During an idle talk, my friend, a Thai businessman said with a smile: “After a year working in Vietnam, I’ve learnt that when doing business, you should do things in reverse”. Finding it difficult for me to understand, he added:, “You just have to reverse the order of one letter to make the business process turn round.”

“Which letter?” I ask, perplexed

‘W’- instead of saying it at the end of the word, it has been put at the beginning. “Know who” is the most important thing a businessman needs to know when doing business in Vietnam, not “Know how”, as I previously learned when working in other countries.

I asked him curiously: “What do you think about this concept, then?”; to which he gave a wise answer: “I think it would be better if we put everything in the right order”.

“Know how”, not “know who”

Experiencing many challenges and difficulties, and even failure, I am aware that “know how” should be seen as the correct long-term solution for enterprises. “Know who” implies the personal relations that exist among businessmen. Most Vietnamese businessmen think that personal relationships play a decisive role in business deals.

If you keep good relations with ‘leaders’ of the partner sides, you will be successful in selling your products, regardless of quality. The reality is that embezzlement, bribery, and irresponsibility all stem from that manner of thinking.

“Know how” here does not mean ‘technological know-how’, but refers to a solution, or methodical business process that enterprises apply in business activities. Businessmen should know how to access clients, how to understand and persuade them to use their products and services, and also learn how to improve quality. ‘Know how’ naturally contains ‘know who’, and thus should be the top priority. Successful businesses are those that respect business morality, and companies should never make compromises that may tarnish their image.

The problems of “know who”

With the current situation in Vietnam, sometimes you can achieve great successes if you focus on ‘know who’ by spending time and money to establish and maintain good relationships with important people; however, there are many latent risks: Firstly, ‘important individuals’ may be dismissed, get involved in business scandals, or simply shift to other work. If so, all such efforts will have been in vain.

Secondly, ‘important people’ always have rivals, and their rivals, naturally do not like those that are too close to their competitors. Thirdly, it will be very difficult to claim the quality of the products. In some cases, the prestige of your enterprise will be severely damaged, and may face bankruptcy. Finally, special relations force you to rely on a few traditional clients, preventing business and market expansion.

Source: Saigon Economic Times, 24/2/2006