Investing in Your Life Like a Banking Queen

Palamy Souannavong

“Investing in Your Life Like a Banking Queen”

Our banking queen for this issue is Mrs Palamy Souannavong, currently holding a position of a member for the Board of Directors at BCEL. Madam Palamy has been working with BCEL for more than 34 years. Mainly, she has been taking care of the credit committee, letter of credit and loan departments.

Investing in the change:

After graduating with my Political Economics degree from France, I returned home and realized that I didn’t want to work in politics. I decided to join Indo-China bank which subsequently became BCEL.

Started working life:

I did almost all of the roles in the bank from front office to back office. During the first few years, I worked at front office; was involved in a lot of customer service duties. After a few years, I was transferred to the credit department which was considered to be middle office and in the last decade I supported the team from back office.

One time significant investment in your life:

Working with the same organization for more than 30 years makes me know people, networks, firm and industry inside out. You cannot hear or read these experiences from others; you have to experience it on your own. It takes a lot of time and efforts to truly reach your achievement. I’ve seen how market grows, declines, matures all the cycles, you name it.

Successful Investor as a Mother and Wife:

I think it’s true for many people that family is the first priority in life. It’s also true for me. My husband and I invested in education for our children significantly. We supported them both mentally and financially. We are very fortunate that our children are successful in their academics, careers and social lives. This is a major investment that I enjoy the percentage of return.

Before I became a member of Board of Directors; I tried to work 8 hours a day and tried not to work over time or overworked; but I had to ensure the professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness. When I came home I enjoyed a company of my husband (before he passed away) and my children. Now, I love to spend time with my grandchildren: Parisa Rasphone and Avida Souannavong.

And I also invest for my enjoyment in home decoration, gardening, exercising and having organic foods.

Tips for success:

Having your work life balance, setting your goals, having a clear life plan and get advice from other people who know better.

Cyberia - Think Big, Start from Small

Cyberia

“Think Big, Start from Small”

Cyberia is one of the first IT consulting companies, which is a 100% Lao owned and operated by local professional staff who have been trained in overseas. When the business initially started, it caught a significant interest from people in public. For further information please visit: www.atcyberia.com

When did you spot the opportunity to start this business?

In 1999, we noticed that internet cafes were booming in Laos, but there was no complete IT consulting service provided in the country. With qualifications, skills and networks that we have established in Laos, we considered demand for IT services by comparing Laos to other countries regarding to technology implementation in real business situation, we found an opportunity to open an IT consulting firm. Our goal is to become a leader in IT sector in Southeast Asia region.

How did Cyberia start?

The business started in a form of partnership called “Cyberia” by using personal funding among friends who specialized in Information Technology field. Few years later, the team decided to change the company from partnership to a corporation and named “Cyberia Company Limited”.

Cyberia management team was not only thinking of creating a new venture, but we were thinking of how our action could impact the economy and technological industry in our country, Laos. We see that when people or large companies would like to use IT services, they only think of international IT consulting companies, but we would like to change a perception of people and corporations in Laos to use local IT service providers.

Which strategy did you choose to start the business?

Cyberia started by using Resource Minimization Strategy, with low start-up costs, and therefore, the business did not seem to face high risk. This is another factor in which we decided to put efforts and move forward to the venture.

What was the main concern when the business started?

We understand the fact that the team has a strong technical knowledge. However, we do not have sales, marketing and business management experiences, and hence, it was difficult for the business to promote products and services because we did not know how to launch such a marketing campaign at the beginning.

What is the emphasis of Cyberia working culture?

Professionalism, quality of employees, demand in the market and changes in technology

How did you really operate your business?

Just start with small things first and see how it grows, then gradually move forward for a bigger thing, but never stop moving forward. The company always has back-up and contingency plans when we take a certain action. This is important for a consulting company because the company can evaluate what the best alternative would be for making decisions and also back-up plans would help manage risks and minimize losses when things go wrong.

When you cannot solve problems which are not in your area of expertise, you need to outsource or seek professional advice. If you have to pay for such services, do not hesitate otherwise the problem will stay with you for a long time and result in other failures.

What are your recommendations?

Firstly, you need to do things step by step, gradually and steadily expand your ventures while you have to prepare for back-up. Secondly, you need to have strong knowledge, build a good management style and appropriate internal control mechanisms. Finally, you need to get the right people to work for you in order for the business to succeed.

“It is not easy to be at the top, but it is harder to maintain being at the top”

Cyberia, a leading IT solutions provider in Laos today, still plans to expand itself and maintain its reputation in Southeast Asia.

Introduction to Money Talk Blog

Greetings from Methouna Business Consulting Group,

We always hear people say "Money is not the most important thing in life", we neither agree nor disagree; however, money and people are significantly inter-related.

We would like to encourage the participation of young people from Laos and from all over the world to ask, to comment, to argue and to educate one another.

We try to gather information about money, finance, business and other economic issues that occur in Laos to share with you; so that you can comment and expand the scope of knowledge more intelligently.

Thank you very much and best regards,

Nana Souphaphone Souannavong