Tạ Minh Tuấn (2nd from right) – CEO of HELP.
Watching his father gradually recover through a positive lifestyle strengthened his belief in his idea. From there, the young man, who had studied engineering at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, took a new path: establishing a home healthcare organization called HELP.
Starting a business when his family was financially destitute, Tuấn researched on his own, drew up plans and traveled to present his idea and find like-minded people. After a month, he found 20 collaborators but had only 5 million đồng in capital. Tạ Minh Tuấn had to persuade his colleagues to work unpaid initially, but this continued throughout the project's first year.
When the time was right, Tuấn began fundraising. In just 2 months, his idea received commitments of up to 14 billion đồng to operate HELP for 3 years, disbursed annually. Establishing the legal framework was also difficult because the model was so new in Vietnam.
HELP has now been included in the Ministry of Health's directory of high-quality medical and pharmaceutical businesses. Providing home care and medical services for individuals and families, along with lifelong health records, it currently has around 35 doctors and 15 nurses from HCMC hospitals.
‘80% of chronic diseases result from the lifestyles people choose, yet with care and regular checkups we can prevent them. I believe that if every family had a doctor monitoring its health, many diseases could be prevented or detected early. That would address the root of the problem, whereas building more hospitals only addresses the symptoms,’ Tuấn shared.
From there, Tạ Minh Tuấn, an outsider to the field, became CEO of a medical center offering home healthcare. Tuấn said realizing a major dream requires expert-level knowledge in several fields. In his case, that meant in-depth knowledge of 5 areas: marketing, sales, finance, human resources, and healthcare. Yet becoming an expert in each field usually requires over 10 years’ experience, so 5 fields would require more than 50 years. That is merely the prerequisite for pursuing the dream, not a guarantee that it has succeeded.
According to Tuấn, that period is too long, so entrepreneurs can choose another approach: build a working system around themselves with 5 different experts, each with more than 10 years of experience in their field, and develop the ability to work with them effectively. “You then have an intangible asset: more than 50 years of other people's experience as capital to help you start a business,” Tạ
Minh Tuấn – A young CEO shares his experience.
Born to parents who were both teachers, Tạ Minh Tuấn also has a passion for education. Besides running HELP, he founded YUP Entrepreneurship & Leadership Academy, which trains young people to become leaders who say “Yes!” to their own success and happiness. Despite being very busy, Tuấn still makes time to run the “Dream of Angel Legs” social fund, supporting people with disabilities who show determination in life.
In recognition of his achievements, in 2011 Tạ Minh Tuấn was selected as one of 15 social entrepreneurs—people who use business skills to solve society's difficult problems—certified by the Center for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP). According to Tuấn, a successful business cannot exist within a failed society. Community-oriented business struggles to generate enormous profits initially, demonstrate economic value, and attract investment. However, this approach creates more meaningful and sustainable value, making it well worth pursuing despite the difficulties.
“To live is to contribute. Life is very short, so we must make it as meaningful as possible. Anyone who can make every moment of life valuable to others,
that person will ‘extend’ their life to ‘infinity,’” Tuấn believes.
Xuân Ngọc
VNEXPRESS BUSINESS
Tuesday, 27/12/2011
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