. Yet considering that they lack enough professional ability, they would hire someone more proficient in doing business to lead them. But the more professional the hired man is, the more emphasis on profit will be the sole purpose of the business, which is not exactly what they want. "What we are selling is not just meals or coffee, but a good way of life, a good atmosphere!"

Not until this business-minded professional is willing to give up some concerns over profits could they learn from each other. And he would then be able to understand their philosophy: "we are happy, and we want you to be happy, too.” The idea is simply to share their own way of simple life with others, and they hope that anyone who comes can feel this happiness and take home this atmosphere to get the soul really healed.

16 Years of Business 8 Brands in Hand

At first no one was optimistic about their future. The two of them were amateurs in business management. So two or three years’dabbling would be enough for them and the business would naturally fail. But surprisingly, their first year’s return on investment far exceeded the outlays.

Although the two of them did not have much experience, they and their newly hired staff learned together, grew together, attended classes outside, and absorbed new knowledge and professional skills continually. After 16 years’ hardworking of trying to involve people into "dreaming and experiencing, enjoying food and merchandises," the Lavender CottAge owns eight brands, opens more than 20 stores and employs 500 or so partners. Their business ranges from passing on to the visitors the locals’ sense of “slow living” in Adagio; selling aromatherapeutic products in Forestmosa; Hakka Lifestyle demonstrating Hakka culture, catering and related goods; Moncoeur featuring manor wedding, banquets, recreations, dining and other activities; Good Days emphasizing mainly dining cultures, exhibitions, connoisseurs’ collections; Adagio Travel offering hotels for travelers to explore the city and its culture; and Stray Birds offering a hostel for youths. Their success stories shatter many professionals’ glasses. The key is they treat customers just like friends, which won them the 2015 and 2016 Commonwealth’s CSR Corporate Citizenship Awards, achieving the vision of "a happy industry with design as the core and altruism in spirit.”