On a recent trip to Vietnam, I found entrepreneurship in its rawest and most vivid form.
o Everywhere I looked, someone had opened a shop to repair shoes, bicycles, or “motorcycles.”
o Every part of the open sidewalk was packed with vendors selling new clothes, used clothes, books, copycat books, watches, luggage, lemonade in plastic bags, gasoline in 1 liter whiskey bottles (best for filling your motorcycle ), and everything else you can imagine, including cobras inside liquor bottles.
o Women who weighed 30 pounds less than me (and I’m not a big woman) wore yokes with full soup kitchens balanced on them, bowls, utensils and food on one side and a charcoal grill on the other side with pots of broth and tea. The grill was hot and the pots simmered even as they walked. In Vietnam, fast food comes to you.
o There are no grocery stores, so some people bought fruits and vegetables at the markets outside the city. Then, using their bicycles or their backs, they brought the product to customers on the streets of the center.
Entrepreneurship is our birthright
Everyone in Vietnam seems to have a side job, a side shop, or a side business and wants to be their own boss. Why so many budding entrepreneurs in a third world country like Vietnam that doesn’t even encourage entrepreneurship?
I think it’s because entrepreneurship is in human DNA. The Vietnamese people have been victims of war and unrest for more than 1,000 years. Today they live under a communist regime with limited infrastructure, little government aid, little social assistance. They know that what their government can give, it can also take away. Yet despite, or perhaps because of, these challenges, thousands of independent small businesses have emerged and flourished. Even the communist government cannot, or does not want to, stem the tide of free enterprise.
Nobody wants to work for the government or for an institution they distrust. In fact, the current generation of Vietnamese is not interested in socialism or communism, and they are not willing to live on the average salary of $ 50 a month. They are interested in materialism and creating a better life for themselves, just like Americans.
The Vietnamese are remarkably self-reliant, and nothing drives entrepreneurship more than the need or desire to be self-reliant. They are not afraid to work hard to improve their lives, and wherever I looked, I saw hundreds of people working very hard.
Nobody has a corner in free enterprise
Is this business DNA unique to the Asian population? Most Americans know the common story of Asians who came to this country with nothing, opened a restaurant (which the family lives in), and within 3 years they not only own a successful chain of restaurants, but also have two sons who graduate summa cum laude from Harvard and another. boy who is the best high school student. I have witnessed the Vietnamese work ethic first hand and I know Asians who own a chain of restaurants in Houston. It is easy to believe that Asians have a gift for hard work and business success.
The DNA of the business objective is not unique to people of Asian descent. Each of us inherited our own entrepreneurial DNA from our immigrant ancestors who created the American melting pot. When my grandfather was 13 years old, he came to the United States from Italy with practically nothing. In his quest for a better life, he owned numerous small businesses over the years, some successful, some not. He had the work ethic to match, working into his 80s (I hope I didn’t inherit that part of his DNA!).
On the streets of New York, Chicago, Houston or any major city you can see the results produced by generations of entrepreneurial immigrants. You may not find curbside restaurants thanks to our health boards, but you will see people doing their best to support their families. In my own neighborhood in Houston I see many proofs of this spirit, from a 10-year-old boy selling lemonade, to a freelance plumber working his new business while having a full-time job. My husband would work all night if I didn’t turn off the lights, and I get up early and at my desk hours before most people wake up.
We are all doing whatever it takes to make our businesses, big or small, prosper because we want to create a better life for ourselves. This desire is innate in most of us. Even those who don’t want to be their own boss still want a piece of the pie: a life of their own choosing, not one chosen by someone else.
Success is in your DNA
Those of us who connect with our entrepreneurial DNA are often driven to work harder and longer to achieve our goals. While other people watch television, we dream of new business plans, inventing new technology, or charting a way to penetrate a new market. It is hard work; it takes long hours and a constant commitment to your vision. But success is in your DNA, if you can only harness that spirit, that drive, that desire.
This does not mean that you will not face obstacles and will not be tempted to give up. But next time you find yourself thinking about sitting in front of the TV and pondering who will be voted off the island, consider this: Could it be that you are turning off your entrepreneurial DNA and voting for yourself off your own island of success? ?
If your answer is “yes,” think of the Vietnamese woman carrying a soup kitchen on her shoulders, think of the 10-year-old lemonade merchant in your neighborhood, think of the generations of immigrants who have been converted into poverty, language barriers, ignorance and prejudice are shining examples of success. Without that bold entrepreneurial spirit, there would be no America and the entire world would be a much poorer place.
As for me, I am busy reflecting and working on my own dreams, without seeing someone else live theirs. Excusez moi. I have to go! My entrepreneurial DNA is up and running and I have work to do.