Later his father decided to expand his factory, and Tsai, who had failed in his dream to test into the Department of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University, decided to go into the family business, at a time when Taiwan was just hitting its stride in its glory days as the "shoe kingdom" exporting footwear to the world.
後來父親想擴大家庭工廠，師專畢業的蔡其瑞則因為沒有如願考上師大美術系，乾脆棄教從商，專心幫父親設計鞋子，正趕上台灣成為「鞋子王國」的鞋業外銷榮景。