The wild, wild west

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As I type this it is about 15 minutes before sunrise on the pool deck (4:25pm Nashville time). Yesterday was a three tour day beginning with a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe to hear a presentation from a Vietnamese branding company. Their main brand (cash cow) is Highlands Coffee, a locally successful Vietnamese coffee attempting to go international. The next visit was to a wildly successful English language school owned by an expat and the last was to Unavailable, where all of my preconceived notions about sweatshop garment manufacturers in Asia were shattered.

Yesterday was international woman's day and the Vietnamese celebrate in full force. Started the morning with a stroll around town where the sidewalk vendors were spilling into the streets selling the usual fresh produce and freshly cut flowers. Walked to the Majestic on the Saigon river (hotel built by the French in 1925). Had a salmon baguette for lunch at a Vietnamese owned cafe that also serves as a designer clothing store; dinner at a open air barbeque joint where patrons cooked their food at the table.

The opportunities that Saigon presents to those who are willing to take a chance are breathtaking. The frenetic pass gives the casual viewer the appearance that there are no rules, the endless beehive traffic a constant reminder, but behind the scenes many non-citizens and locals have found a way to navigate the chaos to create order. We haven't spoken to one company that hasn't emphasized the prerequisite for failure. The ones that continue and succeed are the ones that have built an organization of learning, constantly questioning what went wrong and what can be done in the future to capitalize. This emphasis creates enormous barriers for new entrants into the market. If demand is seemingly limitless, (as in the case of the English learning school) then the sky truly is the limit.

Heading out now to stroll around town,
Brian

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Comments

[Tommy]

Just people
sounds like they aren't to much different from us, just more of them. and the way they live is the way they were raised. not much media We in America live in Big houses with no direction. I'm sure your trip will only get better as you go North, Smell the Roses. Tommy

[Shireman Brown]

The pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing

[sue]

dinner
now this looks like some of the places at home very nice now the factory workers.. wow we have it made here.. have a great time...