- According to Vien, his decision was based on his love for the brand and its scalable franchise model.
- “I knew nothing about business… it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life,” was quoted as saying.
- Vien was able to launch his business from the money he saved from his high-paying financial planning job. He had also bought several investment properties as well.
- His parents had wanted him to work a corporate job and advised him not to go into business.
- “I didn’t tell them that in my first year I made more than double the amount I had made at the bank,” he noted.
- Vien started a gym in Cabramatta, New South Wales in 2013 and in the next few years continued to buy more properties and launch new businesses.
- An oversupply in the property market would eventually force Vien to sell off some properties and businesses.
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- An idea sparked after noticing that many of his friends have started losing their hair.
- After doing his research on hair loss and ways to treat it, he was able to launch Hair Folli in March this year.
- By using “superfood” Kakadu Plum, Vien’s hair care company addresses hair loss via its growth activator spray.
- While describing it as his “passion project,” he admitted that he expected his company to suffer after launching it just as the COVID-19 was starting to spread.
- However, he knew he struck gold after sales numbers came in from the first few weeks.
- “We had a couple of hundred thousand dollars in sales … we had launched with a lot of hype because we knew there was a gap in the market,” he said.
- Vien has also kept the costs down as the company was set up to be entirely online and was barely affected by the government shutdowns on many bricks-and-mortar retail stores.
- With more plans to grow, Vien says the company is adding several new products over the next year while gearing up to launch in the Asian market.
- Based on current trends, he estimated that his new company would turn over up to 5 million Australian dollars ($3.59 million) in 2021.
- “I’d rather play the long game, add value to people’s lives and see everyone win,” he explained.
- He admits that he now needs more manpower to help his business grow, saying, “I would love to connect with some genuine people.
- According to Vien, business is not a one man job but a team effort: “I’d rather help my team together make a hundred million, rather than screw them over for a few hundred dollars.”
- This is why the company invests money in its staff, spending hundreds of thousands for its employees’ education. “Overall it’s about adding value to everyone’s lives,” he noted.
- “My values of bringing people value has got me to where I am. My story is not uncommon. Nor is it special, there’s so many people out there doing more and I’m happy there is.”
- Vien adds that he considers mental health to be more important than money so he now also focuses on motivating his employees who may be going through some tough times.
- “My parents came to Australia from Vietnam after the war with basically nothing – not a word of English and no experience or qualifications,” he said.
- “Dad was a laborer and mum was a hairdresser,” he tells NextShark. “They both worked hard as which means I rarely got to see them.”
- Vien recognized his parents’ own work ethic which he said he eventually acquired from them: “Hearing my parents’ story makes me want to work harder to prove to them that ‘hey, I can make it big’ and provide an awesome business to the people in this country who gave us so much opportunity.”
- “People only see the end result. I didn’t post or have social media for years … I’ve just been head down and working on my business for the last 10 years.”