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30 years of coming up from the empty hand, Mr. Vo Mau Quoc Ying has taken quality and integrity as the guiding principle for building and developing Rita Voto become a leading brand in the high-end building materials and furniture industry in Vietnam.

Never overstating what he has done, Mr. Vo Mau Quoc Thung — President Rita Vo — chose to give silently and let the quality of the products speak out. As frank and open as the character of the Quang Ngai people, more than 2 hours of conversation with him was an interesting contemplation period, which was opened with the perspective and vision of a businessman building a career from two empty hands.

In the 24-year journey from the company's founding to the present, what milestones have impressed and remembered you the most?

Over two decades of building a company, nothing is the most memorable, or the most impressive, for each milestone has its own feelings and meanings. My view is to do the smallest things, today I do well at one, and then tomorrow I do well at another. Gradually, everything will get better.

I think that everything needs to be sequential, that what is good, has advantages, needs to focus on continuous development, and not the “jackfruit economy” — all of them are thorns, but none of them are sharp.

For example, in the field of building materials and high-end furniture, I can now be confident Rita Vo is the leading brand in Vietnam. We have 23 of the largest centers in Vietnam and I think that all foreign corporations when entering Vietnam are eager to deliver goods through the Rita Vo system.

Rita Vo is the exclusive contracting partner for the distribution of Kohler products — the world's leading brand of sanitary and bathroom appliances. At that time, what did he do to get Kohler to choose Rita Vo as the exclusive representative in the Vietnamese market, while in other places there were usually two representatives?

Next year marks the 150th anniversary of Kohler, one of the 20 largest privately held corporations in the world. In addition to Kohler, Rita Vo is also a partner of many of the 20 private corporations such as Miele, Simmons...

I kindled the group's determination to convince Kohler after a business trip abroad, seeing that the hotel they used Kohler sanitary ware was too clean and beautiful. Almost 20 years ago, communication was not as convenient as it is now, but had to be transferred by fax, from the United States to Singapore and then to Vietnam. At that time, Rita Vo did not have a showroom, nor experience, the capital was not yet called large.

It is strange to have a large international corporation “choose to send gold” when I do not have anything in store, but I am confident that I can ensure that everything they ask of an exclusive partner is met. When Kohler asked me what I had, I showed them the words “integrity” and “quality” — Rita Vo's business motto for the past 24 years.

— Do you think it was lucky to be chosen by a big corporation at a time when the brand didn't have anything at hand?

I don't think anything is lucky. Without a name or experience, I am prepared for other aspects. I myself brought my brand to Shanghai (China), Singapore so that they could see my sincerity and seriousness.

Fifteen years ago, my partner and I went abroad to persuade partners, from the US, Thailand, Singapore, Shanghai (China) to Germany, Italy, to agree to be the exclusive distributor. On the contrary, now, foreign corporations that have set foot in Vietnam want to meet me so that the products will be exhibited in Rita Vo. Rita Vo has a prestigious and high-quality distribution system foundation in Vietnam, even in Southeast Asia.

— In your opinion, what is the reason why Rita Vo is so loved by many people?

— I develop my company based on two words: Integrity — Quality. My personality is frank, every business activity is clear, not licked. I make sure that all Rita Vo products are of the right origin. Thai goods are Thai, manufactured in Malaysia, stamps are Malaysia, goods made in Italy are definitely Italian. There is no “hanging goat heads, selling dog meat.”

In addition, I would like to say that the issue of the origin of goods has ceased to matter. Samsung has located a factory in Vietnam, and soon Apple will also bring iPhones to Vietnam. So when customers choose a product, that is, they choose the brand and prestige of that brand. Wherever the product is manufactured, it must comply with global standards and quality.

Rita Vo has been in business for more than 20 years and is firmly in the leading position in Vietnam in the high-end building materials and furniture industry. Do you intend to continue to grow into the international market?

— Not at the moment. The potential of the Vietnamese market is too good and potential, can be judged to be the best in the region today. The peculiarity of the domestic market is that the potential among the population is huge, the purchasing power is also strong. For example, in the building materials and housing industries, foreigners who only want to buy existing houses, do not like this place can move elsewhere. But in Vietnam, people will spend their savings to buy land, buy a house, build their own nest. Therefore, the demand for the use of high-quality building materials, long-term use is very high. It is the predominance of the Vietnamese market that few other countries meet.

The retail market over the past 20 years has also undergone major changes. Admittedly, the growth rate of retail industries, not just building materials alone, is surprising. You can see a lot of foreign corporations have been jumping into this big slice of the pie, indicating the potential for future market breakthroughs.

— Rita Vo does business in 8 segments with building materials and furniture as the core. So what is the second biggest tip of the business?

— The company has many industries and operates depending on market fluctuations, but the core segment is still high quality building materials and furniture, others are auxiliary.

I think business is a charm, I cherish many things, when I have the opportunity I do it. In the near future, Rita Vo will develop real estate as a potential sub-segment. This is a passion that I have been thinking about for not 1, but 10, even 20 years. I want to redefine luxury apartments. The concept of “premium” must converge a lot of factors, from location, design, to the material of construction materials.

Are you confident that your real estate products will be well received by consumers?

I am confident because of three factors:

The first is a comparison to the regional and international luxury apartment market. The European or Singaporean market for luxury apartments falls in the range of $60,000-100,000 per square meter, or Thailand also reaches $20,000-30,000 per square meter for high-end real estate. In Vietnam currently fluctuating in the price range of 15,000-17,000 USD/m2, I am confident that the market will reach and absorb products in the same price range as your country.

The second is to create products strictly in accordance with Vietnamese culture. Speaking of which, I know how to compose a “food tray” that suits the taste of Vietnamese people, using products with sizes, designs and materials that suit the tastes of domestic consumers. It is the result of many years of listening and researching the market by Rita Vo.

The 3rd is the brand's extensive customer file. The number of more than 280 units is not much. We have information from millions of customers who have trusted brand quality over the years, only 1% of whom have sufficiently filled the supply that Rita Vo launched on the market.

— With a market that has so many foreign competitors, what strength does Rita Vo have to stand on the market?

— We are confident in the reliable distribution system — people — and exclusive partners of many of the great brands that the company has been building.

Rita Vo system has sufficient land funds to open showrooms, regardless of which landowner. I have been preparing this for over 20 years. In terms of people, we have a team of employees who have been engaged for a dozen years now.

Many international partners such as Kohler have signed exclusively with Rita Vo. This means that if sold in Vietnam, competitors will not be able to import products from brands that we have signed exclusively. We also partner with more than 30 other brands, most of which are big and prestigious names in the industry.

— He has a cast of senior associates who have been involved since the early days. What is the secret to keeping you alive for more than a decade?

- I have no such thing as the secret of keeping people, but I empower subordinates. Here, people joke that evictions don't rest either, I think partly comes from the opportunities that Rita Vo gives her staff.

The senior staff are all people who have worked with me for ten years, since I was looking for partners abroad. They always do very well, even better than me. Someone managed ten showrooms, someone was in charge of the whole South. I'm comfortable with empowering employees to grow freely. Operations management already has a solid generation to take care of, for my part, I am only concerned with the task of developing and training new people and developing new industries.

Currently, many large private corporations in the world have begun to transition to the second generation. How do you rate the next generation factor in this period?

My point is very clear, if you're not good, I'll let others do it. Rita Vo is the opportunity I built up from sweat and tears, which cannot be inherited easily because I am my child. Therefore, I create a clear aspiration and direction from childhood so that he strives, trains the consciousness, the responsibility that enough abilities will prevail.

I conceive of learning knowledge as a basic condition, but learning as a novice is the most important. I have three children, the eldest of whom has finished school and is starting to work with everyone. I let him be a soldier to learn from the smallest things, to know how to behave in this way and then to enter society, or even more so to consider inheritance.

It is necessary first to learn, in order to avoid the rich type, to consider making money as the greatest goal. I also made it clear to him that if I only had money, I couldn't work with big corporations. To be their partner, we need versatility, that is, understanding everything from finance, marketing, production, products to politics. Politics means following the right law, not wrongdoing. To get those things, learning is a must.

Source: Zing News

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