From Harvard MBA to Vietnamese nail salons.

Truc Nguyen

0:00After I purchased a salon, I spent a lot of money on renovating and making it look nicer and investing many things. And you know, some of the people, my relatives and the technicians like why like why are you spending money? You don't need to. In order for it to grow, you got to spend money to make money. You got to invest. Thinking about maybe the path to success doesn't have to be a corner office, but it could just be owning and operating a smaller business and being able to provide for the employees so that they can also have a good life. I think that's kind of what mean to be a successful person now for me.

Quang Do

0:32All right, Truc, for those who don't know you, how do you usually introduce yourself?

Truc Nguyen

0:38Yeah. So, my name is Truc. I actually now still based in Texas, but I'm back here just for a quick visit. So, a little bit about myself. I actually was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City. And when I was 14, so right after 8th grade, my family migrated to the US and we moved to Austin, Texas. So I kind of spent a lot of my formative years education wise as well in the US. So I went to school at UT Austin with a background in investment banking and corporate finance. So after got that degree I worked for JP Morgan in the investment banking group. Then I did I did not love it so much so I switched into corporate finance doing M&A for HP. And a part of that they also sent me to Malaysia for two years to kind of do set up a new manufacturing site. So that was really interesting working international and because all of that experience I was able to go back and got my MBA at Harvard Business School which was really great open eye opening experience and then after that I spent three years doing strategy consulting at Deloitte. I always knew that was going to be a stepping stone into something. So I quit about a year and a half ago and currently right now I am doing what we call a search process.

1:56So I'm buying up small businesses in the Austin, Texas area. So it's kind of you buy and then you operate better, hoping that you can take the company to the next level. Long-term wise, I'm hoping to be back here in Vietnam. So I'm trying to go back and visit and kind of meet different people.

Quang Do

2:14Wonderful. Can you quickly talk about the search and buying businesses stuff? How does that work? How do you make money? What business do you buy? What's the process? Just for listeners to understand.

Truc Nguyen

2:26Sure. Yeah. So, the search process is instead of having an idea and finding partners to kind of start your own companies, you kind of think about right, okay, why don't I go buy a company that already exists and operate it better, right? So the most of the time people will kind of split it into the investing piece and the operating piece. So during the invest kind of looking at different businesses to evaluate and invest in them you kind of look at as a whole what are the criteria that you want to go after. For me, I'm looking for companies that already have a healthy performance over the last few years with a strong customer base, healthy margin. And then that kind of go into understanding why they selling the business because you don't want to buy something that is sinking. You want to buy something that have a really strong foundation and then once you close, you can run it better and hopefully make the profit even better, right? So it's a little bit of a different way to think about entrepreneurship. Instead of building something from the ground up, you buy something and then you build it even further. So that's kind of like overall what search is. And for my own experience, I'm actually looking at businesses that the Vietnamese immigrant community in the US, what kind of businesses they own.

3:49So think about things like nail salons, laundry, restaurants. So when I was looking at those options, I quickly narrow it down. I'm going to start with nail salons. It's a very good businesses in term that they're always repeat customers. It's a very high margin business. So for me, I like okay, this is what I'm going to do. So I spent the last year and a half looking at nail salons in the Austin space and then I have purchased two so far.

Quang Do

4:19Yeah. Super fascinating. And I would love to dive deeper later. Let's start a little bit from the beginning and then kind of all the way into how you actually decided to pursue that path instead of other paths and it seems to become a more popular way of you know building a career especially for MBA grads it seems but maybe all the way back you know you followed a more classic high achiever arc top school corporate finance Harvard MBA what do you think shaped that ambition early on and what has always driven you?

Truc Nguyen

4:55Yeah, I think very early on I've always knew that I need to do something with my life, right? So, my parents started out with nothing kind of worked really hard throughout their lives to give my brother and me a very good life, right? They even moved us from Vietnam where they have all of their roots and family and connection to go to a very different and new country so that my brother and I have a better future. So for me seeing the sacrifices that they have done for us was a big driver for me to I have to be successful with my life. Right. So that was a really big push. But I think with my parents they were also business owner right they have their own thing. So for me always kind of looking at okay like they could make something out of their lives they can provide for their family so I should be able to do the same thing. They never asked us to follow a certain career path. They trust that my brother and I will decide what we want to do with our lives. So having that trust and having the foundation and the support from them was kind of like a big helping maybe like a stepping stone for me to be able to think about what I want to do with my life.

Quang Do

6:12So can you share what your parents did?

Truc Nguyen

6:15Yeah. So when they were here in Vietnam, my parents own a manufacturing company that produced baby shoes. Baby shoes. Yes. Very small niche, but yeah. So anything from newborn all the way up to about 2 or 3 years old. So that was what they did. So they design, they make the shoes and then they sell it mostly to wholesaler and their market was mostly Southeast Asia. Yeah. But when we moved to the US, my parents kind of left the company for my relatives to run. So when they moved to the states, they kind of had to start over working for other people. So for me that was a really big sacrifice that they did. So that was important for me to make sure that I can be successful and give back to them in different ways.

Quang Do

7:04And how would you describe your upbringing and what kind of student were you?

Truc Nguyen

7:10My upbringing was a very good and happy one. My parents very supportive. They I never had curfew, right? So for Asian parents maybe sometime that's a little bit different. I remember when I was younger, my family, we always have relatives staying with us or you know someone from their hometown going to school here and they would stay with the family. My parents always helped other people like relatives or neighbors. So my family my household is always loud with a lot of people. Also, I think that kind of helped me develop my own personality is like it's being like community oriented is a big part of my household and who I am right now. When I was younger, I think I'm quite similar. I talk a lot. I like to meet new people. I was lớp trưởng. So, I don't I don't that's a concept. It's like kind of like the class monitor of the class. So, growing up, I always try to be like quote unquote a leader, right? So, and my parents allowed me to do that. So, that was really fun growing up here in Vietnam. And then when we moved to the US, that was a little bit of a big shock, right? Like, wasn't fluent in English. So, it took me probably 6 months to a year to fully acclimate into the US school system and using English on the daily basis.

8:32So, that was a little bit of a switch and I think I to be honest, I think I lost myself a little bit there. Like I think I became a little bit more reserved just trying to like fit in.

Quang Do

8:44What age was this again?

Truc Nguyen

8:4514. 14. So high school in the US. If you've seen if you seen American movies, right? High school in the US is a very different experience. So there was a little bit of time there I think for about two years where it was really rough for me right like being so outgoing but not able to communi communicate myself clearly because English my English wasn't as good just yet. So, but then after that, you know, like as I got more acclimated into the culture, then yeah, then I, you know, back to who I was, which is more outgoing and my parents let me do whatever I wanted to do. So, yeah, that was I mean, in general, I have a very good, happy childhood and very supportive parents that allow me to kind of think about whatever I want to do, I can do it.

Quang Do

9:32Were you as a family embedded in the Vietnamese communities in the US?

Truc Nguyen

9:37Actually no. So when my parents moved to the US, we first landed in California, Orange County and as you know that's the middle of it, right? Yeah. That's like there's a huge Vietnamese community there and my dad was like if we were to move to the US, why would we live among Vietnamese people? Might as well just stay home in Vietnam. So I think my dad has the foresight to say that okay like if we did move to the US might as well fully acclimated. So we moved to Texas where there were fewer Vietnamese a smaller Vietnamese community. Because of that I think we had to more quickly acclimate it and get used to what it means to live in the US. So no, we were not fully embedded in the Vietnamese community, even though we did have relatives who still live in California that we can go visit. We went to a small Vietnamese church in Texas. So yeah, like every week we have a little bit of a small dose of what it means to be a Vietnamese family or person in the States, but for the most part, yeah, we were surrounded by Texans. Yeah.

Quang Do

10:51And what kind of parents were your parents in terms of your education, career, what they had in mind for you and what success would mean?

Truc Nguyen

11:02Yeah. So my parents were not the typical tiger parents. So they never pushed us to go a particular career, right? They always tell us as long as you have a good head on your shoulder, don't get into trouble and try to make something up yourself, you should be fine. Right? So, they allow us to decide what we wanted to do. And I think that was very powerful. I've seen many of my friends who have that immigrant experience. They needed to be lawyers. They needed to be doctors. They needed to be dentists, right? And that can be a little bit difficult if you don't live up to that expectation. My parents on the other hand was were very fully supportive. They say as long as you don't screw up and get yourself in trouble, you can do whatever you want. And I think because they knew that we were good kids and we would never do anything stupid. So they kind of let us decide. So when I decided to go study business, my parents was like, "Yeah, sure, do it." My brother wanted to be an engineer. Sure, why not? Yeah. So, I think for me having that trust at the very beginning from my parents was so empowering.

12:19And because they trusted me, I trusted myself that I could do whatever I wanted to do.

Quang Do

12:25And then for yourself, how did you imagine success would look like growing up? And how has that shifted over time?

Truc Nguyen

12:32Yeah. So I used to think, you know, being successful having a corner office 50th floor, you know, overlooking Central Park in New York, right? Which, you know, I was probably on my way to get there if I stuck with doing corporate finance or doing consulting. But what have really shifted is as I get older and get more experience, I think success comes in many different form, right? You don't have to be a CEO, you don't have to be a famous person to consider yourself a successful person. So what have changed really is for me internally what I think I'm good at and can I make something out from what I'm good at, right? So, thinking about maybe the path to success doesn't have to be a corner office, but it could just be owning and operating a smaller business and being able to provide for the employee so that they can also have a good life. I think that that's kind of what mean to be a successful person now for me. And I think that's kind of where I am right now when I think about what success look like being happy with what I want to do and can I help other people to be successful as well.

Quang Do

13:55Are you happy in what you do right now current stage most days?

Truc Nguyen

13:59Yes. I would say yes. I'm very happy and I think I make the good choice of quitting corporate and pursuing entrepreneurship. It's more liberating and at the end of the day when you own something as you know is the more you put in the hours the outcome the output come back to you right very it's a lot more fulfilling compared to working for someone else and I was working a lot in corporate right 100 hours a week and at the end of the day I was like oh yeah like maybe they will give me a little bonus at the end of the year yes they did pay me very good salary but it doesn't really mean much when I kind think about okay over you know the next 20 30 years of working is this really what I want to do just working so much and help someone else get rich and it's not me right so I think that have shaped a little bit of what I am as a person can be a success entrepreneur or a successful person.

Quang Do

14:56I feel this is such a common sentiment amongst our generation this yearning for independence and more fulfillment in in their careers I read this very funny tweet. It said, "If you're so smart, why are you still employed?" So, I think that kind of hit a nerve a little bit, but you know, walk us through that journey of quitting and doing entrepreneurship then, you know, at what point or what was that process like of realizing that you do not want to stay in corporate?

Truc Nguyen

15:29I think I always knew that I wanted to be my own boss because my parents was, you know, running their own thing. So after HBS, I knew that I needed more experience. So my background was in finance. So I'm very good with numbers. I understand the P&L, but I did not fully understand yet what it means to operate an organization, right? There were different pieces of a company that I didn't have an experience. So for me going into consulting was a stepping stone and I was very mindful about what kind of project that I would get on right. So I was very specific. Okay, I want to know more about HR. I wanted to know more about supply chain. I wanted to know more about marketing. So I was very specific about saying yes to certain type of project and turning down other projects that I didn't want to do. And I think I was also because I always knew that this was a stepping stone. So I didn't mind saying no, right? Like if someone approached me with a project and it wasn't something that could help me be a more well-rounded business person, I would just say nah, I don't want to do this project. And I think that was very interesting that because of me saying no actually a lot more people came to me with projects because of kind of like develop a reputation of like oh yeah she's like know what she's doing.

16:55She's very selective of kind of like where she want to focus her time on. So because of those three years when I was at Deloitte picking the right project so that I can get the right skill set. So that it can help me run my own business later. And then kind of have those reps of saying no and be very mindful about what where I want to focus my energy was actually a really good habit to develop too. So with all of that two years came around I got my promotion I started thinking okay now it's time to quit right so what do I do next? So entrepreneurship, what does it mean? Do I want to start my own company or there's this new thing called search? Should I go into that? So this kind of came back to what we were saying earlier is that okay then for me at that point in time I didn't want to do a startup. I didn't have an idea. So search was the next logical decision and that's kind of how I decided to go to that route. But it was because I felt that I have learned enough about the different pieces of a company and how to run and operate an organization effectively and that was when I felt like okay I'm ready.

18:16Let's do it. Yeah. So that's kind of like how I kind of left the corporate world and but I prepped myself for a while there before I actually quit.

Quang Do

18:29And about those learnings from corporate, you know, what strength or learnings you still are still serving you today in what you're doing right now and what did you actually have to unlearn?

Truc Nguyen

18:41I think some of the biggest lessons I learned there's three things. I thought about this question a little bit. The first one is about a business. I think at some point you really do need structure. It's good to be like lean and fast at the beginning. So which is a lot of startup try to do at the beginning but as I've worked in my own companies and then worked at with client as you get bigger the or the organization need to have structure there have to be a reporting structure of some sort so that there will be clear accountability and responsibility. I think for me having that clarity in mind it was really important so that as I think about building my own business it's good to move quick and fast but as the organization get bigger you need to have structure you need to have someone calling the shot and be responsible for those decisions so I think that something that I learned from a business perspective the other two thing is coming from I think is the leadership aspect right so the first thing is the important of mentorship over my career. Every single pivotal moment was built on advice and help and guidance from many people and you know that could be my coworker, my managers, my friends, my advisor, they all took time and helped me kind of think about why not why I should not do certain things, right?

20:04So for me those those people play such a big part in those pivotal moments. So for me mentorship is a big thing and I'm committed to be a mentee because there's so many people I can still learn from and now I want to be a mentor for whoever want to you know get a little bit of clarity in what they want to do. And then I think one last thing that I learned is I need to allow people space and time to learn and make mistakes. So as I was getting you know more senior in my role I had to give you know task to more junior analyst and at the beginning I often find myself wow they taking so much time it's wrong they doing it in a very different way than how I would done it and then you know then I would just jump in and I just kind of do it for them right and then I realized later like one they're not learning anything because I'm just doing all the work and two because I'm doing their work, my work was affected. The quality wasn't there anymore, right? So, I have to say to myself, wait a minute, I have to give people time so that they do it, they make a mistake and they learn. And that was hard for someone who is type A and want everything to be a certain way.

21:24So for me having to learn how to empower people to make mistakes and help them learn from that and so that they can develop the right skill set was a big lesson for me. So that's something I should now take it with me to running my own business. It's like you got to let people do their thing and and when they screw up just be there to help them and you know figure it out together but you cannot do the job yourself because there just way too many things that I need to do as a business owner. So yeah so those are the big lessons from a I guess leadership and a business understanding perspective. You asked what I need to unlearn, right? What do I need to unlearn? I think that that was tough because I felt like everything I learned was helpful. Very helpful. Yeah. I think what I need to unlearn was having less of an ego, right? So, I was very proud of the fact that I got, you know, all these fancy degree and you know like all of my job was, you know, well-paying and considered quite prestigious, right? But running a small business comes with a little bit of humility. When I approach business owner and asking them to hey sell me this business that you have spent the last 20 30 years they don't care that I had a Harvard MBA.

22:48They don't care that I worked in this fancy company. Because for these business owner right this business is their baby. They've spent their entire lives doing whatever it take to kind of get it to this point. So for them the more important factor is who I am as a person and how serious I am about running the company and developing it further instead of just coming in and kind of change everything and then you know drive it into the ground. So I think learning to let go of my ego because that's what needed to kind of approach smaller business owner was really important. Yeah. But you know when you work in corporate you kind of have to play up your you know your accomplishments and whatnot. Right. So it is a little bit different when you approach main street businesses. It's a little bit about who you are and having a little bit of humility.

Quang Do

23:45Yeah. Just quickly on you mentioned mentorship and how this was so instrumental to your own development. You know how and I think this is relevant for OV members and our community you know how do you approach getting mentors and getting them on board with you and actually supporting you.

Truc Nguyen

24:02Yeah if you are still working in a company I think the first thing first is just do a really good job at what you're doing right you got to prove yourself that you are capable because people tend to gravitate to someone who can accomplish thing and you know like who do what they say so I think it's really important that wherever you are do a very good job at it because then people will notice that okay like she or he is very capable and he or she wants to develop further so I want to help that person right so I think for me that's really important is that proving your worth in a way I think that's a bit of a fancy way to say it but like when you ask for help the person giving the help should also be comfortable knowing that when I help this person the person will take it seriously right and they will take that advice and do something with it. And then I think another thing is when you approach mentor at least in my experience is I come to them with a very specific ask right say like hey you've done this in your career I'm interested in doing so can you talk a little bit more about that I think when you approach someone with a little bit more specific ask it's easier to give to get help. Yeah. And I mean I do that even now too, right?

25:19Like I come back to Vietnam and I'm trying to meet with different founders and business owners and the question is always the same for me like hey you did it yourself. I want to do it. How do you do it? Let's talk. Right. So very specific ask and I think that will open up a lot more door when it comes to getting people to say yes.

Quang Do

25:39It shows preparation as well. This is just something I want to add that exactly by now I also get a lot of requests to just meet with people. I love to meet people but if there's a lack of specificity I feel it's also a lack of just effort put in to put themselves into you know the other one's shoes to think how can this be specific valuable for both sides. Yeah. So I think that's just an additional effort step you should be making as to what is an outcome I can get out of this conversation and then I find by my experience people are very willing to help actually but you need to bring that specificity.

Truc Nguyen

26:18Yeah and another thing too is it's okay if you hear nothing back from them right life gets in the way maybe it's just not the right timing so I learned to not take rejection so seriously Even when it comes to mentorship, you know, like Yeah. If it works and it works and if it doesn't, you know, say thanks and then move on, right? Yeah. So, just like any kind of relationship is a little bit of give and take.

Quang Do

26:44Yes. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about HBS Harvard Business School before we move into the search and acquisition. Yeah. Piece. You know, many see Harvard Business School as a as a launch pad into corporate into consulting into leadership at some point. You know for you what role did those two years play now looking back?

Truc Nguyen

27:06Yeah. I think for me HBS was a little pause in my career. So I was quite burnt out. So going back to school was a way for me to kind of reset like my mental a little bit. Right. So but it was a very fruitful and productive two years. What I the biggest lesson I learned was there's so many so many path into HBS right like I have friends who you know spend their entire professional career working in some small village in Africa then I have you know a hedge fund guy and then you know I have someone who's running their small family business so like I realize there's so many different ways for people to arrive at the same place right and if you extract that into what it mean to be successful towards the same thing, right? Like there's so many ways for you to be successful. You can always arrive at this peak coming from wherever you are. You just need to be, you know, good at what you do or care about what you do. So for me that was eye opening because I got to meet so many friends who were so different from what I had in mind of what it means to be, you know, a person attending HBS. And I learned so much from them because they all have such interesting perspective of how they think about a specific problem and a solution, right?

28:29And not that one is more correct, it's just that everyone think about problems differently because of their background. So for me being able to kind of see that and experience that was so helpful, even more helpful than actually sitting in the class and listening to the professors, right? Learning from other people was really important. And then the second piece that very cliche is the networking that comes out from this experience. Right now I have friends and classmates that if I need to do something, if I have a question or if I need a little bit introduction, this network, this community will always help me, right? Yeah. Like so I say that's the main I would say. Yeah. This is a big main value. Yeah, I think so for sure. Like it opens a lot of door even here in Vietnam too, right? Like I was trying to think about how this name brand has helped open so many doors for me like here when I ever I come back I only have maybe two or three weeks. The only reason why I can maximize in term of who I get to meet and you know like what kind of meeting these would be is because of the brand name, right? So the networking, the community, the brand name. So those are all really valuable thing that for me was the biggest payout from my HBS experience.

29:47So but overall like I think it's a learning experience. I got to meet people. I get to get exposed to so many different ways of thinking and now kind of see all my classmates doing their own different things and I always consider them very successful even though what they doing is so different from what I do. And also they say the same thing like oh Truc, what you're doing is so interesting blah it's all right it's really nice to be able to kind of see where everyone's go and how to you know what they define successful in their career and just kind of be able to cheer them on. So I for me that's been a really valuable piece of takeaway from my experience.

Quang Do

30:36And you said this was a career reset for you. Yes. You know that idea or that wish to pursue search and acquisition do you think it was formed in within the MBA period or.

Truc Nguyen

30:50I think it was it didn't start there for sure but I think it came after because some of my classmates started to do it so I was like oh what is ETA right like what is search like why are people doing that so I think I get exposed to that concept because of some my classmate was doing it. So, no, I it I never thought about ETA when I was at in school.

Quang Do

31:17Okay. Yeah. Let's talk about that like how you then actually started to think, learn, research and get excited about ETA.

Truc Nguyen

31:27Yeah. The how I started is one talking to all my friends who were doing this. I was like, "Hey, like what is search? What are you doing?" So they kind of talk about explain to me high level what it means. So when you boil it down is okay you need to find a company who is you know been operating well the owner is selling because they have either a personal reason or they retiring. It's not that they trying to sell something that is you know about to hit the ground. And you want to look for things that are has strong margin, healthy revenue flow over the past few years. So, you know, on paper, there's a few criteria that you want to look at. That's kind of how people would go out in the world like, okay, I want to look for these kind. And I found that to be really challenging because your criteria can be so wide. You're like, yeah, I want to buy a successful business. Every business is successful, right? That's why it's still operating. So for me what was helpful was having a little bit of like thought into okay like what kind of business do I want to buy.

Quang Do

32:36And what you're excited about probably as well.

Truc Nguyen

32:39Yeah. And I truly believe that if you want to do a business well you kind of have to understand it right and you have to be excited about what it is. So I kind of sat down and think okay like what do I like? I like B2C. I like consumer. I like services. I knew that because I've spent all these years working for different client and I knew that I like B2C okay so that kind of helped narrow it down but then it was like okay then now further how do you even think about what kind of B2C or service business that I want to do then I think about okay like there's so many searcher out there this is a very popular concept in the US right now everyone is looking to buy a business so where do I have a competitive advantage right then I think hey like who I am I'm a Vietnamese immigrant. There are a lot of Vietnamese owned businesses in the US. They have all been successful because they've been able to send their kids to school and you know like take care of their families since. So, okay. Okay. Like maybe I have the advantage of being a Vietnamese immigrant. I can speak the language. I understand the culture. I kind of know how a Vietnamese owner works compared to like a Western or American owner would operate. So that's really helped me narrow it down to, okay, let's focus on the Vietnamese experience in the US. And when you get there, it's very quickly narrow it down to, okay, consumer service, Vietnamese own.

34:00Okay, then there's only a few things, right? The nail salons, the restaurants, the laundry. So for me, I was like, okay, let's start with nail salons because very high margin. Is the one career that I think has really powered the Vietnamese experience in the US. Right. So, it's such a big part of what it means for many Vietnamese Americans. So, I think it was a obvious choice for going female and a consumer. Yeah. Yeah. So, what I did is I quit my job and I had a three-month sabbatical just to kind of also clear my mind and get myself prepared. And then I moved back to Texas and I moved back in to live with my parents, right? So, cuz I needed to save money cuz you need money to buy businesses and I was like, "Okay, I need to cut down on all of my expenses. Here's my saving." So, yeah, at 32 years old, I moved back and live with my mom. And it's been a great experience living with my family by the way but you know had to kind of like sacrifice a few things right so then you when I decided to do nails and you have now you move into the part of where okay like how do you evaluate one nail salon over the other and then how you come up with funding in the US there are different model that you can follow where you raise money or you can borrow money or you can take on a partner an investor right so there many way to do it.

35:31I decide to do it on my own. So, I put in my own money and then I go and I borrow money from the bank and from the government. So, the US has a small business loans. They try to help small business grow and so you can kind of tap into. So, I tapped into that program so I can get funding. So far right now I'm self-funding this acquisition. But I think as I get further into the process where I try to buy the next business, the next two or three, then I need to start thinking about that next funding model. Do I do I want to raise money? Do I want to take on an investor? So that's something that I'm still thinking about what would be the next capital injection for what I want to do.

Quang Do

36:18Yeah, would love to learn more there. Just very quickly on career decision making, you know, you did the MBA, you went back to corporate for a while. You know, what were kind of the options you had in mind for what you want to do in your career and then how ended it up to be specifically search, right? How was this the most attractive option for you?

Truc Nguyen

36:39Yeah. So for me I think if I stuck with corporate I think I could easily I know maybe not easy but I think I can see myself climbing all the way up to upper management right like so yes and that's a very clear path in corporate America you do this job you get promoted several years you so for me like if I stay with that I think I can get quite high up in a company.

Quang Do

37:04And very predictably as well.

Truc Nguyen

37:05Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The guarantees a high salary, yearly bonus, you know, like Yeah. Like you can make a really good life out of that, but I always knew that I wanted to be my own boss, right? So, then I switch over. Okay. If you want to do your own thing, startup or search and I always came back to the fact that I think I'm more an executioner like I can operate and I can execute idea. But starting something and taking it from one to zero to one is not where I'm strong at. That's not that's not my strength. But I can take something from one to 100, right? Like give me something that you already started, I'll you know turbo max it and take it to the next level. But like starting out that first piece is not what I'm good at. And I knew that about myself. So search make more sense. Like I'll take something I'll find what it's good at and where we can improve and then I'll go from there.

Quang Do

38:02And what was the level of analysis you put into making that decision or did you have strong conviction when you moved back to your parents and about doing search? And about the potential success with this.

Truc Nguyen

38:17Yeah. I think for me I'm one of those people I think long term. This is one of a big lesson for me is like think long term but don't try to maximize for every single scenario. So I thought about it long don't overthink it once you kind of have your mind set on something just do it right and that's was kind of me like it's like okay you wanted to quit your corporate job you wanted to do entrepreneurship search is a good way to do it just do it my biggest lesson that I learned from one of my mentor is that you can get paralyzed by decisions thinking about too many things so yeah I was just like hey like you can do it and also I was you know 32 I didn't have a family. I didn't have a partner or children to think about like if it didn't work out then okay fine I'll go back to corporate. So I think that I have a little bit of freedom in term of the consequences of my decision doesn't affect a lot of people. It's just me and my own personal savings and if I fail I think I can go back out there and look for a corporate job. For some people it's not that simple, right? You some people have a partner, some people have children, so they will have a different calculus when it comes to their decision.

Quang Do

39:29Yeah. High risk, high reward. Yeah. Yeah. How many years? How long has it been since you purchased your first.

Truc Nguyen

39:36I quit and I started the process a year and a half ago and I bought the first one 6 months in. So it's been one year.

Quang Do

39:42Yeah. Let's reflect, you know, what you know, were the difficult moments, what were the lessons, how is it going now?

Truc Nguyen

39:48It's going well. I mean, I'm able to not be there and be in Vietnam because I spent a lot of time investing in setting up the processes and structure so that even if I'm not there, it can still operate and you know like I don't have to be there all the time. It was really difficult at the beginning. I think I underestimated how much work it really is. So with a small business, right, when I bought it from the owner, okay, we signed a contract and then 30 minutes later they were gone, right? Like this like imagine a company and the CEO just kind of disappear, right? So like I had to step into that role. And for nail salons or a lot of small enterprise, small businesses is that it's mostly owner operator. They play a really big part in the day-to-day operation. So when they step away, there's a huge hole of things that need to be done. So I had to very quickly step into that role. I had to be, you know, the receptionist, the HR person, the payroll person, the hiring person, the cleaning person, right? Like everything that needed to be done to get a comp like a small enterprise going. So I have then I have to think a lot about okay keep it running but at the same time how do I think about making this a little bit more formal so that things can run by itself.

41:14Yes. Right. So now this is where all of my like corporate and consulting work come into place like okay let's build our processes let's document everything. Let's have you know team meetings and things like that right so kind of like step by step I learn about this particular business. Then I think about like how do I formalize some of these processes so that all of the employees can follow all the steps so that we all doing the same thing. So that if one person is not there, business can still go on, right? So that took a lot of time because they've never had to operate in such a formal way before. So it took a little bit of convincing, a little bit of, you know, tweaking along the way. But having you know processes and then I put in a lot of systems as well that has helped tremendously in term of okay now I can kind of put one person to run this piece now I can have another person that focus on that piece so that I then can step away and kind of look at a bigger picture of okay now how do I grow this thing but not just you know trying to swim and survive now it's like how do we how do we grow so that I have a little bit more time and space to kind of think about okay like promotion and how to take it into the next level getting in more business getting more customers and then with that then you know one is get more revenue more income then I have a little bit more money then I can kind of think about okay now let's look at the next acquisition but and kind of how do I think about it it's it the second one was easier than the first one because I got a lot of learning but yeah it was a lot of work at the beginning just to kind of formalize the operation which is kind of go back to what I was saying before I do believe that any kind of enterprise the businesses as you get bigger you have to formalize it so that it can run by itself yeah so it's been a really long journey even though it's only been a year but it feels really long and it was hard there was there was period of time where I was just working non-stop like seven days a week and no break.

Quang Do

43:28How was this formalization systemization received by the staff who never had any of this before and then all of a sudden a young CEO or kind of director comes in and imposes this on them.

Truc Nguyen

43:43Yeah. So I think it was I think at first they kind of looked at it with a bit of like curious mindset like oh what is she doing? It did take a little bit of convincing but I think and it's also you brought up something is like a lot of the people who work in this nail salon that I purchased are all older than me and you know in the Vietnamese culture you know like you got to you know be polite and you know when you talk to elder you have to be like dạ, right like so it's not like you can just tell them like you have to do this. So, it's a little bit of a art that I learned of like how to talk to all of my nail techs about I need you to do something, but you have to talk to them in a very respectful and polite way. Saving face, right? I hope them think that this is something good for them and it's not just that I'm trying to impose. But also another thing I did is like for the first three months I didn't change anything. It was just for me learning. I was just there working, showing them that I also meant it like I was there every single day working with them, right? And you know how Vietnamese people we value hard work. So they saw that I was also there working with them every single day. I think that makes it a little bit easier.

45:00They saw that I was serious and then when I started to implement these changes, yes, they was curious but they was willing to do it. And I think now they like it. Like everything is the same. Like you come in, there's a documentation on the wall. You know exactly what you need to do.

Quang Do

45:18Is it in Vietnamese?

Truc Nguyen

45:19In both. I have to have a Vietnamese version and an English version as well. But yeah. Yeah.

Quang Do

45:24Awesome. And now you're at two businesses, right? Yes. Yeah. Two. And you were able to bring over the systems and processes and SOPs that you've defined. Yes. And how it would be easily possible to scale this to third location, fourth location, fifth location.

Truc Nguyen

45:40Yeah. So, I spent a lot of time thinking about branding, right? So, when you think about roll up small businesses of similar industry, the big question I got from other people is like, are you going to name them the same thing? Yeah. And I decided not to, right? Nail salon or kind of like any kind of customer service work, customers are very sensitive to change, right? You go to get your nails done or you go to get your haircut because you like the vibe, you like the technician. So, changing too much of the front of the house can be a big shock to customers and then you lose customers and that's the last thing you want. So I went back and forth and I then I decided, okay, like I'm going to keep the branding the same as what I bought it as, right? Like whatever it's called will keep it. The front of the house, you know, I make it look nicer, but the vibe is not completely different. But what I do change is all the menus are the same, the processes, the systems, the SOPs, back of the house is very similar.

Quang Do

46:44And then you know financially without naming numbers are you are you happy with traction and how it is going with the locations now?

Truc Nguyen

46:53Yeah I think they're doing well. Right now it's a little bit tough because of the economy in the US like services like nails or hair is a discretionary spending. So with the economy and the tariffs right now business tough and it's industry wise so there's really nothing to do other than just kind of hoping and wait for this to kind of go over. But I think for the most part yes it the business is doing well thank goodness. But it was tough at the beginning like I didn't pay myself for the longest time for because I wanted to make sure that everything that the business generate go back into growing it. And that was a big lesson to if you are a business owner, pay yourself make that into a part of the operating expense. So that you can take care of yourself and your family and if you cannot pay yourself then there's something wrong with the business model. Okay. Yeah. So, that was a big learning for me and now that's the advice that I give to all aspiring business owner is like make sure you can pay yourself.

Quang Do

48:04What's the plan for 2026 in terms of locations and.

Truc Nguyen

48:08I think for now I will still be in the Austin area. So right now I'm thinking about buying the next nail salons and then I think at number three and number four then I'll think about do I want to go adjacent in term of like similar businesses right so they're like spa massages facial hair wash so like similar businesses adjacent businesses or I go up the value chain right buying a supplier so there's many way for me to kind of think about where do I want to go with this kind of like acquisition in this steps? I haven't decided yet, but definitely the next step would be looking at the next acquisition and then when I get to the point and we think about do I go this way or do I go that way? Yeah.

Quang Do

48:56How would that way look like? What does buying a supplier mean? What would be a supplier?

Truc Nguyen

49:01Yeah. So then you know like you need like every like all the products that you need to operate a nail salons, right? There's wholesaler, there's suppliers that sell to not just my store, but in Austin, the wholesaler is a very regional focus. So when you buy the nail supply wholesaler, you kind of like become the the supplier of many nail salons in that area. So in Austin area.

Quang Do

49:25Supply as in the products.

Truc Nguyen

49:27The products. Yeah. Yeah.

Quang Do

49:28So you know, are these businesses of the size that you could buy them? Are they not.

Truc Nguyen

49:33They I mean they definitely are they definitely are more expensive, right? And they are definitely in a different industry, right?

Quang Do

49:41Yes. As in like they are a supply chain management company, right? You manage your skill product. So it's a very different skill set. Yeah. Right.

Truc Nguyen

49:51Yeah. Some of them are a lot more expensive that might not be like I'm not going directly to the manufacturing level, but I'm like the wholesaler. So these are the people that buying from different brand and then they have a storefront where they sell it to the individuals supplier. So yeah. So go up one level, but then you kind of control your cost, right? Like all of my salons that I have will be able to have like a much lower product cost because I control that supply chain, but then I also get to get exposed to more of the other nail salons in that space. So yeah, if you go up Yeah. Then you control a little bit more of that value chain, but then it's a very different industry. I have to really think about like am I equipped or capable of operating that kind of model or if not then we'll go you know to similar type of businesses.

Quang Do

50:43And what did you learn about the nail industry and the Vietnamese entrepreneurship ecosystem doing this now.

Truc Nguyen

50:51What do I okay so about the people aspect they work really hard I think the Vietnamese immigrants no matter where they are in the US in Europe or I think a lot of them you know They've they left Vietnam because you know we were after the war we were a poor country so many people fled or moved abroad just for a better life. So they work really hard. So that generation is all about work because they needed to make money so they can provide for their family. So they value hard work a lot but they also have a mindset where they needed to save money right like everything need to be like very mindful about how you spend. Our generation is a little bit different. It's like we work a lot, but we also want to have a better life. We spend money. And I think we for me personally, I bring that mindset into business, too. I truly believe you need to spend money to make money. After I purchased a salon, I spent a lot of money on renovating and making it look nicer and investing many things. And you know, some of the people, my relatives and the technician, it's like why? Like why are you spending money? You don't need to, right? Because that's their mindset is like you got to save. Whereas I'm like okay in order for it to grow you got to spend money to make money, you got to invest. So that's a little bit of a different mindset of you know me as a I would say a younger Vietnamese Americans versus you know people who are a bit older who coming from a very different place.

52:21So that's the experience that I've learned working with them. Like about the nail space, it's highly competitive. Yeah. Within, you know, one kilometer, you can have six or seven salons. So I have to kind of quickly learn what space I want is to play in, right? I'm not competing on price. I think my salon actually one of the higher price in the area but then I focus on quality right you walk into the space it's nice it's clean it's relaxing and the technicians are very good and if something goes wrong then either me or my manager will go out of our way to make sure that the customer feel happy right we place a lot more emphasis on the experience and the quality of the service so we don't compete on price. We compete on experience. And I think that you just kind of have to find which like which space in that area that you want to play in.

Quang Do

53:25Yeah. I imagine it's similar to a male haircut where it's very competitive, but there's high stickiness as well, right? Once you found your person, right, at least that's for me. Once I've built a initial trust and they nailed the first session with me then you know also in order for me to reduce decision fatigue and having to try out and taking the risk of different barbers right I would go to the same until it doesn't work anymore.

Truc Nguyen

53:52Yeah. Totally. So and that actually is also a very important lesson for me is I have to keep the technician because for you have your favorite barber and if he or she quit or moves elsewhere a lot of time the customer will trying to find where they go and they follow them right so for me I have to balance between keeping my customer happy but it's also I think a bit more important to keep my technician happy right so they don't go anywhere else so yeah like that is very important and very difficult is the people aspect.

Quang Do

54:27Yeah. And then you know just quickly on that how difficult is it to find talent and maintain them, train them? What's the talent market for you? Like is it hard to get them or is there more talent supply.

Truc Nguyen

54:41And so the nail space has very high turnover because it's so quick so easy for people to join a salon and then if it doesn't work out they move right.

Quang Do

54:52And I would imagine most dream to build or start their own and if and if they become very good then yeah then they will go out and open their own space.

Truc Nguyen

55:00So for me right like what's important is when I talk to them when they express interest in joining I explain to them like hey this is my vision this is what I want this salon to be and if you don't think that's the right fit then don't bother right like I think at the beginning I set out very clearly we focus on quality I don't want any drama everything is very straight I have documentation I have processes I need you to follow all of this are you okay with that or not right set that expectation the beginning and then very quickly when they get in, you can kind of have to pick up on how good they are, right? On the from a skill perspective, then you got to start being a little bit more creative in term of their pay structure. Kind of like a lot of them at the end of the day care about how much money they can make so they can support their family. So for a good technician, I'm willing to pay them more so that they happy and they stay because that's how a salon start to build a clientele is you need to have good technician and you know sometimes maybe their skill set is not the best but they really good with customer service. That's great. I want those people too or at this like I just want a really good technician who can do everything. Yeah, I want those people too.

56:19So, yeah, it's important to kind of like quickly learn how good they are and trying to find the right pay structure so that they stay.

Quang Do

56:28For someone thinking about, you know, buying businesses, SMB acquisitions. What do most people underestimate? You see, also talking to your other HBS classmates perhaps.

Truc Nguyen

56:39The I think they underestimate how long the search process would be to find and close the business is a very long process. And I talked to many searcher in Austin or in the US and my classmates a lot of people to say okay I want to buy a successful business. Okay duh obviously. But then you have to quickly narrow it down to what they call a buy box. So your criteria, what you're looking for, region, purchase price, size, the type of businesses, the industry, but then people get stuck looking for the perfect business that fit every single criteria. That's almost next to impossible. There's no like a 100% match out there for you to for a bus a person to go out and find something that okay this kind of like check every single box and businesses that are you know check all those boxes are highly competitive. There's probably another 10 people out there that want to buy that exact same business too. So competition for good business to buy is really high. So many people waste their time on finding something submitting a bid and then get out bid right because everyone want to buy businesses.

57:58So I think they underestimate how long it is.

Quang Do

58:05So what's a ballpark estimation of time?

Truc Nguyen

58:0718 months to two years easily. Okay. Yeah. So if you get lucky Yeah. If you get lucky, you have enough savings and and you have maybe your partner support your search process, then yeah, you can, you know, have a year or 18 months to kind of look for businesses to buy. So I think that's people who want to do this need to think about okay like what's the runway I have in term of savings and have to be a little bit more flexible in term of what they want to buy what are the tradeoffs between the different criteria and have to find like creative ways to find deals right if you just do the obvious route of getting brokers going all these website where they list out businesses to sell to buy it's a very competitive landscape. So you got to be more creative in term of like how do I find businesses that wanting to sell and so what you want to do is find off the market deals and be a bit more flexible in term of tradeoff what you care about when you look at a company. So yeah, so I think people underestimate how long it can take. And I always tell them just be ready. You might get lucky. You might close the a deal in, you know, 6 months to 12 months because you have a lot of money and you have a, you know, a big investor team that willing to overpay for a business.

59:34Otherwise then it's a long it's a it's a it's a marathon. Yeah. In terms of just finding that business and closing it and then running it is a very different that's a that's a different topic.

Quang Do

59:52Yeah. We talked a bit about your career in life and decisions. You know, two questions. Yeah. Would you recommend to someone perhaps half a generation younger than us or one generation younger than us to do an MBA and or to do search and buying businesses now looking on your own life?

Truc Nguyen

1:00:12Yes. Yes. The answer is yes, right? To both to both. And for the for the first one, the MBA, right? Like I'm saying yes because the lesson I got from it was I got exposed to different ways of thinking, you know, it opened a lot of door for me. So for the next generation, whatever that structure is that give you that outcome, you should pursue it, right? At that could be you know joining a community that could just be become really good at what you do and you know it could be an MBA it could be a master of something whatever it is like find oh an outlet where you get exposed to different ways of work and different career path then yes then I think that person should pursue it because you know we study and we got really good at one discipline for me it was finance but I didn't have anything else so for MBA provide the opportunity for me to kind of learn about different things. So yes so I think someone who want to be successful I think it's a really good way to prepare yourself for the next step for the search piece is running your own business right and specifically acquiring businesses. This is interesting because I actually have a lot of fresh out of school people coming to me asking me about, oh, I want to buy a business.

1:01:33And I always tell them, no, you're not ready. I truly believe that you have to have enough experience to operate a business, right? Enough money as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because when you buy a business, the last thing you want to do is drive it into the ground, right? I think people need to go out there into the corporate world and learn, get experience, you know, get messed up, get paid to get messed up, and learn before you kind of think about operating like buying something and operating. Yeah. I think a lot of people who do startup, they can do it right out of school because they kind of quickly have to learn along the way or you know they fail. But for some reason for me if you buy a business that is already successful and been operating for many years and you come in and then a year or two years later it goes out of business that that's kind of worse. So for me, I always tell them, yes, you should do it and you can do it, but first you need to go out there and and work and build up your skill set and experience.

Quang Do

1:02:47Yeah. Looking 10 years ahead from where we are at now and you are at now, you know, what kind of impact do you want to have made through your business or through your personal individual being?

Truc Nguyen

1:03:00Legacy. Okay. This a it's something I always think about what do I be known for right I think for me is operating or creating businesses that do good for society and provide a wellpaying stable income for my employees right at the end of the day everyone want to take care of their family so providing them with that options like that career is really important I think it's really nice for to be able to say like, hey, you know, as a person, I can help create stable jobs for people. So, I think that's important. And I think what I want to be known as too is like someone who cares not only about business, but care about people who work for me. At the end of the day, community and relationship between people is really important. So, I don't want to be known as a cutthroat person. I want to be known as someone who helped to lift everyone up. And that sounds a little bit cliche, but I truly believe I think that's really important for what it means to be a person and as a as a entrepreneur. Yeah. So that's kind of what I be want to be known for 5 years, 10 years from now. I don't know exactly what my career will look like, but I think I want to be build empire maybe.

1:04:20And then you know I think I expressed to you I want to come back here to Vietnam and do something here. It might not be nails it might be something else but yeah like I'm everything that I do is a stepping stone for the next thing. I'm learning I'm collecting skill set. I'm collecting experiences so it's preparing me for the next step. So whatever that looks like 5 years from now, 10 years from now, at the core, I want to be known as someone who can help other people have a have a successful life, however they define it to be, right?

Quang Do

1:04:55Yeah. Final question. Sure. If you could back could go back in time, you know, and talk to younger before HBS, before even starting work, say 18 year olds, what would you tell her?

Truc Nguyen

1:05:10I definitely tell her that hey like life gets hard sometimes and it moves very quickly. So I it goes back to the biggest lesson I have is plan but don't optimize for everything, right? Like I would tell her like hey you know like wherever you are like whatever you do a really good job in that moment and then everything will just fall into place and kind of will lead you to the next thing. So what I would tell her is like hey like life will get in the way. It gets really hard. It will change very quickly. You just have to be really good at what you do and then be prepared to to say yes or pre be prepared to say no whenever opportunities come knocking and just kind of make sure that you are prepared to take that next step. So I think that's just what I tell her and I probably not going to tell her to change anything actually just like do whatever you're doing and things will just fall into place. That's one my personal belief is everything will work out at the end.

Quang Do

1:06:09Wonderful. Yeah. How can people connect with you and stay in touch with you?

Truc Nguyen

1:06:14Yeah. I'm happy to talk to anyone about anything. So connect to LinkedIn. I'm sure this will be posted on Instagram or you can also, you know, just on LinkedIn, ping me. We can WhatsApp. So yeah, I'm happy to talk. Just send me a DM and we'll keep in touch. And hopefully, you know, I can offer something helpful and in return, I'm sure I can learn a lot from other people as well.

Quang Do

1:06:39Fantastic. Thank you.