“I have never been happy”

You mentioned Tan Hiep Phat's goal of becoming Asia's leading beverage company. Can Tan Hiep Phat achieve that goal if it maintains the family business model?

I think family businesses are better than public companies. Because family businesses are owned by a group of people who are closely related by blood and they will love it more. When the company is in trouble, they are willing to spend money and effort to revive it.

There are many types of family businesses. Small family businesses are not well managed, so people may have a bad impression. It is called a family business, but it is not 100% family. A family business is a company where a group of people own a percentage of capital enough to make important decisions about the company's fate.

A family business is a company owned by the family but managed according to international standards, with the right jobs and personnel arranged in the right places. It is not because they are your children that you put them in an executive position, and if they are not capable, you still remove them from their positions. If they can do it, they do it. If they are family members who cannot do it but have money, they are made members of the Board of Directors.

The most dangerous problem of bringing a family business to the stock exchange is that if we do not manage it well and the family spirit in the company is not high, there is a high risk that one day a partner will jump in and buy enough shares to participate in management and control operations, causing the company to become out of control.

In my opinion, family businesses are still better than non-family businesses and if there is a decision to take the company public, it is only due to the desire to raise more capital.

Or Heineken, a family-owned company that has existed for more than 150 years. They went public to raise more capital, but the decisive ownership percentage is still in the hands of a small group of people.

Heineken was founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken, who was only 22 years old when he bought a brewery called De Hooiberg (Haystack) in Amsterdam. In 1873, after hiring Dr. Elion (a student of Louis Pasteur) to develop a yeast for Bavarian bottom fermentation for Heineken, the HBM (Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij) company was founded, and the first Heineken brand beer was produced.

So does Tan Hiep Phat need capital? In the next few years, will you list Tan Hiep Phat on the stock exchange?

If you need capital, listing on the stock exchange is a good channel. Like any other business, Tan Hiep Phat also needs capital but we have many ways to mobilize it. Currently, we mainly mobilize capital through strategic partners.

Currently, Tan Hiep Phat is growing rapidly, so it not only needs capital, but also human resources and management to develop this family company into a multinational company, maintaining its core vision.

The book “Dr Thanh’s Family Story” by the eldest daughter Tran Uyen Phuong helps many people understand more about the process of building a successful business like Tan Hiep Phat, which had to go through many challenges and trade-offs. If time could be turned back, would he choose to live the same life again?

Living without goals and ideals is meaningless. We only have one life, so we must try to live it meaningfully. In life, we have tried our best, set far-reaching goals and strived to achieve them. Every time we fell, we had to stand up and continue. From that, we have achieved some of the results we have today.

If I could live my 20s again, I would still try my best. For me, life is meaningful when I can contribute and do useful activities for others, my family and society.

I often tell my wife and children: “Youth must live for the future and old age live for memories.” I will try my best so that when I am old, I will have something to tell about what I have experienced in life and how I have tried to make life more meaningful.

Until the day I leave this life, I can't bring anything with me, but if I try hard, I will leave behind memories for those around me. Therefore, I always live my life to the fullest and work my hardest.

The conversation took place 40 years ago and ended with a simple wedding between Mr. Tran Qui Thanh and Mrs. Pham Thi Nu, co-founders of Tan Hiep Phat.