Tell us about yourself?
I’m the Founder and CEO of ERA GROUP (Eraweb, Gemsocial, ERA Digital Agency) from Vietnam. I’m also a Digital Marketing Trainer at Thinkdemy. I’ve had 8 years of experience in branding, digital marketing, and software development, 6 years of teaching digital marketing and design.
Our big clients include Sendo, VPBank, Traveloka, Trung Nguyen Coffee, Panasonic, Acer, TTC, etc. My achievements to name a few are Top 25 Startup Viet 2017, Tai nang Luong Van Can Award
What do you think is the single biggest misconception people have when it comes to startups?
The primary concept of startups is the transcendency to create something that has never had before in the market or to generate a better value to the community than the existing ones. For example, startups can create a new segment in manufacture, a new business model, a unique technology, etc.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurship is to build your career by creating and managing your own business that has the same model as other existing ones. For example, opening your restaurant, barbershop, coffee shop, etc. An example to distinguish an entrepreneur and a startup is to breed goats. If you purchase goats to breed and sell them in the same way as other farmers around you, you’re an entrepreneur.
If you could go back in time to any moment from your journey, and give yourself one tip, what would it be?
Focus your time on your startup to develop it, instead of working for another company while working on your startup simultaneously.
What makes you stand out as an entrepreneur?
Persistently pursue my goals and practice my business acumen to find more business opportunities.
What are some of the best working habits you’ve gained over the past couple of years?
Some of my best working habits over the past few years include:
– Communicating effectively, especially in social distancing months
– Being decisive on projects
– Recognition and feedback to the team for further improvement
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
Along with the high demand for remote work during the Covid pandemic, an effective communication platform also plays an important role in improving performance in the digital marketing and sales industry. Gemsocial, which is one of ERA Group’s products, is a platform for all of our internal employees to communicate and interact with each other to increase productivity at work.
We also offer Gemsocial to our clients in need of better communication while working with us and our customer service team. Our products and services are highly customised for clients who seek outstanding online experiences for their customers and a great backend for business management. Gemsocial has had a great impact on both internal and external stakeholders in the past few years.
Where do you see your business in five years?
In the next 5 years, I am going to build my company to be a big company/group that has a great impact on the technology and marketing industry in Vietnam.
What do you think the biggest challenge will be for you in getting there?
The biggest challenge is the sources of human and finance. Moreover, the Covid pandemic is also a challenge as it has been affecting the global economy, which leads to several inevitable changes in the business.
Talk to us about your biggest success story so far?
It was when my company turned from an offline to an online company with more than 100 employees who come from several places in the country. The biggest success was to re-build all processes and tools for employees to work remotely. An example is Gemsocial which is our internal online platform.
How do clients and customers find you? Are you much of a salesperson for yourself?
Our clients find us by the below approaches:
– Words of mouth: our existing clients and customers introduce our services to their network, colleagues, and friends
– Advertisement: new clients can learn about us on social media ads
– Community development: some segments of clients learn about us through our social platforms where we share knowledge about our services and industry.
What one tip would you give to fellow startup founders?
Never give up. When you know your goals, pursue them persistently.
And finally, what do you hope the future brings both you personally, and your business?
Hopefully, I can build a great enterprise group in the technology and marketing industry by the age of 35. The biggest happiness would be to witness my beloved ones also happy with my success and me taking care of them.
