Gym owner earns 100 billion, drives luxury car and gets sad ending: Lesson for startups

From a small gym, a former student expanded into a chain of 6 gyms, at one point reaching a revenue of 100 billion VND and owning a Mercedes worth more than 3 billion. However, after only 2 years, the entire business almost 'evaporated'.

The story was shared by Master Chu Van Tuan, Acting Director of the Foreign Language Center, University of Electricity, at the Talkshow Upgrade: Career 4.0 organized by University of Electricity, Industry and Trade Publishing House and Saigon Books on August 14.

Mr. Tuan said: After the success of one gym, this former student opened a chain of 6 gyms, at one point earning 100 billion VND in revenue, and driving a Mercedes worth more than 3 billion VND.

When meeting this student, Mr. Tuan advised him to immediately study knowledge about human resource management, financial management, risk management, communication management...

However, 2 years later when we met again, this gym owner only drove an SH motorbike. The reason was because he invested 100 billion VND in land and many other fields. Due to lack of knowledge, the land he bought could not be sold, the investment was a loss... in the end, he only had an SH motorbike left.

Mr. Tuan said that if students start a business without adequate preparation, they are likely to fail. While still in school, they need to cultivate the necessary skills and knowledge so that after graduating, working for 2-3 years, accumulating some capital, gaining more experience, then starting a business can minimize risks.

According to him, there are 3 levels in entrepreneurship: business, startup and innovative startup. Anyone can do business, such as selling iced tea, bread... but startups should be started after graduation and 2-3 years of work experience.

Master Chu Van Tuan shared at the event. Photo: Duy Anh

According to Mr. Tuan, the business model of only selling products that customers need and recovering capital within a day is very simple. But when starting a real business, you need to have a business, need knowledge of finance, law and be under the management of state agencies. If you start a business without being equipped with enough knowledge, failure is inevitable.

Having failed many times in starting a business, he concluded: “To be successful, you must find the fastest way to fail. If you don’t realize it early, you will run out of capital and lose your way. When you see that things are not going well, stop to learn from your experience and prepare for the next time.”

Giving advice to students, Mr. Tuan said that to start a successful business, you need to do what you are best at, understand best, and are most passionate about.

Sharing his views with many students about to graduate, ABBank Digital Channel Director Le Cong Minh said: “The first 5 minutes do not say much, but those 5 minutes are very important. In an interview, I will be most impressed with those who, when they appear, know who they are and why they are there.

"I think no student should go to an interview without knowing why they are there. You should not show up at an interview without knowing why the employer is hiring you. You must know why they need to hire you, why you are valuable," Mr. Minh advised.

Mr. Minh frankly said: If you cannot answer that question, then it is best that you do not go to the interview. Why was I chosen among the 5 students? So if you can position yourself, understand your own value and understand what the business is looking for, then you can find a bridge between the two sides, and that is what decides everything…”

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Books Nguyen Tuan Quynh affirmed that, along with professional knowledge and specialized training, "foreign languages and soft skills are important factors in recruitment and determine future success in work".

Statistics show that university graduates with foreign language skills will receive 30% higher salaries than those with weak or poor foreign language skills.

Therefore, Mr. Quynh's opinion: Being bad at any subject is acceptable, but foreign languages must be good.

Third is skills, which Mr. Quynh believes that workers must use proficiently to be considered skilled. That certificate is worthless because it does not show that you have a degree but you can do it.

"So instead of telling me that you have a certificate of completing a public speaking class, show me four pictures of you being an MC at big events and having a supervisor. To me, that brings more value. And to me, knowing a skill means you use it well, not that you have a certificate for it," Mr. Quynh shared.

Talkshow “Upgrade: Career 4.0” is one of the meaningful activities in the series of cooperation events between the University of Electricity, the Industry and Trade Publishing House and partners in the fields of publishing, education and career - with the goal of strengthening connections and supporting career orientation for students on the threshold of entering adulthood.

Within the framework of the program, Industry and Trade Publishing House in collaboration with Saigon Books presented the “AI Bookshelf” to the University of Electricity - a valuable gift of knowledge, contributing to supporting students in studying, researching and innovating in the era of artificial intelligence.

Opening a coffee shop with a loss of 1.5 billion VND, the owner realized something many people overlooked . After 2 years of running a coffee shop, Mr. Hung had to close it with a debt of nearly 1.5 billion VND. Analyzing the reasons for the failure, Mr. Hung discovered a big mistake that made all other efforts meaningless.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chu-phong-gym-thu-100-ty-di-xe-sang-roi-nhan-ket-buon-2431999.html