When I was young, my family was poor. I had ten brothers and sisters. At the age of 13, on my own initiative I went to work in a textile factory to supplement the family income. Mother couldn't bear it, and she cried for a long time with grief in her heart. But I made close friendships with a group of women who also worked hard in the factory. We worked overtime together and we served as volunteers in the temples on holidays. By doing some chores, such as cleaning up the floors or peeling vegetables, we could have some fun there and also get a free meal.

Later on, I met my husband. After we married, we lived in my husband's home town in the countryside, but I felt there wasn't much room to grow in the mountains. I wanted to come out. After we went down from the mountains, my husband worked as a plumber, and I served as a maid. I also did some sewing for extra money. Afterwards, with the support of my mother and my group of friends, we gradually acquired this window-front store.

My husband was in charge of plumbing, and I looked after the store. I also did some simple tasks. I didn't want to be petty. For example, I would change faucet taps free of charge, and when I changed a light bulb, I would only charge the cost of the bulb. I always remembered what Mom told me: "If you are stingy, always taking a little bit from here and a little bit from there, you will never be contented." In this way, we got acquainted with some customers in the nearby military dependents' village. Sometimes they would introduce us to some business with public agencies. Once we contracted to engineer the plumbing in General Chang Weikuo's home.

Affability earns her a lot of money:

But in contracting plumbing, sometimes the customers had a lot of demands that we could not handle. Sometimes big contractors went bankrupt and defaulted on the money they owed us. By pure chance, Matsushita Taiwan wanted to recruit franchises. Our store was too small. Originally they wouldn't take us, but later we made a deal. We turned to selling home appliances.

It requires a large overhead to run a home appliance store. The refrigerators and air conditioners have to be bought; no one lets you sell'on commission. Others saw my unimpressive store front and thought I would shut down within three months. I didn't want to make a fool of myself, so I went all out to make it succeed. I also remember when I went to borrow money making use of my father's relationships. The one who lent me money said, "You've come to borrow, so I'll give the money to you, based on your father's reputation. You won't have it next time!" I took the money with feelings of disgrace, teardrops welling up in my eyes. The loan carried an interest rate of 30%.

In order to sell more to get hold of more cash, sometimes I would give the clients a small discount. But still, I made my point that I would give them good service. The clients didn't come to my store one time only. We became friends, and whenever there was something wrong with their appliances, they would naturally come to see me. Plus, I am easy-going and approachable. When the errand boy delivers the goods, I will help him carry them. When the bill collectors come, I invite them to make themselves at home. If they happen to arrive at meal time, I will treat them to a simple meal. Everybody likes to get close to me. So, my business gets a big boost.

Stand behind your man:

In the first year of our operation, we sold more than 100 air conditioners. People wouldn't believe me when I told them this. Now, sometimes we can sell 4000 to 5000 air conditioners in a year. For instance, this year the economy was quite bad, but we still made a turnover of NT$100 million. But this was much less than last year, when we had a turnover of more than NT$200 million. Being the boss wife, I have to do business, but I can't completely neglect the home. I have a lot of brothers and sisters, so I didn't want to have too many children, but my husband did. I could not refuse.

In early years, when taking care of the store, I often wore a loose robe with my child hiding inside suckling at my breast. I used one hand to answer the phone, the other to figure the accounts. Sometimes clients came to the store, but as it happened, my children would noisily beg for candy money. I couldn't spank my children in front of the customers, so I could only lock them in the toilet in back. When I finished talking to the clients, I was startled to realize that the children had been crying so hard that their voices were gone. Then I hurriedly let out the child and soothed its tears. I took care of all four of my children, and they all grew up like this.

I don't have a shining educational background. And although I have a lot of questions about business, I know lots of people whom I can ask. For example, whenever I meet with problems concerning accounting or taxes, I keep asking the clerks or chiefs in the Matsushita Taiwan company; I make a point of getting to the bottom of things.

Later on, I felt that was not enough. So, I participated in the various activities held by Matsushita, in which I could make contacts with people in the same business and seek information. I'm also a member of the Lions Clubs. I even participated in the Carnegie speech training program. My husband is very contented and truthful. He was opposed to my going there. "We are moneyless and powerless. What's the use in doing all this rubbing of shoulders?" But I have my ambition. I hope our business can grow even further.

I represent the boss:

I deal with business on the outside. Back ten years ago, very few women went out to meet customers. A lot of people wouldn't want to talk business with women. They would ask, "How come the boss didn't show up?" I would say, "The boss has no time; I represent him." Sometimes this kind of meeting involved carousing and drinking. I myself am a vegetarian and a follower of Buddhism, but I would drink a little. Let them treat me no differently than they would a man.

Perhaps I am not like the traditional kind of boss wife who just stays in the store. Some people will gossip to my husband, saying, "How can you allow your wife to run around on the outside? It's shameful." My husband would quarrel with me. I have told him several times, the reason why we started our business is for the benefit of the whole family. If husband and wife come to harbor ill feelings toward each other because of this, then we might as well shut the whole business down.

Now occasionally we will feel disagreeable. In order to make him have a sense of participation, sometimes I encourage him to switch places with me. He goes to deal with bigger business cases or to carouse with the other bosses, and he can act properly.

I also understand that's how the society views husbands and wives. From olden times to the modern era, whether in the family or in business, it's always "The husband stands in front, and the wife stands behind." The husband's face is the wife's face, but nobody would say that the wife's face is the husband's face. I'm a relatively assertive character, but now I have learned not to rush whenever I feel like it. I've got to be patient, to stop for a while and to push my husband. I have to wait for my husband to go first and not run in front of him. In any case, family is really the source of happiness.

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From her first 24-square-foot shop in a public housing development to the two window-front stores she owns today, her annual turnover has grown to more than NT$100 million. For Chang Mei-hua and her husband, the road from rags to riches was filled with luck, but also with struggle. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)