Mr. Phạm Đình Đoàn: 5 things not to do when starting a business

Passing responsibility to others, not choosing the best people, and not yet doing charity… are 3 pieces of advice the owner of Phú Thái Group gives young entrepreneurs.

The insights of entrepreneur Phạm Đình Đoàn, Chairman of Phú Thái Group, were recorded at LifeB Up Dinner 1: The Art of Leadership, organized by the LifeB Startup Support Group on the evening of 6/2/2015 in Hanoi.

1. Family Rule

In Vietnam, when a small company first opens, the husband is often Director, the wife Chief Accountant and the child Marketing Director.

“That may be true in the early stages, but not in the long term. Family-run companies rarely attract talented people. Another problem is the headaches. Business is less of a headache than arguing with family,” Mr. Phạm Đình Đoàn shared.

He also shared 2 secrets of a foreign billionaire. First, do not have your wife work with you. Second, siblings in the same 1 family should establish separate companies. rather than having one person serve as chief financial officer and the other as sales director in the same company.

“A company can remain flexible during its first year or two when staff are scarce, but once it expands, family ownership will constrain its growth,” Mr. Đoàn said.

2. Shoulder responsibility

The secret to success is ‘handing off’ responsibility to others. “Do not do everything yourself. If the company falls into chaos whenever you go away, it has 2 problems: delegation of authority and workforce training,” Mr. Đoàn explained.

“You need many hands and feet. You have 1 head, but with 5 hands you can certainly work faster. If your head also has to do the work of your hands, that will affect your ability to think. When you have no successor, you must do everything yourself, but only in the short term.”

3. Thinking you are good

“Complacency is the greatest danger. In business, never think you are brilliant. Do not believe that one success makes you impressive! You need to consider many other things. Do not compare yourself with your friends back home; compare yourself with entrepreneurs in the United States and Singapore,” Mr. Đoàn said.

4. Choose the Best person

Some Japanese companies have firmly rejected applicants with excellent abilities and qualifications simply because they did not fit the company culture.

‘Recruiting is like getting married. An employee who joins is “marrying” your environment. A new employee who disrupts the entire workplace is also a problem.Choose the Right person (the suitable person – reporter’s note), not the Best person (The best person – Reporter).”

“It is a mistake to assume that someone who was once the CEO (Chief Executive Officer—reporter’s note) of a foreign corporation will definitely be a good fit for your business. You must choose someone suited to your culture, industry, ideas, and current stage. For example, if you want to transform and restructure the company over the next 3 years, you need to bring in someone exceptionally capable. If you want stability over the next 3 years and to build a culture that unites everyone, you need to hire someone else.”

5. Do charity work

‘Why, although I care deeply about charity, do I advise you not to engage in charity just yet? I am not telling you not to do it; I want you to understand what should come first and what should follow,’ Mr. Đoàn advised.

“If you want to do charity: To give knowledge charitably, you must be skilled; to give money charitably, you must have plenty of it. You must first be rich and knowledgeable to share with and help many others.”

Source: Cafebiz

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