Leaving Australia after failed startup, returning to Vietnam to work as a technology driver
Lam Duc Nhuan (born in 1992) studied at a college in Ho Chi Minh City in 2010. In 2011, Nhuan participated in a student exchange program with Limkokwing University (Malaysia). After this experience, Nhuan decided to apply to study in Australia, because he has relatives living in Melbourne (Australia).
In 2012, Nhuan officially became a student majoring in business accounting at RMIT University (Australia). He started working part-time at a relative's bakery in Melbourne. Nhuan's years studying abroad were very difficult, he had to study and work at the same time to support himself, because his family's financial situation was not very good.
Lam Duc Nhuan graduated with a major in business accounting from RMIT University (Australia) (Photo: NVCC).
In 2016, after graduating from university, Nhuan decided to try his hand at starting a business in the land of kangaroos and opened his own bakery. However, business was not going well, causing Nhuan to fall into poverty in 2019.
So after 7 years of studying and starting a business abroad without success, Nhuan decided to return home to find a new direction for himself.
Returning to Vietnam, Nhuan initially worked as an office worker at a transportation company. In 2020, a colleague of his shared that, outside of his working hours at the company, he worked as a technology driver. The extra work brought in a decent income.
Hearing that, Nhuan immediately tried his hand at being a technology driver. At first, he drove a motorbike, and seeing that the job brought in a good income, he boldly quit his office job to become a full-time technology driver. At this time, Nhuan received an income of 15-20 million/month.
When he had enough capital, he immediately upgraded from a motorbike driver to a car driver. Currently, Nhuan aims to earn at least 30 million VND/month to have capital to start a business in Vietnam. To have this level of income, he has to try very hard, always make an effort and be determined in every working day.
The dream of “Vietnamese fast food” and “tailored” travel services for each tourist
Although life has gone through many ups and downs, Nhuan always finds a way to string together his experiences, even failures, so that in the end, he can still take advantage of setbacks to... move forward.
The time studying business accounting in Australia helped Nhuan broaden his horizons, use English well, and gain basic knowledge of corporate financial management.
Nhuan has been a technology driver for 5 years, and he is still in the process of accumulating capital to start a business (Photo: NVCC).
While working part-time at a relative's bakery in Australia, then opening his own shop, Nhuan gained practical knowledge about the culinary business.
When he returned home to work for a transport company, he gained more knowledge about how to operate a transport company.
These are all very useful for his startup goals in Vietnam. Nhuan wants to open a travel company that offers “tailor-made” experiences for each group of tourists.
He also wants to build a chain of sandwich shops in Vietnam. According to him, sandwich is the most famous “fast food” in Vietnam for world tourists.
During his years living abroad, Nhuan saw that foreigners mentioned Vietnamese pho and banh mi the most. He believes that banh mi can absolutely become a popular “fast food” around the world.
As soon as he returned to Vietnam, Nhuan saw the potential of selling tours that offered unique, quality experiences for small groups of tourists.
While working as a technology driver, taking advantage of his existing foreign language skills, Nhuan also accepted to be a tour guide for foreign guests in need. This was a way for him to gain more practical experience for his future startup plans.
Nhuan has been a technology driver for 5 years, he is still in the process of accumulating capital to be able to pursue his startup plan in Vietnam.
Being a technology driver has taught Nhuan some meaningful lessons. First of all, it is patience to overcome difficulties and hardships in work and life, to appreciate each ride and each customer.
During his work, he also learned a lot about patience, not letting himself get "hot-headed" or lose his temper due to time pressure, traffic jams, unfavorable weather...
Believe in yourself, live a good life through all the changes in life
Nhuan does not think negatively about the ups and downs of his past experiences. He believes that “long journeys reveal the quality of a horse”. Every experience, even failure, has its own value.
When sharing his story with the media, Nhuan freely talked about the not-so-glamorous details of his life: a former international student who fell into poverty in a foreign land, then returned to his homeland to start over. Nhuan hopes to bring a true and positive story for young people struggling to start a business.
Nhuan hopes to bring a true and positive story for young people struggling to start a business (Illustration: iStock).
Nhuan also knows that the labor market is becoming increasingly difficult and harsh. He has witnessed some young people becoming confused and negative after having unfortunate experiences at work.
However, life will change more and more rapidly due to technological advances. This requires us to become more flexible and responsive to adapt. Everyone has times when things go wrong, but we cannot allow ourselves to be immobile and stuck in a deadlock. When we find ways to adapt to get out of the deadlock, things will gradually unravel and become smoother.
Nhuan also hopes that young people who know his story will see in him a calm acceptance of reality. First of all, we must know how to accept what happens to us.
Nhuan studied abroad, but after graduating he could not find a job in his field in Australia. He started a bakery business but fell into a loss and lost all his capital.
Returning to Vietnam, he was willing to do a simple office job, then become a technology driver, starting with a motorbike and then having enough capital to upgrade to a car.
According to Nhuan, the first step in solving any problem is to... accept the problem first. This acceptance helps us have enough courage and peace of mind to step out of our comfort zone, overcome uncertainty, slowly untangle and solve the problem.
In fact, not only did Nhuan encounter difficulties in his entrepreneurial journey, he also experienced many changes in his family life, when his relatives passed away one after another. Currently, he only has his mother as his closest relative, always by his side to encourage him in life.
When facing difficult problems that seem to be deadlocks, Nhuan does not force himself to overcome them immediately, because we all need time to recover and reflect on the problems we encounter.
However, you should not let yourself get lost in your thoughts for too long, because it will be more difficult to escape from the problem. At some point, you have to actively help yourself distract yourself from your thoughts, then start doing the first things to solve the problem.
The biggest lesson Nhuan learned after the ups and downs of his entrepreneurial journey is that he must be the one who understands himself best, in order to make the most appropriate decisions.
When we succeed because of our own choices, we will be happier. But even when we fail, we will not have to live in regret for having missed opportunities, for having been cowardly and “not daring to try”.
In addition, in life, Nhuan always keeps in mind that he should live a good, kind life, knowing how to treat others, regardless of the ups and downs, joys and sorrows that life has brought him through.
Through many things, Nhuan realized that each of us needs to learn to be confident in ourselves, listen to ourselves and most importantly, dare to step out of our comfort zone to really get to work. Even though there are stumbles, we will gain experience.
After all, the opportunity to improve ourselves and achieve success - according to each person's own definition - is always waiting for us ahead.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/chuyen-chang-du-hoc-sinh-ve-nuoc-de-lam-tai-xe-cong-nghe-20250713155003727.htm
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