Small Business Ideas in Vietnam You Should Pursue

As an emerging market, Vietnam provides fantastic opportunities to entrepreneurs looking to time the market and fill the market gaps. This article has been written by our editorial team which has drawn on the experience of our business consulting team baked by market reserach and pinpointed certain areas that we recommend for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on one of the world’s most interesting emerging markets. This is based on market gaps in rising industries in Vietnam.

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1. F&B Business

One of the most appealing industries in Vietnam is it’s food and beverage (F&B) sector. BMI (Euromonitor) ranked Vietnam 10th in Asia as the world’s most lucrative food and beverage market in 2019. Vietnam’s rapid development has created plenty of room for the expansion of foreign food & beverage brands. 

In recent years, the Vietnamese middle class, especially the younger generation, has been spending more on experiences-based dining. They like documenting their experiences in pictures and videos and sharing them on social media. With deeper penetration of smartphones in the country along with a social media-savvy younger population, eating out is quite popular, especially in cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, and Hanoi.

As Vietnam’s economic engine, Ho Chi Minh City draws foreigners from around the world to work in its booming service and technology industries. Consequently, there is a vibrant F&B industry offering a wide variety of cuisines from around the world, along with fusion concepts created by Western-trained chefs using local ingredients combined with standardized culinary tactics. Another trend which is exploding in Vietnam, partially driven by social media is experience-driven dining.

Based on our experience in the Vietnamese market the best investment advice we can offer for the F&B Sector is:

Entrepreneurs interested in exploring this sector ought to invest in the development of F&B technology platforms, like blockchain tech.

Why? This is very underdeveloped, and due to the high penetration of mobile phones, especially among young people in the country’s largest cities it is ripe for investment opportunities. .

2. Real Estate and Property

According to a recent report , Vietnam’s real estate industry has been growing as the economy recovers from COVID-19 and is expected to witness further development in the coming years.

As a result of the government’s economic incentives, interest rates remain low, public investments are released faster, foreign investments continue to flow into Vietnam, and remittances remain steady.

The Report predicts that the real estate market will grow in the short term because of people’s purchasing power and income expectations irrespective of the government’s initiatives. 

There is an economic support package for the infrastructure sector worth USD 15.3 billion, as an incentive from the government. As a result, the real estate market will not only be directly influenced in the short term, but will also be driven forward in the future.

Apart from the global recovery from the pandemic, urbanization and the rise of the middle class also affects the development of the real estate industry. There is also a great deal of impact on the demand for luxury apartments, resort properties, and land plots besides the increasing number of privately-owned cars due to the quick growth in Vietnam’s upper class.

Our Investment Advice:
Foreign realtors can leverage favorable conditions of Vietnam’s mushrooming real estate industry by investing in properties and yielding positive ROI over the next 10 years.

Continue reading Buy Property in Vietnam as a Foreigner: Why and How.

3. Tourism and Hospitality

The tourism and hospitality sector in Vietnam is witnessing a rise in the interest of investors. In the period 2022-2026, the country’s hotel market is expected to grow by USD 2.12 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.43%.

The Vietnamese hotel industry is being driven by several factors, including rising disposable income, increasing affordability, and growing foreign investment. 

Essentially Vietnam still has visa restrictions and does not promote its tourism industry

Our Investment Advice:
Entrepreneurs looking for new horizons in the Tourism sector can invest in the development of Tech-based booking platforms

4. Dropshipping & Fulfilment

As reported by the Vietnam General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s economy expanded by 5.03% in the first quarter of 2022, beating China’s growth rate of 4.8%. China’s loss of foreign investment and increase in foreign companies moving out of the country has been recently compounded by it’s zero-covid policy 

With cheaper land-buying rights, labor wages, and operational expenses for factories, Vietnam may soon replace China as the world’s manufacturing hub. As a result, many drop shipping agents will also migrate to Vietnam.

Moreover, Vietnam’s foreign trade rose to USD 176.35 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 14.4% from a year earlier. On the other hand, Chinese foreign trade increased only by 10.7%.

RELATED READING: Vietnam: One of the Most Promising Startup Hubs in Southeast Asia

5. Export Industry

Vietnam is the second largest exporter of coffee in the world. Many products sourced and produced in the nation are in high demand, including rice, rubber, leather, timber, electronics, and textiles.  Thanks to its ratification of 14 free trade agreements with over 50 countries around the globe, including the new Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement, exports from Vietnam are booming thanks the new drop in tarrifs. Finally, Vietnam is a cost-effective place for production due to its cheap labor and land prices, as well as its attractive tax incentives.

Our Investment Advice:

Vietnam will continue to be a destination for supply chain diversification and an attractive market for foreign investment in the days to come. With the manufacturing switch from China to Vietnam, Amazon forwarding services (FBA) are likely to be in high demand soon and now would be the right time to invest.

This article was published in March 2019, and was updated with newer and more accurate information in October 2022.

Originally published: 10 March 2019, latest update: 28 October 2022

About Us

InCorp Vietnam (formerly Cekindo) is a leading provider of global market entry services. We are part of InCorp group, a regional leader in corporate solutions, that encompasses 8 countries in Asia-Pacific, headquartered in Singapore. With over 1,100 legal experts serving over 15,000 Corporate Clients across the region, our expertise speaks for itself. We provide transparent legal consulting, setup, and advice based on local requirements to make your business perfectly fit into the market with healthy growth.

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