“Since coming to Southeast Asia, I’ve just followed my interests and kept trying to learn new things,” says expat partner Oscar Araujo, a business consultant who has got used to relocation.
The big move
“When we relocated from Amsterdam to Yangon at the end of 2017, I had to step away from a full-time job, which is always a big move. I could never have known what opportunities would come my way in Myanmar, so I just had to trust my instincts and see what happened,” says Oscar, now a resident of Ho Chi Minh City. “I have a background in project management, communications and IT development, so basically what I now do as a consultant is put that all together to help business owners. My clients tend to be entrepreneurs with great ideas but who are, on one side, a bit intimidated by IT and on the other not very excited about the minutiae of day-to-day business operations.”
Less is more
“With what I do, you have to look under the hood of a business and see how everything works. That means I need to get to know a potential client well before they hire me. Establishing trust takes time, so patience is required,” says Oscar, who lived in Singapore before relocating to Vietnam in August 2024. “But the other day in Ho Chi Minh City, I saw a tailor’s slogan: ‘I don’t have many customers but I have those customers for life.’ I share this philosophy! It’s quality, not quantity.”
Keeping busy
“Whenever you relocate, you’re temporarily uprooted and you don’t have any structure. Personally, I’ve always found it beneficial to keep busy by learning new things. For example, I didn’t know how to build a website, so I figured that out. I’ve always liked ERPs (like SAP and ODOO), which offer a range of business management software tools, so I did a course to receive certification from ODOO with the support of the expatriating company, for which I’m very grateful,” says Oscar, who also lived in Bangkok. “The nice thing about experiencing living and working in a number of different countries is definitely the people you meet. One of my best friends, Reungrit Ekahitanond is a repat partner, a music producer from Thailand, who I met in Yangon, and I’m still closely collaborating with a Burmese entrepreneur who is expanding her Myanmar-based business to other countries. Now I’m in Vietnam, so let’s see who I meet and find out what happens next.”
Photos: Oscar Araujo
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