A panel discussion at the Impact Enterprise Summit in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Developing creativebusiness models that help generate profits and at the same time improve thelife of the community and well address social issues is the new way of doingbusiness in Vietnam, heard the Impact Enterprise Summit in Ho Chi MinhCity.
Impact enterprises are defined as financiallyself-sustainable and scalable ventures that actively manage to producesignificant net positive changes in well-being across underserved individuals,their communities, and the broader environment.
Hui Woon Tan, founder of Alley 51 Ventures and ThePurpose Group, said social impact-driven businesses are not merely builtfor the selfish capitalist man.
"But the man who understands true sustainabilityand the value of a business must also take into account the real world where weare reliant and dependant on each other to survive,"' she said.
Ly Truong Chien, chairman of Tri Tri Group, saidabout one fourth of the population of Vietnam is in need of support, which canbe in education, healthcare, employment or others.
If more impact enterprises with innovative andsustainable business initiatives are established the number of people needingsupport would reduce, he said.
Shuyin Tang, partner at Patamar Capital, said:“The current investor narrative around Vietnam often highlights a fast-growingGDP, a young, high-density population, high smartphone penetration, and adeepening talent pool.
“However, around 30 per cent of Vietnamese adultsare unbanked, representing a huge financial inclusion opportunity. Significantsegments of the population lack access to affordable, high-quality educationand healthcare services. There’s a huge opportunity to tap into theseunderserved markets, which in our view will yield attractive financial as wellas social returns.”
In Vietnam, there are some successful socialimpact enterprises which provide life-changing opportunities for blind people,people with hearing impairments, street children, help solve social issues suchas environmental and food safety concerns, distribute public services (bus andtrain online tickets), and follow other models to give back to the community.
At the summit, sustainable businesses that havemade positive social impacts in many spheres such as education, agriculture,technology, and micro-finance shared with more than 300 young participantstheir stories, including the advantages and challenges they have had.
Replying to a question about how youngentrepreneurs with limited experience and funding can create the impact theydesire, Hui’s advice for young people was “to find the hard problem you want tosolve first. Find something that is intimate to you if that’s possible. Immersethoroughly into it with passion. Get down and dirty, talk to the real peopleyou are impacting. Immerse in their stories. And then think out of the box, applycreativity.
“Your biggest asset is that you have naivety andwon’t be bogged down by what others tell you won’t work. You will need all thisas you develop your solutions that are truly impactful.
“After that, build your business like any othergood old traditional revenue-generating business. Get your boring fundamentalslike basic accounting, treating talent properly, organisation, operations andall that right.”
The summit was organised by Seed Planter, thefirst entrepreneurship institute for impact entrepreneurs in Vietnam, and theCentre for Social Initiatives Promotion.-VNA
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