Leaving the "safe zone" to start a successful business

Success in new fields

Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang (born in 1987), from Tan Dinh commune (Lang Giang) is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FEC Group Joint Stock Company, operating in the field of consulting, supporting the construction of exhaust gas and wastewater treatment systems, factory design, and environmental monitoring. Originally a lecturer at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry, with a stable job that many people dream of, Mr. Quang always longed to try his hand in a new field. After 4 years standing on the podium and many sleepless nights, in 2016, he decided to step into the business world.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang guides technical staff in testing wastewater quality.

“My parents and sister both work in government agencies. Therefore, when they learned that I was leaving the government to move to the private sector, no one in the family agreed,” Quang shared. After establishing the business, he made efforts to research technology, search for markets, and constantly develop to assert himself and prove to his family that his choice of change was the right one.

After more than a decade of moving to a new field, Mr. Quang has built a reputation and brand for the business, developed branches in almost all provinces and cities from North to South; created jobs for more than 100 workers with an average income of 10 million VND/person/month. In 2024, FEC Group Joint Stock Company's revenue reached 60 billion VND. He has been awarded the title "Outstanding Young Entrepreneur" many times by the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association.

Similarly, Mr. Ho Thanh Binh (born in 1987), Deputy Director of the Hoa Huong Duong Center for Supporting the Development of InclusiveEducation (Bac Giang City) also decided to leave the state agency to switch to a second job. Previously, Mr. Binh worked at a unit under the Department of Transport (now the Department of Construction).

He confided: “Working in a state agency, I was able to develop the professional knowledge I had learned, but the time to share and shoulder work with my family was limited. At that time (2014), my family established the Hoa Huong Duong Inclusive Education Support Center for autistic children, helping children with developmental delays have a specialized educational environment to integrate into life. Seeing that my wife was having a hard time taking care of the family and working at the Center, after much consideration, I decided to quit my job at the agency.”

Currently, Mr. Binh is in charge of managing and operating the Center, while his wife is in charge of professional work. The knowledge acquired from university and practical life are effectively applied by Mr. Binh in managing the Center. From an initial facility with 7 students, the Center has continuously developed and expanded its scale. In addition to the facility in Bac Giang city, it also has 8 branches in districts such as Luc Nam, Son Dong, Hiep Hoa, etc. Over the past 10 years, the Hoa Huong Duong Inclusive Education Support Center has become a place to help hundreds of autistic and slow-developing children have more opportunities to integrate into the community.

Opportunity to change yourself

With the knowledge gained from school, accumulated experience, and quick grasp of development opportunities, not only Quang and Binh but also many other individuals have succeeded when deciding to choose their own path after leaving the state agency. Regardless of the field, they continue to contribute, work hard, and create useful values for their families and society. A typical example is Mr. Tran Van Thi, who switched from a teacher to the business field, becoming the Director of Suntech Solar Technology Import-Export and Production and Trade Joint Stock Company (Hiep Hoa).

The company specializes in manufacturing headphones, battery chargers and some phone components for foreign enterprises, with an annual revenue of about 100 billion VND. Or like Mr. Le Ba Chuan, founding shareholder, consultant on the operation of the roofing and partition production system of Viet Xo Steel Joint Stock Company, Hanoi (formerly an expert of the Department of Science and Technology of Bac Giang)...

The experiences of those who successfully switched from the public sector to the private sector to start a business above show that the transition can be seen as an opportunity for each person to change and try their hand in a new field.

Along with the whole country, in Bac Giang province, the apparatus streamlining revolution is taking place with a fierce and urgent spirit. With the two-level local government model (province and commune; no district level organization), it is expected that in the near future, hundreds of cadres, civil servants, public employees, and redundant workers will have to leave the public sector to find new jobs. In that context, many people are worried about unemployment. However, the experience of those who successfully switched from the public sector to the private sector and started their own businesses above shows that the transition can be considered an opportunity for each person to change and try their hand in a new field.

At the workshop on “Supporting career transition for public sector workers after downsizing” held recently in Hanoi, Associate Professor, Dr. Do Huong Lan - Director of the Institute of Policy and Management, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) emphasized: “When one door closes, another will open. From another perspective, the reorganization of the apparatus during this period is also an opportunity for workers to change and awaken their hidden potential.”

To help redundant staff find new development opportunities, authorities need to increase propaganda, orientation, and suggestions for them to participate in retraining programs and improve their qualifications to meet the requirements of the labor market. Banks have policies to support workers in borrowing capital with preferential interest rates to create jobs; strengthen the connection between supply and demand with the private sector to create new job opportunities for those in need.

Hai Van

Source: https://baobacgiang.vn/roi-vung-an-toan-khoi-nghiep-thanh-cong-postid415386.bbg