Doing business with a purpose from the heart

Câu chuyện khởi nghiệp của Tạ Minh Tuấn là bài học quý giá dành cho các bạn trẻ dám nghĩ, dám làm để vươn tới thành công. Hãy cùng trò chuyện với doanh nhân Tạ Minh Tuấn để hiểu rõ hơn về chàng trai trẻ này và tìm ra những bí quyết khởi nghiệp thành công của anh.

At age 19, a few friends and I established a project that later became the predecessor of a company specializing in Digital Marketing services. The project’s starting point, however, was a vision of building ‘Vietnam’s first events social network’—a place bringing together event organizers and attendees. Although the name sounded simple, the business model was relatively complex. We had to successfully build a community, then gather enough data to ‘redefine the value of organizing and attending events in Vietnam,’ followed by an entire mechanism for generating profits from the model. With this somewhat complex structure, we faced many technological difficulties. The project was launched quite early for its time, far ahead of the market, so… we never completed it.

Although our first project failed, its output gave us research findings and profound value. We proactively closed it, and the core members remained undeterred, flexibly changing direction to become a digital communications service business. This was still a new direction but closer to the market. During our first 3 official months, revenue was… zero. Everyone resolved to forgo salaries because the situation was critical. In month 4, I personally went out selling and secured our first contract. It was small but restored confidence and cohesion. Later, this company I co-founded regularly worked with major clients such as Unilever, Sony, and Samsung, generating billions of đồng annually.

This gave me a profound entrepreneurial lesson: initially, we start at point A and often think we will succeed at some point B in the future, but along the path to B we discover more suitable opportunities. By skillfully listening to “signals” and adjusting direction, we ultimately succeed at B’, which may be very close to or very far from the original B. Most successful startups share one thing: their product, strategy and plan change as soon as they launch and receive the first feedback. The key is whether you have a team capable of “continuous learning,” flexible enough and sufficiently committed to stay with you even if the direction changes. Because the direction will almost certainly change, a little or a lot. You must commit and gain experience to discover what fits.

When I learned my father had cancer, I was very sad and thought, “Can I do anything to help people with the same illness as my father?” The more deeply I explored the “illnesses” not only of patients but also of our country's healthcare system itself, the more courage I gained to act, because I wanted to “change something.”

I realized that disease rates in Vietnam were far too high. For some diseases, Vietnam has the highest prevalence or the fastest growth rate in the world. These high rates are not due to poor medical expertise. In fact, we have many excellent doctors, and the cancer treatment capabilities of Vietnam's leading hospitals today can be compared with Singapore's. Yet people still suffer from many chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and blood-pressure disorders because they lack knowledge of prevention.

So the problem is that people do not yet know how to prevent illness, and there are no healthcare solutions outside hospitals. Yet 80% of the causes of illness lie in people's lifestyles, meaning the way we live today determines our illnesses in the future; in other words, we choose our own illnesses.

At this point, my ‘personal doctor’ idea emerged—known more broadly abroad as a ‘family doctor.’ Each person would have a doctor monitoring their health at the most reasonable cost, preventing illness and reducing long-term treatment expenses. For convenience, the doctor would visit patients at home. We developed an entire system I call ‘home healthcare’ to address several Vietnamese healthcare problems: high illness rates, overcrowded hospitals and costly long-term treatment…

While everyone was busy opening hospitals, applying for clinic licenses, and making grand investments, I thought of “bringing hospitals and clinics into people's homes” with 1 suitable business model that would ensure both cash flow and social impact. Thus an entirely new market, a “blue ocean,” was born. This model is gradually becoming more common in Vietnam. You see, opportunities are always abundant. There are still many opportunities for you! But when you do business with a purpose from the heart, you gain even more strength!

There is no single correct answer to the question of “minimum capital,” because it depends on the industry and each person's way of thinking, and “a little for one person is a lot for another.” The secret is to pay more attention to “intangible capital” instead of focusing solely on tangible capital in the form of money. The minimum intangible capital you need to start a business is a dream that can inspire yourself first, and then others. You will then have a truly burning passion. Other forms of intangible capital will gradually follow, such as your talent, experience, and relationships. You can also use other people's experience as “leverage” to help you start a business, provided everyone benefits.

At this point, intangible things create tangible ones. A great aspiration inspires passion; passion attracts a good team, and that team adds to your experience. Capital only “flows” to deserving people. The secret of investment is that investors do not invest in ideas; what they really invest in is people.

Schedule meetings with investors one by one, asking each to introduce you to the next. And remember that your first investors may well be your 2F: Friends and Family.

He believes that: “Because life is very short, we must help others in order to live the most meaningful life possible. Anyone who can make every moment of life valuable to others will ‘extend’ their life into ‘eternity”

A successful business cannot exist within a failed society. That is why I believe that, in the future, every business wishing to survive and develop sustainably will need to be a social enterprise.

A social enterprise is not a charity. It has two parts: “enterprise,” meaning it must be efficient enough to regenerate cash flow, and “social,” meaning its business model inherently addresses a social problem: employment opportunities for people with disabilities, improvements in healthcare and education, reproductive health, women's empowerment, gender equality… At the same time, the enterprise must make solving social problems its highest goal, rather than maximizing profit. Profits are therefore prioritized for reinvestment in the business or society itself over distribution to shareholders. However, this reinvestment helps the business extend its social impact to more target beneficiaries and thereby increase its own value. This is a “dual benefit” in business—a trade-on rather than a trade-off.

I often use the TNT formula. It means Heart – Brain – Hands. 

‘Heart’ means answering the question, ‘Why?’ and giving people the motivation to fight. But heart and emotion alone are still ineffective and come very close to manipulating others. They must be combined with the ‘Brain’ in answering ‘What?’ and ‘How?’ and giving people an appropriate mechanism for standing by your side. Finally, the ‘Hands’ mean that you yourself must roll up your sleeves, dive into the work, and set an example through your own actions. Once this becomes a habit, a new culture and a new level of team performance will emerge. The entire team will then unlock its potential and make the product ‘boom’ in the market, just as TNT means explosive. (laughs).

In fact, I cannot call my company large, because by Forbes' business evaluation standards, most Vietnamese companies are microenterprises, let alone small or medium-sized ones. Nevertheless, it brings me personal happiness.

I balance my activities by clearly understanding my roles, whether they serve the same overall mission, and whether they can complement one another, while building a team that works well with me. A clear understanding of your mission helps you harmonize your roles and organize your time as effectively as possible.

My mission is “empowerment”: empowering patients, empowering learners, and empowering young people. Through this, I aim to create positive impacts that fill the “gaps” in society I call “social failures,” ultimately improving people's quality of life.

Drawing on my business experience, I founded YUP Institute with other successful entrepreneurs. I believe investing time and effort in helping the next generation is a way of repaying those who helped me before. YUP was therefore established as a training and support system for entrepreneurs. I always enjoy doing things that are new and useful.

YUP's mission is to become a “Start-up Bridge,” bridging the gaps between 1 promising idea and 1 market-accepted product, between 1 project on paper and 1 successful business, and between 1 passionate young entrepreneur lacking money and experience and seasoned business advisors and investors.

YUP was created to solve many problems in Vietnam's startup market, with the desire to build a ‘startup ecosystem’ in which a vulnerable newborn enterprise receives ample support to maximize its chances of success. A country that builds such an ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ will develop its economy rapidly and sustainably on the foundation of thriving startups—a lesson recognized by both Singapore and Israel. YUP therefore has a ‘500+ Start-ups’ vision, seeking to help more than 500 businesses in the community achieve sustainable success.

Success is measured by what you bring to society. You cannot live forever, but if every moment of your life brings value to others, you have, in that way, extended your life “infinitely.” Start a business out of a desire to benefit others. Learn from your own mistakes and those of the teachers you meet. Start your business intelligently.

CEO Tạ Minh Tuấn

Studied Industrial Systems Engineering at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Although born in the late 1980s, Tạ Minh Tuấn has already achieved notable successes: – 2007: Deputy Director, Song Long Co., Ltd.    – 2008: Co-founder, IDEE Corporation – 2009: Founding Chairman and CEO, HELP International—a pioneering and leading organization developing the ‘Personal Doctor – Home Healthcare’ model in Vietnam – 2009: Founder and Executive Chairman, ‘Giấc mơ đôi chân thiên thần’ charity fund – 2011: President of Master Chapter, a business association under Business Network International in Vietnam (BNI–Business Network International is currently the world’s largest business networking organization). – 2011: Recognized by the British Council, CSIP and The One Foundation as 1 of Vietnam’s 15 outstanding social entrepreneurs for his initiative to develop a family doctor system – 2011: Founder, YUP Insitute—a pioneering and leading academy for entrepreneurship training & support in Vietnam – 2012: BNI Vietnam Ambassador – 2013: Founded and led JCI Central Chapter in Vietnam (JCI–Junior Chamber International is currently the world’s largest federation of young entrepreneurs and leaders). -2013: Among Vietnam's most outstanding business leaders under 30, selected by Forbes.

Source: hoclamgiau.vn