If you are not hardworking or creative, do not start a business

Taking a promising deputy-dean position at a major university to plunge into entrepreneurship and start again from 0, Nguyễn Hoài Phương exemplifies the early-1980s generation that dares to think, act and live fully for youthful passion.

Graduating at the top of her class in finance and banking at Monash University, Australia, on an AusAID scholarship, she had an enviable professional job at a foreign bank in Vietnam, yet switched to university teaching. Soon after becoming deputy dean, she left that stable job and its promising future to enter the whirlwind of entrepreneurship, starting again from 0. The story of Nguyễn Hoài Phương, CFA, MBA, CEO of AFTC, a company specializing in training and tax-accounting services, evokes a generation born in the early 1980s who dare to think, act, and live fully for youthful passion.

Why did you leave stable, desirable jobs to start a business and embark on a path that was far from smooth?

Like many young people, in my youth I always wanted to discover new things and try different fields to explore my own abilities. My career goal has never been ‘a stable job’ or ‘a job many people dream of,’ but ‘to be much better today than I was yesterday.’ I need to learn something new, become better and know more every day and week to feel happy. I think that is why I often choose thorny paths to travel and explore.

Which work do you enjoy most?

I deeply value every job I have done, because each helped me grow. Working as a treasury dealer (trading foreign currencies and credit products) at a bank was a job I had dreamed of since my final year of university, because it requires very high expertise and skill. Fortunately, although I had no banking experience, after 4 rounds of interviews I persuaded Mizuho Bank's senior leaders to believe in my abilities and work ethic, beating other strong candidates.

I still love treasury dealing, but the desire to challenge myself, combined with fortunate circumstances, led me to teach Finance in English to university students—an entirely new challenge, initially aimed at overcoming my longstanding shyness about public speaking.

What about your current job? Do you plan to stay long-term or keep changing?

Honestly, my initial intention was not serious. I only planned to teach for a year or two and then change professions, because young people often get bored quickly. Yet teaching has stayed with me to this day, an entire decade. At AFTC, my current company, I teach even more frequently, in greater depth, and under many times more pressure than when I taught at school.

Moving from University Teaching into Risky Business, Did You Have Any Fears or Doubts?

Six years ago, when I already had a husband and a 3-year-old child, I resigned from an established, 50-year-old university, giving up a senior position and a promising future tobuilding a startup just over 1 year old, with negative profits, billions of dong in capital completely spent and a bleak future. Looking back now feels frightening, but somehow when I was young, I did not think or worry much. I just enjoyed exploring a new responsibility, testing my connection with and ability in business, and telling myself always to do everything as well as possible. There was no clear vision or strategy like the theories taught at school.

AFTC has now become a widely known financial training company, the only one in Vietnam providing CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) training in accordance with CFA Institute standards and the only one offering courses for all three CFA exam levels in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Although that is not yet much, I feel very happy because my colleagues and I have certainly contributed to developing our country's finance professionals.

Ms. Nguyễn Hoài Phương at an event organized by CFA Institute.

“Startup” is a very popular term among young people today. As someone who also launched a successful startup, how do you think starting a business now differs from doing so 6–7 years ago?

AFTC turns 8 this year. I would not dare call it successful, because that concept is very relative. My approach to running a company is like raising children. The first three years are the hardest: the child is still small, often ill, and needs a lot of care. After age 3, illnesses become less frequent, and after age 5, entering the 6th year and grade 1, the child becomes much stronger and more mature. Success is a luxury of a word; simply seeing your child grow wiser each year and remain by your side is enough to bring joy.

Starting and running a company today is easier and cheaper than before, thanks to services such as comprehensive company formation, outsourced tax accounting, marketing, websites, and virtual offices.…Young people can also use free, fast-spreading media such as social networks and forums to promote products and services. I see this as an advantage but also a challenge: competition will be fiercer, customers savvier and more cautious about deceptive advertising, and everyone will receive more information, so you must constantly devise a distinctive message to make an impression.

What would you like to share with young people who want to start a business?

However, the core point that never changes in any era, especially today's era of so many virtual things, is to survive and grow, you must continually create real benefits and value, and products and services of genuine quality, to retain customers over the long term. Among 100 startups, even those founded on excellent ideas, perhaps only ten or twenty survive 5 years. Achieving this requires relentless effort and tireless work, with countless sacrifices and tradeoffs.

If young people have a unique, creative idea or a particular strength, and capital, they have an initial basis for starting a business, but it is not enough. You must continue creating throughout operations, improving even the smallest things each day: how you work, motivate employees and communicate to win each customer over… If you are not a hardworking bee who constantly thinks creatively and innovates, I advise you not to start a business.

Kim Thủy

According to Trí Thức Trẻ

Chương trình liên quan tại YUP Education: X-Startup – khóa học khởi nghiệp «Khởi Chánh Nghiệp» · The Journey – lộ trình phát triển doanh nhân