Overcoming Business Journeys
A collection of stories and separate notes
Phan Minh Thong
USD 30,99
USD 24,99
Format: 13.5 x 21.5 cm
Number of Pages: 154
ISBN: 978-3-99130-251-3
Release Date: 28.06.2023
Overcoming Business Journeys comprises twenty-six short stories about business and life in Vietnam and some parts of the World. Each story has unique characters who are passionate about starting a business and describe their different living circumstances.
Copyright
Artwork: Overcoming Business Journeys
Author: Phan Minh Thong
Copyright of this work belongs to the author. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, whether electronic, print, sound recording or any information retrieval and storage system, without the prior written consent of the author.
PHAN MINH THONG
Author’s Words
I wrote Overcoming Business Journeys in four years, with most of the writing completed during the time of Covid-19. Whenever I heard a good, inspirational story, or an experience of success or failure, I would write it down. I usually write in a narrative style in order to convey a story, an event, or a certain moment. Yet, there were times when I thought: “Why shouldn’t I just create and expand the stories and add more characters? Life is already a great story with so many unique characters. A story with characters and details would be more interesting. Furthermore, when a story is written and published, it develops an independent life of its own, compared to articles.” Therefore, I was happy with that discovery and have written more different stories since.
Writing is a challenge for me. Even so, I released my second publication containing many articles accessible to the public. In my first publication, Unlimited Creativity in Business (2017), there was praise as well as criticism. Yet, in the end, more than 13,000 copies were sold, enough to cover all the publication costs. Four years after publication, I continued to sell the book, and many people still send us touching words, sharing such useful stories. With these lessons from the readers, I am even more inspired. Whenever I find a good story, I choose to keep on writing in a way for people to experience it. Perhaps that is exactly the motivation for my second publication: Overcoming Business Journeys.
With real stories and experiences from the realm of business, I hope every reader will benefit from reading it. Notwithstanding both praise and criticism, I look forward to listening to both in order to learn, experience and grow even more.
I am grateful that you have picked this book up, opened it, and read it through!
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my company assistants Minh Trang, Camelia and my son Minh Phuc for their enthusiasm in helping with the Vietnamese-English translation. This publication would not be possible without their dedicated effort and passion. Lastly, I am grateful to my son Minh Quang for supporting me in finalizing this project.
Business Portrait during Covid
Throughout 2020, the entire world was reeling under Covid. From Europe, then the US: daily news about Covid, daily images of sick people in the hospitals, howling ambulances. Talking to clients, we could hear the panic in their voices. After clients had spent so much time at home, we could observe the pain in their faces. Fortunately, at that time, Vietnam had not been seriously affected. But on the business side, things were not that easy.
“Mr. Quang, the price of peppercorn has become too high and continues to rise, almost doubling compared to the same period last year!” the Purchasing Director, Viet Anh, called to say.
“Really? How could the price increase continuously under Covid? Send me the report from the last few months.”
“Peppercorn prices have been increasing continuously for nearly two months, but just now is the sharpest rise. Almost double compared to 2019. Is the supply limited? How should we decide?” Viet Anh asked.
“I did anticipate issues with the supply, but did not expect the speculators to seize this opportunity to push the price up that badly. Just buy enough goods for the pending signed contracts,” I replied.
“We lose a lot with the signed contracts … What then, Mr. Quang?” the sales manager, Lee, asked me at the meeting.
“We still have to buy it, Lee. We still have to deliver cargo to our buyers even with a loss, but the price will increase immediately. Viet Anh, make the plan to buy twice as much for me.”
“Mr. Quang, when the price goes up, the suppliers will withhold their stock and won’t sell. It’s the same every year. Exporters will suffer a huge loss if they sell, and won’t buy at the same time.”
“I know. Try to buy enough and then double the quantity for me.”
The price of agricultural products had risen, but coffee prices hadn’t. Coffee growers and exporters were devastated! Lee mentioned she was also working with the Operation Department regarding freight charges.
“The freight charge went up so much, while our sale contracts are fixed, as the freight charge goes up daily, I can see terrible losses. What should we do?” Lee said.
“What is the reason for this increase in freight rate?” Mr. Quang asked.
“Due to the severe pandemic in many countries, many container yards do not have enough workers and arriving ships only clog up more containers. There are no empty containers at the ports with no one to move them. Shipping companies picked up on that and pushed the freight rates up, piling up even more challenges for companies. Now, companies are in an even more difficult situation, as we cannot get empty containers at a low rate as agreed, the shipping company has canceled all their prior commitments!”, Lee said.
“Why would they do that? They just canceled all of their commitments?”
“Yes,” Lee replied.
“In my opinion, just let me keep trying to persuade the shipping company. In the past, we treated them kindly and generously, so they shouldn’t treat us so badly,” said Rose, the Operation Director.
We kept spinning like pinwheels. Customers were affected by the Covid pandemic, so money was short. It was also difficult to gain payment. Many Europe companies had to close due to the pandemic, without revenue. And now, with this flood of new difficulties, employees were asking, “What should we do now? What can we do?”
Many people thought the crisis would only last a few months before commodity prices returned to normal, and the same for freight rates. But no! This was just the beginning.
The phone rang. “Mr. Quang, did you know that the Lien Nga warehouse, which worked with us, just went bankrupt? The goods they delivered were quite decent.”
“What happened?”
“The warehouse owners thought the coffee price would remain stable for years, that it would probably be okay for them to take the coffee from the people and send to the customers. Now that the price of coffee has gone up and there is no money to pay people, they’ve run away, no one can contact them!”
Hien, the director of the coffee factory called. “Mr. Quang, I just heard from the market that JF Coffee Company has gone bankrupt. And at Sede Company, the director just took all documents regarding the goods and ran away.”
“I’ve just been informed that the world’s second largest coffee trading company, Amarex, has just declared bankruptcy, and is being sold to a competitor for one Euro. Once valued at 30 billion euros, this company had 30 offices worldwide! The coffee business is very tough,” I said.
There are more and more warehouses, factories, companies … people who lack capital, defaulted people and people without hedge facilities.
“Lee, why won’t the customers open an LC for us to deliver?” I asked.
“I’ve been trying to persuade them for a month, even though they signed the contract. Now they don’t have money and are unable to sell goods for cash while the bank is tightening and reducing the credit limit. It’s too hard, the customers don’t know what to do. Then what about our goods? They are already available. The quality will be a problem.”
“You must find a way to sell it to someone else,” I instructed.
During 2020, the business rhythm continued to be similarly stressful, with many tragic bankruptcy stories due to high peppercorn prices. Taking people’s goods and having no money to pay, the companies that sold cargo before buying in at a high price eventually went bankrupt. For the coffee industry, many warehouses went bankrupt because the price of coffee did not rise as expected. Instead of going up, the price went down.
The entire world hoped for a vaccine, and the media provided the news regarding a vaccine. At the end of the year, news about a vaccine being endorsed and circulated in the US and Europe allowed everyone to rekindle business activities again. But for Vietnam, the pandemic had just begun.
2021
During a brief meeting, An, the Human Resources Administration Director said, “Mr. Quang, I hear the pandemic is going to be more intense, and the city government will make things more difficult; perhaps it will even completely lock down. This time they will probably be stricter than before.”
“Yes, I also think the same from reading the newspaper, but I think as we are in the export business of agricultural products and we also do business in essential domestic goods, the government will still allow us to operate partially. For countries around the world, when pandemics occur, they still allow trade in essential goods or the export of agricultural products. However, we must strictly adhere to safety and distance.”
“We conclude many contracts and borrow a lot from the bank in order to export, so we have to keep those companies running that gain enough money for us to pay the bank. And we always have to maintain our reputation with suppliers and banks so that doing business in the future will be easier,” Viet, the CFO, said.
“That’s right, I think so. Besides, over 300 people are in the system, including officials, workers, and management staff. It would be hard for most people if we were not working. Too many people in their families have already lost their jobs. It would be too difficult for companies and factories to stop now. How could they live?” An, the HR Director said.
We had to be determined to find a way of surviving. We also believed that exports, port operations and essential businesses could still operate as long as hygiene safety was maintained. And, specifically, to find a vaccine source for all employees.
Many things happened: Covid spread worldwide, customers were exhausted financially, people were hurting, and there were mental health problems everywhere. Once Covid was raging violently in Vietnam, it caused deep desperation in production and business activities.
An entered my office and said, “Mr. Quang, we should arrange accommodation for people to stay in the office; I think it’s likely that they won’t let us go out on the street. And I will make some contacts to have a travel permit issued by the Department of Industry and Trade.”
“Well, luckily, we provide food in our restaurant at the company … and bedrooms, so I don’t suppose it would be too difficult, right?”
“I think so too. Let me do it.”
And we did, quickly and efficiently. There is always an opportunity to keep the connection between people and business unbroken. We were in the business of essential goods, and when things became difficult, we considered quitting. What else can I say? But these were essential services for the world economy: exporting agricultural products from millions of farmers, creating revenue for the whole industry. It was also necessary to repay loans, which could not be stopped. We deployed quickly, but encountered many difficulties that we didn’t anticipate.
“Mr. Quang, I never imagined being at home would cause so much stress. Mental health concerns and stress make me unable to predict anything. Ms. Huong, the Secretary, wants to go back to her hometown because she’s afraid of the pandemic …,” said An.
“Why don’t you try to convince her?”
“I did, but she cried and insisted on quitting … Why would she quit at a difficult time like this? Quitting now would make things difficult for the Administration Department. Even if we refuse to allow her to quit, she’ll still do it anyway. Two days later, Lynda also sent her resignation. Her family kept calling her to stay home, and she finally had to quit. Nga was also crying in my office. Her husband and mother wouldn’t let her come to work, and Nha also asked me to let her go.”
“Nha, the one that was so cute?”
“Yes, that’s her. She didn’t want to quit, but her mother pushed her hard, and she was too afraid of the pandemic. Her mother kept calling and crying; she couldn’t bear it …”
“But everyone is vaccinated. What if the pandemic lasts the whole year, like Europe and the US?” said Quang.
“They can’t think of all that now, they’re too scared. Who else will quit?” I asked myself.
When we were at the office, sleeping and eating also became a headache. The mattresses were too hard; the food was unsuitable; the challenge of cleaning things, especially the inability to go out, put most people under a lot of stress. Looking back one week, there was so much pain in people’s faces. Looking back two weeks, I found myself having to be more patient. An inner voice told me something needed to be done to lift people’s spirits and get through this difficult time.
I made a speech. I shared about companies in the services industry: hotels, airlines, housing, real estate, tourism companies that had to close … people losing their jobs with no income and business owners having to sell their houses and cars to pay debts. Many people ended up selling everything they had.
Millions of people were unemployed, and we were so lucky to be able to work and get our full salary. We could still meet and talk to each other and be able to talk with and meet our customers and suppliers. We were still able to feel angry or happy; we were still able to share … We did everything I thought we could. Then, eventually, we went through each day like that.
“Is today Saturday?” Mr. Phan of the Finance Department spoke out, making me feel very happy. At least working would distract us, and people wouldn’t have any negative thoughts. A week went by very quickly.
We tried to get a travel permit because we were a rather large-scale export company. With just a minor change from the city, everyone could go home and then return to work, reducing the pressure on the restaurant’s kitchen staff and the Administrative Department. At least we could still work. The factory was still operating despite of 40 percent reduction in capacity. We still had revenue, everyone was fully paid, and we still borrowed from and repaid the bank.
“Many customers have told me it was fortunate that Kphucsinh.vn was still active and delivering; without KPhucSinh now, they wouldn’t know where to buy essential goods.”
“Mr. Quang, I couldn’t call KPhucSinh. Please help me, tell your employees to call me. I already ordered on the web.” Just like that, we worked together on delivery. Actions like that helped us survive the pandemic.
Phuc Sinh Consumer Corporation kept going, while people at other companies were too scared and quit, or the other companies couldn’t continue their business. We thought we couldn’t pay everyone’s salary if we quit then. Many people still needed to buy food, and they waited for us to provide delivery. We had to try, try harder. Going to work made us feel a lot of empathy during those four long months. We felt a desire to share food with others. Going to work relieved us from being inhibited at home. When we went to work, we often forgot all the difficulties and hearing, “Tomorrow is Saturday, huh, so fast?” That made me happy, and we felt that life was also brighter.
Artwork: Overcoming Business Journeys
Author: Phan Minh Thong
Copyright of this work belongs to the author. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, whether electronic, print, sound recording or any information retrieval and storage system, without the prior written consent of the author.
PHAN MINH THONG
Author’s Words
I wrote Overcoming Business Journeys in four years, with most of the writing completed during the time of Covid-19. Whenever I heard a good, inspirational story, or an experience of success or failure, I would write it down. I usually write in a narrative style in order to convey a story, an event, or a certain moment. Yet, there were times when I thought: “Why shouldn’t I just create and expand the stories and add more characters? Life is already a great story with so many unique characters. A story with characters and details would be more interesting. Furthermore, when a story is written and published, it develops an independent life of its own, compared to articles.” Therefore, I was happy with that discovery and have written more different stories since.
Writing is a challenge for me. Even so, I released my second publication containing many articles accessible to the public. In my first publication, Unlimited Creativity in Business (2017), there was praise as well as criticism. Yet, in the end, more than 13,000 copies were sold, enough to cover all the publication costs. Four years after publication, I continued to sell the book, and many people still send us touching words, sharing such useful stories. With these lessons from the readers, I am even more inspired. Whenever I find a good story, I choose to keep on writing in a way for people to experience it. Perhaps that is exactly the motivation for my second publication: Overcoming Business Journeys.
With real stories and experiences from the realm of business, I hope every reader will benefit from reading it. Notwithstanding both praise and criticism, I look forward to listening to both in order to learn, experience and grow even more.
I am grateful that you have picked this book up, opened it, and read it through!
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my company assistants Minh Trang, Camelia and my son Minh Phuc for their enthusiasm in helping with the Vietnamese-English translation. This publication would not be possible without their dedicated effort and passion. Lastly, I am grateful to my son Minh Quang for supporting me in finalizing this project.
Business Portrait during Covid
Throughout 2020, the entire world was reeling under Covid. From Europe, then the US: daily news about Covid, daily images of sick people in the hospitals, howling ambulances. Talking to clients, we could hear the panic in their voices. After clients had spent so much time at home, we could observe the pain in their faces. Fortunately, at that time, Vietnam had not been seriously affected. But on the business side, things were not that easy.
“Mr. Quang, the price of peppercorn has become too high and continues to rise, almost doubling compared to the same period last year!” the Purchasing Director, Viet Anh, called to say.
“Really? How could the price increase continuously under Covid? Send me the report from the last few months.”
“Peppercorn prices have been increasing continuously for nearly two months, but just now is the sharpest rise. Almost double compared to 2019. Is the supply limited? How should we decide?” Viet Anh asked.
“I did anticipate issues with the supply, but did not expect the speculators to seize this opportunity to push the price up that badly. Just buy enough goods for the pending signed contracts,” I replied.
“We lose a lot with the signed contracts … What then, Mr. Quang?” the sales manager, Lee, asked me at the meeting.
“We still have to buy it, Lee. We still have to deliver cargo to our buyers even with a loss, but the price will increase immediately. Viet Anh, make the plan to buy twice as much for me.”
“Mr. Quang, when the price goes up, the suppliers will withhold their stock and won’t sell. It’s the same every year. Exporters will suffer a huge loss if they sell, and won’t buy at the same time.”
“I know. Try to buy enough and then double the quantity for me.”
The price of agricultural products had risen, but coffee prices hadn’t. Coffee growers and exporters were devastated! Lee mentioned she was also working with the Operation Department regarding freight charges.
“The freight charge went up so much, while our sale contracts are fixed, as the freight charge goes up daily, I can see terrible losses. What should we do?” Lee said.
“What is the reason for this increase in freight rate?” Mr. Quang asked.
“Due to the severe pandemic in many countries, many container yards do not have enough workers and arriving ships only clog up more containers. There are no empty containers at the ports with no one to move them. Shipping companies picked up on that and pushed the freight rates up, piling up even more challenges for companies. Now, companies are in an even more difficult situation, as we cannot get empty containers at a low rate as agreed, the shipping company has canceled all their prior commitments!”, Lee said.
“Why would they do that? They just canceled all of their commitments?”
“Yes,” Lee replied.
“In my opinion, just let me keep trying to persuade the shipping company. In the past, we treated them kindly and generously, so they shouldn’t treat us so badly,” said Rose, the Operation Director.
We kept spinning like pinwheels. Customers were affected by the Covid pandemic, so money was short. It was also difficult to gain payment. Many Europe companies had to close due to the pandemic, without revenue. And now, with this flood of new difficulties, employees were asking, “What should we do now? What can we do?”
Many people thought the crisis would only last a few months before commodity prices returned to normal, and the same for freight rates. But no! This was just the beginning.
The phone rang. “Mr. Quang, did you know that the Lien Nga warehouse, which worked with us, just went bankrupt? The goods they delivered were quite decent.”
“What happened?”
“The warehouse owners thought the coffee price would remain stable for years, that it would probably be okay for them to take the coffee from the people and send to the customers. Now that the price of coffee has gone up and there is no money to pay people, they’ve run away, no one can contact them!”
Hien, the director of the coffee factory called. “Mr. Quang, I just heard from the market that JF Coffee Company has gone bankrupt. And at Sede Company, the director just took all documents regarding the goods and ran away.”
“I’ve just been informed that the world’s second largest coffee trading company, Amarex, has just declared bankruptcy, and is being sold to a competitor for one Euro. Once valued at 30 billion euros, this company had 30 offices worldwide! The coffee business is very tough,” I said.
There are more and more warehouses, factories, companies … people who lack capital, defaulted people and people without hedge facilities.
“Lee, why won’t the customers open an LC for us to deliver?” I asked.
“I’ve been trying to persuade them for a month, even though they signed the contract. Now they don’t have money and are unable to sell goods for cash while the bank is tightening and reducing the credit limit. It’s too hard, the customers don’t know what to do. Then what about our goods? They are already available. The quality will be a problem.”
“You must find a way to sell it to someone else,” I instructed.
During 2020, the business rhythm continued to be similarly stressful, with many tragic bankruptcy stories due to high peppercorn prices. Taking people’s goods and having no money to pay, the companies that sold cargo before buying in at a high price eventually went bankrupt. For the coffee industry, many warehouses went bankrupt because the price of coffee did not rise as expected. Instead of going up, the price went down.
The entire world hoped for a vaccine, and the media provided the news regarding a vaccine. At the end of the year, news about a vaccine being endorsed and circulated in the US and Europe allowed everyone to rekindle business activities again. But for Vietnam, the pandemic had just begun.
2021
During a brief meeting, An, the Human Resources Administration Director said, “Mr. Quang, I hear the pandemic is going to be more intense, and the city government will make things more difficult; perhaps it will even completely lock down. This time they will probably be stricter than before.”
“Yes, I also think the same from reading the newspaper, but I think as we are in the export business of agricultural products and we also do business in essential domestic goods, the government will still allow us to operate partially. For countries around the world, when pandemics occur, they still allow trade in essential goods or the export of agricultural products. However, we must strictly adhere to safety and distance.”
“We conclude many contracts and borrow a lot from the bank in order to export, so we have to keep those companies running that gain enough money for us to pay the bank. And we always have to maintain our reputation with suppliers and banks so that doing business in the future will be easier,” Viet, the CFO, said.
“That’s right, I think so. Besides, over 300 people are in the system, including officials, workers, and management staff. It would be hard for most people if we were not working. Too many people in their families have already lost their jobs. It would be too difficult for companies and factories to stop now. How could they live?” An, the HR Director said.
We had to be determined to find a way of surviving. We also believed that exports, port operations and essential businesses could still operate as long as hygiene safety was maintained. And, specifically, to find a vaccine source for all employees.
Many things happened: Covid spread worldwide, customers were exhausted financially, people were hurting, and there were mental health problems everywhere. Once Covid was raging violently in Vietnam, it caused deep desperation in production and business activities.
An entered my office and said, “Mr. Quang, we should arrange accommodation for people to stay in the office; I think it’s likely that they won’t let us go out on the street. And I will make some contacts to have a travel permit issued by the Department of Industry and Trade.”
“Well, luckily, we provide food in our restaurant at the company … and bedrooms, so I don’t suppose it would be too difficult, right?”
“I think so too. Let me do it.”
And we did, quickly and efficiently. There is always an opportunity to keep the connection between people and business unbroken. We were in the business of essential goods, and when things became difficult, we considered quitting. What else can I say? But these were essential services for the world economy: exporting agricultural products from millions of farmers, creating revenue for the whole industry. It was also necessary to repay loans, which could not be stopped. We deployed quickly, but encountered many difficulties that we didn’t anticipate.
“Mr. Quang, I never imagined being at home would cause so much stress. Mental health concerns and stress make me unable to predict anything. Ms. Huong, the Secretary, wants to go back to her hometown because she’s afraid of the pandemic …,” said An.
“Why don’t you try to convince her?”
“I did, but she cried and insisted on quitting … Why would she quit at a difficult time like this? Quitting now would make things difficult for the Administration Department. Even if we refuse to allow her to quit, she’ll still do it anyway. Two days later, Lynda also sent her resignation. Her family kept calling her to stay home, and she finally had to quit. Nga was also crying in my office. Her husband and mother wouldn’t let her come to work, and Nha also asked me to let her go.”
“Nha, the one that was so cute?”
“Yes, that’s her. She didn’t want to quit, but her mother pushed her hard, and she was too afraid of the pandemic. Her mother kept calling and crying; she couldn’t bear it …”
“But everyone is vaccinated. What if the pandemic lasts the whole year, like Europe and the US?” said Quang.
“They can’t think of all that now, they’re too scared. Who else will quit?” I asked myself.
When we were at the office, sleeping and eating also became a headache. The mattresses were too hard; the food was unsuitable; the challenge of cleaning things, especially the inability to go out, put most people under a lot of stress. Looking back one week, there was so much pain in people’s faces. Looking back two weeks, I found myself having to be more patient. An inner voice told me something needed to be done to lift people’s spirits and get through this difficult time.
I made a speech. I shared about companies in the services industry: hotels, airlines, housing, real estate, tourism companies that had to close … people losing their jobs with no income and business owners having to sell their houses and cars to pay debts. Many people ended up selling everything they had.
Millions of people were unemployed, and we were so lucky to be able to work and get our full salary. We could still meet and talk to each other and be able to talk with and meet our customers and suppliers. We were still able to feel angry or happy; we were still able to share … We did everything I thought we could. Then, eventually, we went through each day like that.
“Is today Saturday?” Mr. Phan of the Finance Department spoke out, making me feel very happy. At least working would distract us, and people wouldn’t have any negative thoughts. A week went by very quickly.
We tried to get a travel permit because we were a rather large-scale export company. With just a minor change from the city, everyone could go home and then return to work, reducing the pressure on the restaurant’s kitchen staff and the Administrative Department. At least we could still work. The factory was still operating despite of 40 percent reduction in capacity. We still had revenue, everyone was fully paid, and we still borrowed from and repaid the bank.
“Many customers have told me it was fortunate that Kphucsinh.vn was still active and delivering; without KPhucSinh now, they wouldn’t know where to buy essential goods.”
“Mr. Quang, I couldn’t call KPhucSinh. Please help me, tell your employees to call me. I already ordered on the web.” Just like that, we worked together on delivery. Actions like that helped us survive the pandemic.
Phuc Sinh Consumer Corporation kept going, while people at other companies were too scared and quit, or the other companies couldn’t continue their business. We thought we couldn’t pay everyone’s salary if we quit then. Many people still needed to buy food, and they waited for us to provide delivery. We had to try, try harder. Going to work made us feel a lot of empathy during those four long months. We felt a desire to share food with others. Going to work relieved us from being inhibited at home. When we went to work, we often forgot all the difficulties and hearing, “Tomorrow is Saturday, huh, so fast?” That made me happy, and we felt that life was also brighter.