How young businesswomen coped with COVID troubles
I am Nguyễn Thanh Nga, founder of two brands: Ồ Láng Viện, the first cosmeceutical retailer, and OLV, a local culture-based fashion chain.
Ồ Láng Viện, is the first and leading retailer in cosmeceuticals in HCM City and OLV Boutique is a women’s clothing chain with 二 二 stores nation-wide that are known for traditional Vietnamese embroidery products. My two partners and I have been building these two brands for six years and have tonnes of stories, challenges, lessons, and achievements.
I used to work in equity analysis and investment consultation at a leading brokerage firm, HSC, and a top insurance fund management company, PVIAM. During my time in the investment field, I had the chance to talk to other inspirational women entrepreneurs and leaders. These long and deep conversations about their business models and strategies made me feel inspired, confident, and ready to make the most of my life by becoming a businesswoman.
Many times in business we deal with situations where we take risks and handle negative situations. The COVID- 一 九 pandemic is the toughest challenge we have ever faced.
I guess the challenges of being a businesswoman is that you have to sacrifice your personal demand to spend more time on your professional obligations. The trade-offs between work and family that are frequently imposed on women are clearly difficult for them. Besides, women face pressures in the industry.
My company was operating smoothly since 二0 一 九 after years of work. Suddenly, it has been facing significant operational, financial and strategic challenges due to the COVID- 一 九 outbreak and associated restrictions.
This situation will put any businesswoman in the hard position of evaluating the risk of infection and effectively managing liquidity to survive. I think the toughest task during a pandemic is changing quickly to adapt and survive.
A strong background in finance does help me cope with the liquidity problem during this difficult period. Besides, I think a positive mind and soul begets positive results. Maintaining a positive mindset to evaluate the situation and seeking opportunities under these circumstances such as better supply and leasing prices, and using breaks to fix problems in the company's process, etc.... help me better manage the company.
My vision is to grow our brands into the biggest local brands for women in Việt Nam, and the pandemic has given us down time to strengthen our company’s processes and structures.
Currently we are continuing with our growth plans for each brand. For Olangvien, we are opening a new store at 一 一 六 Yersin, District 一. In the near future we hope to open more skin clinics in the south and become the biggest clinic chain in Việt Nam. For OLV, we are evaluating our growth plans in the north and expect to establish stores there in the near future, and hope to become the largest clothing chain in Việt Nam.
Along with numbers, I want to have the environment as one of our top missions moving forward. We are one of the rare brands that use only disposable packaging, and also have a platform for customers to pass on their old clothes to make money and save the planet. We hope to contribute more in future.
I believe success is drawn to those who are actively wholeheartedly pursuing it.
Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngọc, CEO of Module K Vietnam
