Overcoming storms, continuing the family business

Mr. Phan Hoang Thinh is determined to develop and elevate his family's traditional profession. Photo: VINH ANH

In 2024, Mr. Phan Hoang Thinh - Director of Hoang Thinh Phan Company Limited was the only representative of Quang Nam to be honored with the title "Outstanding Young Entrepreneur" by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association. His business specializes in maintenance services, electric motor maintenance, trade, production of electric motors - water pumps, and construction.

Recovering from the incident

“Duong Electric Motor” used to be a reputable address known to many customers. According to Mr. Phan Hoang Thinh, this brand was built by his parents. Not only is it a famous engine repair place, “Duong Electric Motor” also provides reputable machinery for agricultural production. But then, incidents happened to the family.

“Not long after my mother passed away, my father became ill. In 2011, when I had just graduated from university, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. For more than 2 years, I took care of him at Cho Ray Hospital.

His savings were not enough to cover the treatment costs and he had to borrow another 500-600 million VND. In 2014, after moving to Da Nang , his father passed away..." - Mr. Thinh said.

Having graduated from banking, and never having managed a family store, Phan Hoang Thinh was at a crossroads at that time. He did not know whether to follow his parents' profession or find another job. Many nights thinking, he was haunted by his father's wish when he was still alive, that he must try to keep the profession that had supported the whole family.

“The shop was facing many difficulties at that time. The morale of the workers was down because of the loss of the “locomotive”, customers turned their backs, some places still owed money and did not pay…, while I had no experience in management or technique. Unable to bear seeing my parents’ business go down the drain, I decided to do everything I could to keep the job,” Mr. Thinh shared.

Following his father's footsteps, Mr. Thinh had to start learning everything. He met and encouraged his fellow workers, while selecting and focusing on taking care of long-term customers. Especially providing the best repair and maintenance services for factories and enterprises in industrial zones and clusters with the motto "if needed, have it, do not interrupt customers' production activities".

In 2015, he decided to establish Hoang Thinh Phan Company Limited. After getting married in 2016, with his savings, he boldly borrowed another 3 billion VND from the bank to buy machinery, materials and partly to pay off his family's previous debts.

The company started to operate stably when the COVID-19 pandemic hit as another test for Phan Hoang Thinh. “The COVID-19 outbreak caused the production and business activities of factories and enterprises that are our customers to stagnate, which in turn caused our company to suffer. Fortunately, “necessity is the mother of invention”. During the pandemic, new opportunities came to our company,” he said.

Pioneer in manufacturing water pump motors

The opportunity Mr. Thinh mentioned here is the customer base in the tourism and service sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels and resorts still maintained operations, especially to serve the quarantine and epidemic prevention work. The demand for repairing and maintaining machinery systems is high while the supply cannot meet the demand. That opens up opportunities for Mr. Thinh's business.

“Previously, our company mainly served customers in industrial parks. But since the pandemic, we have reached a large customer base in the tourism sector. In addition to repairing and maintaining engines and machinery, in this sector, I also see opportunities to provide repair and construction services in hotels and resorts…” - Mr. Thinh shared.

Also during the COVID-19 pandemic, another bold idea was implemented by Phan Hoang Thinh. “During the pandemic, engine and water pump manufacturers refused to provide warranty and maintenance services, causing customers to be upset and complain to the company. To maintain our reputation, we launched a program to exchange new machines and repair them for free for customers.

At that time, I wondered why only the North and the South produced and supplied water pumps, while the Central region did not. That question prompted me and my technical team to research and start testing the production of water pumps under the brand name "HTP" as it is today" - he said.

To create his own products, Mr. Thinh traveled to Hai Phong, went to foundries to order machine blanks, and then ordered materials from domestic and foreign units. After a period of research and testing, in 2023, Hoang Thinh Phan Company Limited provided the market with many water pump product codes under the brand name "HTP". Up to now, the company has produced and supplied 13 product codes of all kinds to the market and is present at 10 agents in Quang Nam and Da Nang City.

Not hiding his desire to make the company the number one unit in the Central region in producing water pump engines, however, Mr. Thinh said he will choose the "slow but sure" direction.

“In this field, it is impossible to build a long-term brand in a day or two. We need to listen to customer feedback to continuously improve products and designs that are suitable and optimized for the conditions of use in different regions,” said Mr. Thinh.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/vuot-song-gio-noi-nghiep-gia-dinh-3148404.html