“King of bricks and tiles in Saigon”
After much thought and consideration, Nguyen Tan Doi realized he had the gift of speaking. He decided to start a career as a broker, a job he called “the ultimate job”.
Initially, he focused on brokering construction materials and fabrics and continuously won big. From cycling, he bought his first car and rented space to set up an office.
He wrote: “Once the office was established, my business became even more prosperous than before. Money is pouring in. I moved into the field of import and export. I export broken rice to Hong Kong (China), Singapore… I have been considered richer and richer.”
However, in 1949, his business failed. The money earned from “the bottom line job” all flows into the rivers and seas. To survive, he sold his beloved car to return to his old bicycle.
But that failure did not make Nguyen Tan Doi fall. Instead, it became a stepping stone to help him rise to a new level in his career of getting rich.
Having experience in construction materials, he decided to restart his business by making bricks and tiles. Knowing that Cambodia had many brick manufacturers, he came to buy liquidated brick and tile making machines at cheap prices.
Realizing that Chaozhou workers were highly skilled, he hired them to work for him. Finally, he established a brick and tile factory called Doi Tan with the meaning of rebuilding a new life.
In the early days, the owner of the Doi Tan brick factory cycled to each house under construction to make sales. Every week, he went to meet people who were granted construction permits to convince them to use Doi Tan bricks and tiles.
When the contractor agrees to use his product, he also goes to the construction site to work as a worker. Here, he carried bricks, carried tiles, climbed roofs, stretched ropes to get ink, and roofed and tiled… with the builders.
At this time, Nguyen Tan Doi experienced countless difficult moments. In his memoir, he said that every morning he had to ride his bicycle to sell tiles and collect money from customers who owed him money.
There were times when he was hungry and didn’t have enough money to buy a bowl of noodles to eat. Tired in the hot afternoon sun, he did not dare to go to the restaurant to sit but instead went to the park to rest. Every time he did that, he leaned back on the cement chair, his feet stuck into the wheel so that if he fell asleep, he wouldn’t be afraid of thieves taking away his only means of transportation.
In his memoir, he wrote: “Many days I was hungry, I couldn’t collect any money, rice husk ash flew into my eyes, I was so sorry for myself, I parked my car on the side of the road and sat with my head down and crying. Tears of rice husk ash mixed with tears of sadness fell.”
During a transaction with a wealthy customer named Truong Van Huyen, the reputable and dedicated way of doing business of boss Doi Tan caught this person’s attention. Later, Mr. Huyen loved Nguyen Tan Doi like a son and volunteered to sponsor Doi Tan financially.
After 2 years of diligently improving product quality, Doi Tan’s bricks and tiles are accepted by the market. The revenue of Doi Tan brick and tile factory exceeded and led the construction materials market at that time.
However, he still went to France to learn brick and tile making technology. Returning home, he applied advanced technology to production, making the design and quality of Doi Tan’s products surpass all competitors.
At that time, his brick and tile factory not only supplied the Saigon market but also spread far to the Southwest region. From being a broker, Nguyen Tan Doi suddenly shined, becoming the “brick and tile king” of Saigon.
Having huge revenue from the brick factory, in the early 1950s, Nguyen Tan Doi expanded his business into many other fields and were successful. Even in many fields, he competes fairly with foreign businesses.
He was so successful that even he was surprised, as if “there was a magical power supporting him”. In the following years, the “brick and tile king” gradually stepped up to new heights with the titles “king of buildings” and “king of Saigon banks” holding 30 billion Indochina silver in his hands.