Hello everyone,
Many young people today are pursuing their dream of becoming wealthy, but there is a considerable gap between dreaming and taking action, and few manage to bridge it to realize their dream of becoming a business owner.
I am now a company director. Although the company is still small, the important thing is that my business is progressing very well, and gradually I have ‘make money work for me instead of working for money’. I think that is also a small success to share. To help you understand the difficulties and advantages of turning dreams into action, I will share my successful startup story and the experience gained in “making myself a business owner.”
Story 1: The Journey to Find a Business Idea
I grew up in a stable family. Both my parents were state employees. We were not wealthy, but we had enough to eat and wear, and I grew up in a good educational environment with my parents' boundless love. My family had no business tradition, and no one worked in business, but I had dreamed of becoming a director since I was very young.
Entering university full of aspirations, I resolved to develop plans so I could begin doing business immediately after graduation. My first idea was a restaurant. I spent many days and nights researching and planning, but ultimately the plan failed before it could take shape. Soon afterward, I came up with the idea of a mobile phone business on the scale of a mobile phone superstore, offering comprehensive services in my locality. I began gathering information, analyzing the market, devising distinctive services to attract customers, and meeting friends who had opened small mobile phone repair and retail shops to learn more.
I nurtured this idea until graduation. But by the time I graduated, the mobile-phone business was saturated, leading to the collapse of a series of major mobile-phone superstores. So my idea failed again. A saying suddenly came to mind ‘Times Create Heroes’ which I found very true. From that, I learned a hard-earned lesson, which is “Whatever product or service you sell, you must follow market demand; you cannot work against it.”. So I began searching again for a new idea better aligned with market trends.
Story 2: The Difficult Journey to Find a Business Idea
After graduation, I worked in many jobs, companies, and positions, both to earn a living without asking my parents for money every month and to learn how companies operated and made money.
Gradually, I came to understand how a company is managed and operates, and how money moves in business. I noticed that no company stores cash. They always reinvest the money they earn. I realized that what matters in business is ‘never let money sit idle’.
While working for someone else, besides doing my company duties well, I continued looking for a business idea that would meet market needs. By chance, I discovered a colleague was trading stocks. Curious, I looked into it and found it quite interesting. Making money from stocks seemed so easy. You just sat there, traded online and had money after 4 days. So I explored online, joined stock market forums, bought books, found materials and started trading.
It truly was beginner's luck. I entered the stock market during a strong upswing. With just 30 million in capital, after only 1 month I earned another 15 million, bringing my total to 45 million. Life seemed beautiful then. My research had paid off. Riding that success, I devoted all my time to studying financial news and actively discussing it on forums.
However, the game was short-lived. When the market passed 500 points, it also began to decline. My entire 45 million had gone into shares precisely when they hit their ceiling. As the market plunged, I decided to cut my losses and sell every share. Ultimately, the market collapsed while I broke even. Had I not dared to cut my losses then, my capital might have equaled 0. Through stock investing, I learned a lesson ‘in business, you must make timely, accurate decisions and dare to accept losses’.
So I completely gave up stock investing and started searching for a new idea. On a business trip, I happened to be assigned a room with a colleague. He was skilled in information technology, while I specialized in foreign languages. After several conversations, we felt we had much in common in our business plans and decided to establish a company together, developing the 2 areas of information technology and translation.
I had 1 apartment facing the street, so we decided to establish a company with me as director. Initially, we agreed to contribute capital 50/50, but because my friend had not yet secured a loan, I advanced the money to get the company operating. Advancing that money for my friend was the biggest mistake of my life. After 6 months of operations, the company's revenue was consistently negative because we had no customers, marketing plan, or development plan.
The company then operated like a general store, doing anything to earn money. Seeing that the business was ineffective, my friend refused to contribute the initially agreed 50/50 capital and kept finding ways to delay. I handled all operations single-handedly, while he showed almost no interest. With my own money at stake, I had to struggle with my company myself.
After continuing to operate ineffectively for some time, I lay awake every night reviewing my business and saw many things were truly wrong. First, there was no clear plan or strategy. By failing to plan, I had unknowingly planned my own failure. Second, once again I chose businesses that did not match market demand. Both sectors I chose were quite new to a provincial market, so failure was clearly only a matter of time.
After a while longer, the company had virtually no activity and closed. My friend disappeared without a word about contributing capital, and of course I bore the losses alone. I felt truly troubled and ashamed in front of friends and family because I had boasted so much when opening the company and been certain of success. I felt trapped and discouraged…
Story 3: From Idea to Implementation and Success
However, this failure gave me many interesting and genuinely useful experiences, lessons, and knowledge. Every lesson has a price. My lesson from failure was: you should not rush to implement a business idea without a plan and strategy. You should not go into business jointly. It is best for me to run a business on my own, or, if partnering, to choose partners very carefully.
After failing, I returned to salaried work and began searching for another business idea. I read books such as “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” “The 80/20 Principle,” and “I Am Gifted, So Are You!” These books opened my eyes to many things I had never known. I began making positive changes in my thinking and mindset. I understood the difference between assets and liabilities and applied the 80/20 principle to finding a new business idea.
I realized I should focus on making the most of my strengths and the areas in which I had been trained. I saw 3 services for which demand was increasing rather than declining: healthcare, education, and food services. With my strength in foreign languages, specifically English, I decided to focus on education. I began looking for ideas in this sector. After many days and nights of thought, I came up with a new idea: a foreign-language training business.
My target audience was children because, at the macro level, the government had just passed an important policy making English compulsory from grade 3, while objectively, learning English was a very practical need. I began researching my local market, demand for language learning and the activities of other English centers… and started writing a detailed plan. I then decided to open an English language center.
There was so much to do when I first established the center. Besides marketing and advertising, I had to hire staff and Vietnamese and foreign teachers. I had to develop curricula and study plans for different classes and groups, calculate profitable tuition fees, and teach as well.
Right now, I am overwhelmed with work and cannot get it all done. I only wish a day were a few hours longer. Thanks to the right choice, my business is now doing quite well. Revenue rises each month, I need to hire more employees, and the company is gradually establishing its brand and credibility in the market. My goal is a high-quality, professional training service.
To continue making the company stronger, I decided to take several CEO courses. They proved very effective, giving me a great deal of practical knowledge for running the business.
Lessons learned during the startup process:
– Make a detailed plan for the idea.
– Follow the 80/20 principle.
– Know how to choose the right partners.
– Know how to accept failure.
– Be persistent and steadfast. Do not lose heart when facing difficulties.
– Business must follow market needs.
– Broaden your knowledge every day.
– Pursue your idea with passion and enthusiasm.
That is my entrepreneurial journey. There have been failures, bitterness and hardship, and prices paid in money and tears. Yet truly doing business according to my passion is wonderful. Success feels even better because it reflects the work, dedication and effort you have put into building your enterprise.
We hope these insights help you shape your business ideas, avoid failures and anticipate the difficulties on your entrepreneurial journey.
Wishing you success!
Source: Nguyễn Quyết – Hoclamgiau.vn
Chương trình liên quan tại YUP Education: X-Startup – khóa học khởi nghiệp «Khởi Chánh Nghiệp» · The Journey – lộ trình phát triển doanh nhân
