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WHEN Jiwon Chong graduated from UCLA, he decided to start a business to pay for law school.

He is now running his fourth business at age 29, and he’s given up his legal ambitions because he enjoys being his own boss.

He and his high school sweetheart, Leila Lee, have an exclusive deal to run Southern California franchises of Japanese-based Dashing Diva nail salons. The company has several East Coast franchises, but Chong and Lee made the company’s debut on the West Coast with their Pasadena shop.

Chong had long watched the Asian stronghold on the value-priced nail salons, but wanted something a step up. His business sells manicures and pedicures for $40 to $60 with a three-day, no-chip guarantee. That’s more than the $20 places that dot the L.A. area but less posh than the four-star hotel spas which charge $150 and more for the combined treatment.

He found Dashing Diva online one night in late 2005, completed his application at midnight, and had an e-mail from corporate headquarters by the time he awoke. Two weeks later, he and Lee were flying to New York for meetings with Dashing Diva executives.

The Old Town Pasadena location opened last November, and was profitable by the end of March. They’re already plotting the next location, but they’re starting to think smaller, to keep a tight hold on things.

“This salon was such a labor of love,” said Lee, whose mother sewed the pillows for the pedicure seating location. “We’ve been very hands on, and we want to do that in the future.”

The shop is designed to promote camaraderie and conversation among patrons with a circular pedicure area, but there’s a secluded VIP room where clients can watch movies on flat screen monitors. There’s a menu of green and black Asian teas and free mocktails (fruity cocktails sans alcohol) on Wednesday and Thursday nights with a manicure or pedicure.

Starting a business was not a new experience for Chong. After school, be sold Korean Razor scooters to Americans and American snowboards to Koreans. They were firsts in both countries.

Then he bought a Cold Stone Creamery license and he said his Calabasas location became the franchise’s fourth-highest grossing. After that, he got caught up in a magazine idea with his brother. They have published several issues of the resulting Fugue, geared at young professionals, and are now exploring deals with major publishers interested in taking over the title.

Finding the money to start Dashing Divas wasn’t the biggest problem. Understanding the staff has been.

Chong and Lee have a 90 percent Vietnamese staff. Both grew up in Korean families, although Lee lived in Brazil until age 12.

“We spent so much time just focusing on the customers,” Lee said. “But we also have to understand the staff and their culture.”

Although they currently have 10 employees, Chong said they’re understaffed and they’d like to make that number at least 15, if not 20 in the near future.

Both say they now can’t imagine working for someone else, and they plan to open more locations.