Hien DangIntellectual prowess is a coveted quality, and even more so when combined with and enhanced by motivation and faith. Such are the qualities that we suppose are worth mentioning about the figure of this issue’s Thoughts of Gentlemen column – a seasoned businessman who built his empire from scratch and became an extraordinary and admirable example of a person who fought against their odds and won. His name is Kao Sieu Luc, a man with “3 NOs” (no asset – no relationship – no language) who set out on his business adventure, through the highs and lows, with the Viet-renowned pastries.
Born in Cambodia, businessman Kao Sieu Luc grew up in the chaotic civil war period under Pol Pot’s regime. A young and bright mechanic student from a wealthy family, he was forced to become a farmer boy only to “exist”, all because of the rages of war. The day Cambodia was liberated, against all odds, the young Kao Sieu Luc was determined to make a living in Vietnam, a journey that took him over 1 month, on foot. The man before us now could speak 6 different languages, but many may be surprised to learn that Vietnamese was the last language he was fluent in. Either a rice porter or a rickshaw running, Kao Sieu Luc never turned down any kind of work that could help sustain himself and his family. “My eyes had no tears left to shed, I used to be a young master with a bright future, but all I felt at that moment was helplessness.” – so Kao Sieu Luc told us of his ragged days. But life is always full of twists and turns. Using his experience as a farmer, Kao Sieu Luc started to think about selling rice. And when the wheat flour aid came, Kao Sieu Luc advised pastry makers to exchange rice for wheat flour. It was during this time that he discovered his ability to recognize and distinguish different wheat flour textures using only his bare hands with an astonishing accuracy. His knowledge in mechanics, and the chance encounter with wheat flour and the pastry makers have sparked a desire in him. He started sketching drawings and assembling the first flour roller mill, and eventually, after numerous failures, was successful. Now standing between two choices, continuing as a rice vendor or switching to pastry-making, the young Kao Sieu Luc decided to go for the latter. And so began the story of “the king of breads” who built his empire with nothing but his bare hands…
Greetings businessman Kao Sieu Luc! Going through your youth with an empty hand and a pastry journey ahead, what kind of difficulties did you encounter at that starting point?
The very first difficulty for someone with zero professional experience like me was to learn the pastry recipes. And as I came up with my first flour roller mill, I let a pastry maker use it with a hope to learn from him. But a master never reveals his tricks, so it was not easy for me to “snatch” anything useful. Everyday I would prepare their ingredients and stand back to observe and help around, but they always found an excuse for me to step away from the station and thus, keeping their recipes a secret. I thought to myself, I’m only trying to learn the recipes and it’s already been this difficult! But at the end of the day, no hardship could ever compare to my farmer’s days. So, I decided to change my “strategy” by, at the end of the day, measuring the remaining ingredients and working out the amount that the workers used, with which I started making my first own batches. I failed, time and time again, and I never received any support or sympathy from those closest to me, who even blamed me, at times, for wasting money. I was disappointed, but never discouraged, the more I failed, the harder I tried to perfect my recipe, having to throw away 5 out of every 7 batches, until finally I made the first 24 successful croissants in my pastry-making life. I still remember, after being displayed in my simple cabinet for only 3 hours, they were sold out. I suppose, therefore, that success will come as long as we learn from our failure and have faith in ourselves.
That first successful batch must have felt like ecstacy to you, didn’t it? Was it the moment that sparked your desire to establish your own pastry brand?
Money aside, I was extremely satisfied with the first successful croissants and seeing how the customers loved them. For the next whole week, I kept on making only 24 croissants a day, which was sold in 3 hours, then down to 2, sometimes even in one single purchase. The following week, I doubled the number to 48 croissants, selling up to 2 for each customer since the queue kept getting longer and longer. And after while, I started making 200 pieces a day all by myself, never ceasing even when I was sick. With this early success, I discussed with my wife and bought more machinery to speed up the process. Once we’d secured our standing, I wanted to build on it, expanding our scope, hiring and training more workers and establishing our customer network. Step by step, I kept observing and investing more and more, money, effort, determination, and many other things. My desire for a pastry brand was not a grandiose dream from the beginning, but rather one that grew bigger and bigger over the years. That’s how the Duc Phat brand, and my do-over years later, ABC Bakery, came to be, and once I’ve made up my mind, I will stick to it till the end of the journey, not just for one fleeting moment.
From the rookie start-up days to the start-over with ABC Bakery, what bussiness lessons did you learn? And how did you come up with the decision to build a new brand when you seemed to have everything in your hand at that moment?
Until this day, I keep telling my associates that, if you are determined to succeed at something, you must always have faith in yourself. Self confidence gives us the wisdom and clarity to take everything into account and connect them as a well-oiled machine. Another thing to note in the manufacturing industry is the utmost priority for machinery and equipment. Only machinery can improve the speed and effectiveness of production. That’s why since the very beginning, I’ve always reinvested my entire capital in machinery to maximize our speed of growth. In addition, a businessman must always pay attention to real estate investment, specifically the premises that can be used for your headquarters or selling venues without having to rent them. As the folks saying goes “settle down and you will thrive”, if all of your premises are rental, your business is not stable and may cause you to miss an opportunity no matter how determined you are.
How about my lesson from the start-over with ABC Bakery? It was perhaps the lesson that brought me the most pains and losses, but also taught me many things to start over again, however late it was. After 20 years with Duc Phat and having over 20 stores running, I thought I had found success. But with that success in business came the failure of our marriage. A growing business brought about many things to me, but also took away many things from me. Focusing too much on my career, tipping the work-life balance… created more and more conflict of opinion between me and my wife, until we decided to part ways. I decided to walk away from the Duc Phat brand – my first “brainchild” – with much anguish and regret. I was extremely dispirited, for all my accomplishments as a businessman in the society and the industry seemed to mean nothing when compared to the cost I had to pay, my family.
In 95% of divorces, the children would follow their mother, but I was the other 5% when all three of my children decided to stay with me. They become the forceful motivation that got me back on my feet and re-enter the pastry industry with ABC Bakery – a name that comes from my children’s English names initials. The first days of ABC Bakery saw us struggle in a sea of challenges, as people have associated my name to the Duc Phat brand for too long, and our financials were also not as strong as before although I was confident that I knew everything about building a brand scratch. Our only advantage was the credibility I had established over the years, which gradually attracted more customers to this new brand. Once again, I put faith in myself, setting up the business structure while raising production standards with modern machinery, and that faith has helped me turn every challenge into an opportunity and make it to where I am today.
You have mentioned on many accounts how big an impact “faith” has had on your success as a businessman. But surely that alone isn’t enough to contribute to today’s successful businessman Kao Sieu Luc, is it?
Indeed, I have come this far today not only with faith, but also credibility and opportunity. It is not your fault to have a meager starting point, so even from the days of my youth, I have always tried to build up my credibility. I always try to earn other people’s trust in whatever I do, as rice porter, a rickshaw runner or a pastry maker. Once customers and partners have faith in you, they will be willing to invest in you, no matter how little money they have. For credibility cannot be self-proclaimed, it is a brand that takes time to form and effort to maintain, whose value can only be determined by other people.
Opportunity is also a crucial factor for business owners. It doesn’t come very often, so when it does, make certain that you seize it. Never underestimate any opportunity, letting it go because it’s not as good as you expected and keeping on waiting, but how long will you have to wait? There’s nothing certain that a missed opportunity will come again. Let’s take an example, you can ride a cow while finding a horse. A cow may be slow, but still faster than you are walking on foot. And if you’re lucky enough to find a horse, you can go even faster. Opportunities come to those who are prepared, and I will always cherish them, no matter how big or small, so I won’t have to regret later.
What has been the business philosophy that you pursue throughout these many years of ups and downs?
That of sharing. Whenever I make a pastry, I always share its strengths and weaknesses instead of hiding them. Once your customers understand and put their faith in you, they will never blame you, be it success or failure. My experience has proved, however, that not many businesses in the pastry industry are willing to share their product’s true information, instead aiming to maximize their profit, which I strongly disagree.
Speaking of sharing, I happen to know that you are the man behind the famous dragonfruit bread during the pandemic situation. But now this type of bread is being sold in several other places. Is this also a work of your sharing philosophy?
Indeed. The story of dragonfruit bread is quite an emotional sharing experience for me, which allowed me to contribute to the society during the challenging pandemic situation. In fact, I was looking into other agricultural products when the idea of dragonfruit bread came into my mind. During a field trip to the provinces, realizing that the farmer folks couldn’t export their dragonfruits due to the bordern entry ban, I decided to share their burden by buying from them and came up with the idea of making a dragonfruit bread. We started out with about 300kg of dragonfruits, then up to 2,5 tons a day, and to every ABC Bakery member’s utmost delight, myself included, thousands of dragonfruit breads were warmly welcomed by our customers. And still, such a consumption rate was nowhere near enough to help them all out, so I decided not to keep the dragonfruit bread recipe to myself, but to share it with everyone, even giving my advice to other establishments so everyone could join hands and get through that tough period together. Not stopping there, I also shared the dragonfruit bread recipe with friends around the world via the International Bread Association of Southeast Asia, of which I am the President. As of now, my hope is that everyone will be able to make this Vietnamese bread, and that dragonfruit bread can become a part of the Vietnamese cuisine that we can all be proud of.
Up until now, what are the business principles that you have been applying at ABC Bakery?
I always try to remind my children as well as my associates of ABC Bakery’s motto, Q (Quality) – S (Serivce) – T (On Time). If a business owner only focuses on profit, sooner or later, they will fail. Quality is the vital element, the indicator of a brand’s credibility. Don’t ever look down upon your customers and provide them with poor quality products. Once you have quality, make sure that the accompanying services are up to par, not too condescendin, but also not too casual. Then comes the final element, always be ready and serve your customers in a timely manner. Even if your product tastes good and your service is impeccable, a delayed delivery will surely cost you dearly. One misstep and the rumours will spread exponentially, and your credibility will suffer a heavy blow. I have also added another letter recently, C (Clean) which concerns food safety and hygiene. These 4 letters will always be the guiding thread for ABC Bakery, and they shall be improved upon as time goes by.
In preparation for the transfer of power to your F1 generation, how have your reared children?
I have taught them many things, but there are things to teach and things I believe I should keep to myself. I was fortunate enough to be able to send them abroad to study, and they did well. But after graduation, they all stayed there to work, which kept me thinking. I wondered: “Why have I spent so much money on their study, just for them to work for other people?” and I convinced them to return. I told them: “Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll pay you the same, but come back and contribute to Vietnam”. As they returned, I showed them the prospects of the path I’m confidently treading on. A bumpy road it may be, but I have faith that with their intellect and modern mindset, they will have the strength to flatten that road and rush towards the finish line.
As for the things I should keep to myself? Some parents of my generation often tell their children how difficult it was for them to get where they are today, but that hardship is their problem. We didn’t have many benefits to enjoy from back in the day, but our children do now, so we cannot force the suffering mentality upon them just for the sake of encouragement. My opinion is that the young generation needs to see the bright future that awaits, instead of focusing on the possible challenges that may blunt their will, even talented ones.
However, the personnel aspect, particularly the senior members, how did you manage to earn their understanding and loyalty?
I always treat them as human beings should treat one another. Having been through many situations, I never wish to impose a strcit hierarchy. Everyone in the company still calls me “Brother Ba”, and the younger ones now call me “Uncle Ba”, and I’m happy with it. When working with each other, I never think of myself as the owner, the boss or the director, a company’s success comes from the collective effort, and an owner who distances himself from his staff is already failing. I myself is a natural sharer, and with every new idea, I always consult everybody and listen to their feedback. My success today is closely related to the people I’ve been working with. That’s why I believe, if I take care of my associates, they will take care of me, and that’s equity.
What opinion does a seasoned businessman such as yourself hold on to the subject of money?
Money is not important to me. Putting too much a focus on money may prove counter productive. Back in my youth, I used to believe that you cannot survive without money, but then realized that it is but an ephemeral belonging. Having money is one thing but knowing how to give it away at the right time will give it a much greater meaning. Take the last pandemic wave for example, there is no doubt that the doctors and the medical staff were the ones who suffered the most. But if you gift them flowers at the time, what meaning does it have when even their basic needs of a meal are not met. Instead, I immediately worked on making the dark bread, a highly nutritious food, to help them. Along with my staff, we worked day and night to deliver those dark breads to the doctors and their staff. How can money be put table considering on the contributions that they have made. That is the timeliness that I’m talking about, and when I manage to do just that, I feel satisfied for being able to contribute something to the community.
Up until today, what accomplishments do you feel most proud of throughout your life journey?
My successful career and a happy family. I am the pillar in both my company and my family, and I never allow myself to make a single mistake. What makes me even prouder is that, throughout its history, my company has never had to face a workers’ strike. As with my family, my children always support me in whatever I do, which is a huge motivation for me. With your loved ones having your back, everything you do will be much easier.
If a business owner comes to you seeking a career advice, what will you tell them?
Whether you work in business or any other field, always believe that you can do it. Don’t wave the white flag when you haven’t fought the battle. But don’t forget to learn before you leap either. Don’t be too fascinated by others’ achievements and charging forward without any experience. For those of the young generation with a budding start-up idea, try working under other people before running your own business, learn from your employer’s experience and draw for yourself the valuable lessons, for the knowledge acquire in this learning process cannot be found anywhere else. It’s tough to run a start-up, even more so to keep your passion alive, so do have faith in yourself and give it your best while doing so!
Content Director: Jenni Võ | Creative Director: Lê Đức Hiệp | Editor: Hồng Đặng | English Translation: Hòa Tôn | Photo: Thạc Trường Giang
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