“The Secret to Success: Embracing Failure”

“I don’t consider myself a successful person. To be more precise, behind every success I have achieved, there are at least two failures, if not three. Over the years, I have experienced a lot of setbacks. The most recent and demoralizing one was shutting down our company in the US just six months after its establishment, despite my high hopes for taking our books abroad,” shared Nguyen Canh Binh, founder of Alpha Books, in an interview with VTC News.

“You are often associated with success, from the ‘Key to Success’ program to the diverse development of Alpha Books and CEO training courses. So, how do you define a successful entrepreneur?”

First of all, let me reiterate that I don’t see myself as a successful person. To be more precise, behind every success I have achieved, there are at least two failures, if not three. A typical example is that behind the launch of Tram Doc in September 2024, there were three previous unsuccessful attempts.

Four years ago, I also went through a very painful failure when we had to close our company in the US just six months after its establishment, along with many other unfulfilled plans. Therefore, I dare not claim myself as a successful person.

However, if we were to define success, let’s tentatively say, from my personal perspective, it would be someone who courageously pursues their dream and turns it into reality, despite the failures they encounter along the way. It cannot be measured solely by the amount of money lost or earned.

In my opinion, there are two criteria for a successful entrepreneur: First, they must have dreams and a sense of mission. Sometimes, their dreams may seem idealistic. But it is these dreams and the drive to make them a reality that fuel entrepreneurs, not just the pursuit of money.

However, dreaming without practicality will hardly lead to success. Hence, I want to emphasize that entrepreneurs need to be realistic, concerned about livelihood and financial stability, and acknowledge that without financial means, we cannot turn our dreams and aspirations into reality.

An entrepreneur must balance these two aspects. If they solely pursue their dreams without taking appropriate actions, they will never be able to make them come true. On the other hand, if they are solely focused on making money and calculating profits without any dreams for the future, they may become good managers or businessmen, but they cannot be considered truly successful.

I hope that our country will see the emergence of more entrepreneurs who have both dreams and the capability to turn those dreams into reality.

“This definition of success is quite idealistic. However, for today’s youth, success may simply mean having a well-paying job, owning a house and a car, and living a peaceful life.”

Actually, it’s important to understand that dreams and success are relative concepts that evolve over time and with one’s knowledge and experience.

I always tell my students that they need to maintain a balance in life. Humans can never detach themselves from their material needs and conditions. We need food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, and it is on this foundation that we can pursue our dreams and aspirations.

Take myself as an example. Now, at the age of 52, when I look back at my 20s and early 30s, I also experienced pressures and thoughts of struggling for survival, trying to make money by all means, or taking the easy way out and just wanting to meet the minimum requirements. But as my knowledge and understanding grew stronger, I became convinced that if we are diligent, put in the effort, and strive in the right way, we will be able to lead a good life and be somewhat content.

Changing one’s mindset can change one’s destiny. I believe that young people, no matter what, should strive and not take the easy way out, but that doesn’t mean they have to make a lot of money at all costs. With today’s needs, an income of 15 to 20 million VND per month is enough to ensure a moderately comfortable life.

“Does it mean failure if one’s income is lower than the threshold you mentioned?”

If you think in the short term, people around you may say, “Canh Binh is foolish,” but today, everyone will believe that “Canh Binh is not foolish.” I also believe that I am not foolish. I have a stronger conviction and faith in the path I have chosen.

“Do you feel that you are going against the grain, as you have been thinking and acting differently from the majority since you were 28 years old?”

People may perceive me as going against the grain from the outside, but I have always felt that I am the one going with the flow. I follow what truly has value, rather than superficial appearances.

I am not lazy. I only learn what I feel I need: willpower, resilience, life skills, survival skills, project management, etc. I go to the market, work, and explore electronics and radio on my own… While others may say I am going against the grain, I believe I am going with the flow and keeping up with the trends.

“How do you know you are going against the grain but not in the wrong direction?”

You need to have solid knowledge and understanding. You cannot proceed if you lack knowledge, understanding, and experience in what you are doing.

I consider myself fortunate to have matured and gained more wisdom than my peers, thanks to my extensive reading. Back then, while my peers were mostly reading textbooks and course materials from college or university, I was reading a wide range of books from various genres. I learned about successful people from all over the world, in various fields, and realized that success is not always about chasing degrees, achievements, or superficial values.

Secondly, it is beneficial to seek advice and guidance from successful people or mentors who have walked the path before us, as we cannot know everything in life. Nowadays, it is much easier to connect and seek valuable advice from such individuals.

Another important aspect is having the courage to pursue your dreams. The real challenge for young people is not just about knowing what is right or wrong but also about having the courage to pursue what is right.

“Have you ever failed?”

Yes, I have failed many times. Behind every success I have achieved, there are probably two or three failures. And I believe many other entrepreneurs go through the same. If you don’t try, you won’t fail.

The failure that affected me the most was the closure of our Alpha Books office in the US. Alpha America was my dream of bringing Vietnamese books to the world. When we opened the office in 2020, I firmly believed that with the current trend of globalization, Vietnamese people should reach out to the world.

However, just six months later, I had to shut down Alpha America. I think this was a major failure, leaving severe consequences. Firstly, it resulted in a significant financial loss of about 1 million USD. To many, this amount of money may not seem like a big loss in business, but to me, it was a huge sum.

But more importantly, it affected my morale. I have to admit that this failure hit me hard, even though I have experienced many setbacks and challenges in my work and business. It really took a toll on my morale, and it took me several months to recover. Not only did I lose money, but the failure also wasted the time and efforts of many people.

“Why did you fail despite investing a lot of money and effort in opening a branch in the US?”

After a long period of feeling down, I had to pick myself up and continue working. I realized there were several reasons for the failure, and I have to admit that I was too hasty. I believed that the idea of bringing Vietnamese publishing to the world was not wrong, but I was too optimistic and unrealistic.

When I thought we would sell 100 books, I shipped 10,000 books overseas. Just the shipping cost was a huge challenge. We did not calculate carefully enough regarding investment and distribution, which should have been done more meticulously.

Secondly, we should have planned more carefully regarding the system, personnel, and finances.

And the third reason, which cannot be ignored, was the COVID-19 pandemic. We opened the branch right at the outbreak of the pandemic, which made the already challenging situation even worse. Because of the pandemic, when problems arose, I couldn’t go to the US to handle them, and we couldn’t resolve the issues remotely.

From this failure, I lost three things: money, time, and morale. I was stressed and under tremendous pressure, and it took me several months to recover my spirit, even though I am usually an optimistic person.

This failure set back my plan to expand globally by four years.

My high expectations led to deep disappointment. If I had lower expectations and invested less, the failure would not have affected me as much.

“Will you continue to pursue your dream of bringing Vietnamese publishing to the world?”

I have not given up on my dream of bringing Vietnamese knowledge to the world. However, I will take more appropriate measures. I may give up on the idea of physical books and establishing an office abroad, and I may not need to ship containers of books anymore. Instead, I can collaborate or invest in a company that already has the necessary infrastructure…

“From your failures and successes, what financial advice would you give to those who want to start a business?”

Up to now, I still consider my strengths to be creativity, strategy, leadership, and technology, but my weakness is financial matters, especially personal and corporate finance.

I think one of the reasons for the failure of our US office was my lack of financial knowledge. Looking back at my failures, I realize that my understanding of finance was not good enough.

Entrepreneurs should have more knowledge and depth in finance, and this should be acquired from the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey, not after they have already achieved success. In fact, I want young people, perhaps even from high school or earlier, to have some knowledge of finance, especially personal finance.

That’s also why many publishing houses, including Alpha Books, publish financial education books for children.

In Vietnam, I find that knowledge about finance is still quite limited. Even successful entrepreneurs sometimes hesitate to talk about financial matters.

I believe we need to be more open and clear about this, starting with financial education for children. Knowledge, understanding, and application of financial principles are very important.

“Alpha Books’ slogan is very impressive: ‘We don’t sell books, we sell superior management knowledge of leading corporations.’ Is it difficult to sell knowledge to entrepreneurs?”

Entrepreneurs are the ones with the most money and the strongest motivation to invest in knowledge. They are the hardest to convince, but at the same time, they are the ones with the greatest ability and motivation to invest in something they believe will be useful.

Selling to people with money is the easiest, but the challenge is that they won’t buy something that is not practical or useful. In publishing, we cannot offer readers advice that we ourselves do not find valuable. So, I would say that selling books to entrepreneurs is difficult, but at the same time, it is easy for this very reason.

“What have you learned from the business, wealth, and startup books published by Alpha Books?”

When I started my business 20 years ago, I thought a lot about our strategy. While Nha Nam chose to focus on literature, Thai Ha specialized in Buddhist books, and First News focused on self-help books, each of these publishing houses succeeded because they found their niche.

For a country to open up and develop, its economy must grow. For an economy to grow, its business community must thrive. And for the business community to thrive, private enterprises must succeed. To achieve this, entrepreneurs need knowledge and understanding. That’s why we publish books on economics and contribute to the community of entrepreneurs and businesses.

In the early days of my business, when we were publishing books, I was poor and didn’t have much money to pay translators and editors, so I had to do everything myself for the first two or three years. It was challenging, but it was also my good fortune. I chose the manuscripts, read the English versions to evaluate them, and even after deciding to publish, I would proofread and sometimes edit the books before they were released.

The challenge was that I had to do everything myself, from selection and evaluation to approval and publication. But at the same time, it was a blessing because I was able to