Hoanh Son Group - Journey to Strong Brand

If he had not lived in extreme poverty, Phan Hoanh Son would not have gotten involved in business. When he was a child, his father served in the army and stayed very far from home and his mother had to work to support the four-child family. She had to quit teaching and shifted to trade in ration stamps and then rice. Her new business brought Son to the first rice huller.

 

His nickname "Son - the Huller" was originated from those days. He worked very hard every day. He was responsible for delivering rice to agents and he accumulated business skills, experience and capital from this. In 2001, he and his mother founded a company, but unfortunately she died shortly after that. He felt like he lost everything, both financial and spiritual support. He recalled, “In those days, Hoanh Son appeared to go bankrupt and I had to scurry around on hopes of continuing or resuming business ties with my mother’s partners and opening new ones.”

 

Perhaps, his fate with the rice drove him out of trouble. When his company was reduced to destitution, Vietcombank Ha Tinh, an arm of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) appeared. The bank’s officials with the young director travelled to Lam Thao phosphate plant in Phu Tho province and study the fertiliser distribution in Ha Tinh province. Then, his company gradually became better off. The company distributed fertiliser in the northern central region comprising Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thua Thien Hue. After that, he met Duong Tat Thang, Director of a gypsum factory affiliated to MITRACO plaster factory. Supplying gypsum to cement plants opened up a new business line for Phan Hoanh Son’s company.

 

After nearly 10 years running a company and 20 years working with rice hullers, Phan Hoanh Son is now a director of a powerful company in Ha Tinh province. Unveiling the secrets of success, Son said: "Faithfulness to customers is the secret of Hoanh Son, and I learned this from my own mother.”

 

In 2009, he set up two new subsidiaries, namely Hoanh Son Industrial, Trade, Investment and Development Joint Stock Company and Vung Ang Investment and Development Joint Stock Company. In 2011, Hoanh Son experienced a landmark change after it was renamed to Hoanh Son Group Joint Stock Company (Hoanh Son Group JSC). In addition to transportation services, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products, the company has expanded into new fields like mining, design consultancy, supervision consultancy, experimentation and appraisal, construction, agricultural product processing, etc.

 

The multi-business approach manifests the determination of the company and the outlined roadmap for sustainable development. In the short term, Hoanh Son will focus on its strengths such as transportation and construction materials. The biggest challenge is still how to raise capital. Director Son said: What the authorities need to do is to restructure companies on the basis of competitiveness. Competitive companies should be supported with specific policies to become leading economic groups in Ha Tinh.