Vietnamese for Business Owners: Networking, Negotiation and Fundraising

You have been in Hà Nội for three weeks. The lease is signed, two suppliers have sent samples, and tonight you are at a dinner held by a business association. The man next to you hands over a name card with both hands, says Em xin phép giới thiệu, em là Nam, bên phân phối, and waits. Around the table people call each other anh, chị and em, and nobody says 'you' the way your textbook did.

A week later you are in a meeting with the same man, and you offer him a price. He nods and says Anh để em về bàn lại với sếp nhé. In English that sounds like a polite pause, and it often is one. It also tells you something about how decisions are made on his side, and what you should ask next. Business Vietnamese is full of lines like this, short and indirect, that carry more than their words.

This article is for owners and founders who work with Vietnamese partners, suppliers, distributors and investors, whether the business is in Vietnam or sells to it. It starts with the words for 'I', 'you' and 'we', which shape every negotiation. Then come four vocabulary tables that cover all 40 words of the practice set, five grammar patterns, four situations with translations (a networking dinner, a price negotiation, a pitch and a Zalo follow-up), and a practice plan.

• Anh, chị, em and 'we': the words that decide a Vietnamese business conversation
• Forty words in four stages of a deal
• Five patterns for the negotiating table
• Four situations, with translations
• How to practise while the business runs
• Questions owners ask
• One thing to do this week

Anh, chị, em and 'we': the words that decide a Vietnamese business conversation

Vietnamese uses family terms where English has a single 'you'. People pick one by relative age and add a name, so a man a few years older than you is anh Nam, a woman older than you is chị Hương, and someone younger is em Lan. For yourself you use tôi in neutral or formal talk, or the matching family term (em to someone older) when you want to sound closer. If you are unsure of someone's age, look at the person and choose, then listen to what they call you. They will correct you gently if you are off.

The last two rows matter more than they look. Vietnamese has two kinds of 'we'. Chúng tôi means we and not you, so it draws a line between the two sides of a negotiation. Chúng ta and mình include the listener, so they sound like teamwork. A buyer who says mình is inviting you to look at a problem together, and one who says bên em is speaking for the company in front of you. The word bên (side, party) is the simplest way to talk about companies: bên mua is the buying party, bên bán the selling party.

Titles help when you do not know who is who. The head of a company is giám đốc, a department head trưởng phòng, and behind the boss's back people say sếp. In a first meeting use anh or chị plus the name, and add the title if the card shows one: chị Hương, giám đốc. Business cards (danh thiếp) are usually handed over and received with both hands, and it is polite to read the card for a moment before putting it away.

Forty words in four stages of a deal

The four tables follow the order of a typical deal: meeting people, negotiating, fixing delivery and payment, then money and investors. They cover every word in the practice set, with the same English meaning the set uses, so what you read here is what the game asks later. The example sentences are the kind a foreign owner says to a partner, in neutral polite Vietnamese. Thousands are separated by a dot in Vietnamese numbers, so 1.000 means one thousand.

Stage 1: meeting and introducing

Two pairs are easy to confuse. Đối tác (partner) and đối thủ (competitor) start the same and differ only in the last word, so check the tone and the second syllable. And giới thiệu covers both introducing a person and presenting a product, which is why you will hear it in both situations.

Stage 2: proposals, concessions and terms

One surprise: hoa hồng also means 'rose' (the flower). Context settles it, and tiền hoa hồng makes the money meaning explicit. Chốt đơn is informal and common in sales talk. In a written contract the same idea is signed, not chốt. When you need contract wording, Vietnamese for legal work goes through it clause by clause.

Stage 3: delivery and international payment

Three more words come up in almost every Vietnamese price talk. Đặt cọc means to put down a deposit, and cọc 30% is a common request. Hóa đơn đỏ ('red invoice') is the everyday name for a VAT invoice, and people still say it even though most invoices are now electronic. And prices are quoted either đã bao gồm VAT (including VAT) or chưa VAT (before VAT), so always ask which. If your business buys from Vietnamese factories, Vietnamese for sourcing covers the factory side of this.

Stage 4: money, investors and follow-up

Vietnamese founders mix English and Vietnamese freely in this area, which is why pitch, startup and term sheet appear unchanged. You will also hear vòng hạt giống or simply vòng seed for a first round, and vòng A for the next. The investor-side words in the table, nhà đầu tư, định giá and cổ phần, are fully Vietnamese and you should use them in writing.

Five patterns for the negotiating table

1. Softeners: giúp, được không, hơi, một chút

English speakers tend to give Vietnamese partners short commands because the English words ('send me the price') sound neutral. In Vietnamese the bare version is blunt. A request becomes polite with giúp (help), a closing được không or nhé, and a softener like một chút or hơi before a complaint.

The Vietnamese for 'no' is often built from khó (difficult) or hơi khó. If your partner says hơi khó anh ạ, treat it as a real no unless they follow it with a condition.

2. Nếu ... thì ..., miễn là and với điều kiện là

Trading a concession for something in return is the centre of any negotiation. The basic frame is nếu (if) in the first clause and thì (then) in the second. For a firmer condition, use miễn là (as long as) or với điều kiện là (on the condition that).

• Nếu anh đặt từ 1.000 cái thì chúng tôi giảm 5%. (If you order 1,000 pieces or more, we will reduce the price by 5%.)
• Chúng tôi đồng ý độc quyền với điều kiện là anh đặt tối thiểu 300 cái mỗi quý. (We agree to exclusivity on the condition that you order at least 300 pieces a quarter.)
• Miễn là hàng đến trước ngày 15 thì chúng tôi nhận. (As long as the goods arrive before the 15th, we will accept them.)

English speakers often leave out thì and put two clauses side by side, which is understandable but sounds like a list. Another trap is word order for the condition: the condition comes first in Vietnamese, so Chúng tôi giảm 5% nếu anh đặt 1.000 cái is also correct but sounds more like an afterthought than an offer.

3. Numbers: nghìn, triệu, tỷ, rưỡi and the dot

Business Vietnamese uses large numbers all the time, and mistakes cost money. Thousands are separated by a dot (1.000.000), and the decimal sign is a comma (5,5%). Say nghìn in the north and ngàn in the south for thousand.

Some small digits change when they come after a ten. Five becomes lăm (mười lăm, 15; hai mươi lăm, 25), and one becomes mốt after twenty (hai mươi mốt, 21). Fourteen is mười bốn, while tư often appears in 24 as hai mươi tư and in 'fourth', thứ tư. When a figure matters, repeat it and ask the other person to write it down.

4. Classifiers for deals: cuộc, bản, lô, đơn, khoản

Vietnamese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and each type of business item has its own. The ones you need are short.

English speakers tend to say hai đàm phán or một đề xuất without the classifier, because English counts nouns directly. Một bản đề xuất and hai cuộc đàm phán are the right forms. If you are unsure, say the noun alone with no number and the sentence stays correct.

5. Sẽ, đã, đang, chưa for promises and status

Vietnamese verbs do not change form for tense, so you add a small marker when timing matters. In business, sẽ carries a promise, đã reports something done, đang means in progress and chưa means not yet. Committing with sẽ is meaningful: Tôi sẽ gửi báo giá trước thứ Sáu is a promise a Vietnamese partner will remember.

• Tôi sẽ gửi mẫu trong tuần này. (I will send the samples this week.)
• Chúng tôi đã chuyển khoản đặt cọc rồi. (We have already transferred the deposit.)
• Bên chúng tôi đang chờ ý kiến của giám đốc. (Our side is waiting for the director's opinion.)
• Mẫu chưa đến. (The samples have not arrived yet.)

A common error is saying không where chưa is needed. Mẫu không đến means the samples did not come (and will not), while Mẫu chưa đến means they are late. For a follow-up message, chưa is almost always the word you want.

Four situations, with translations

Situation 1: a networking dinner in Hà Nội

You are at an event run by a business association. Chị Hương runs a food-trading company.

Notice anh ấy (he) for a third person, and the way Chị Hương asks Anh sang Việt Nam lâu chưa? as an easy opening. Small talk here often starts with how long you have been in Vietnam, where you are staying, and whether you have tried the local food.

Situation 2: a price negotiation with a distributor

Two things to take from this. Anh Nam says bớt cho em, and bớt is the everyday word for asking someone to lower a price. And his last line, để em về bàn lại với sếp, is the Vietnamese version of 'let me take it back to my boss'. Asking for a day and an hour, as the speaker does at the end, is how you tell a real follow-up from a polite goodbye.

Situation 3: a pitch to a local angel investor

The figures are examples. Do the sum for 6 tỷ yourself: it is 6.000.000.000 đồng, six billion. Vietnamese investors usually ask for a short deck and numbers you can back up, and some will ask who else sits on the cap table before they ask about the product.

Situation 4: a Zalo message after the meeting

Chào anh Nam, cảm ơn anh đã dành thời gian hôm nay.
Tôi gửi anh bảng giá và hình ảnh mẫu ở bên dưới. Mẫu sẽ được gửi đến văn phòng của anh trong tuần này.
Thứ Năm tôi sẽ liên hệ lại với anh để xác nhận điều kiện thanh toán. Chúc anh một buổi tối vui vẻ.

Translation: thank you for your time today, the price list and sample photos are below, the samples will reach your office this week, I will get back in touch on Thursday to confirm the payment terms, and have a good evening. Zalo is the usual channel for quick follow-ups in Vietnam, but quotations, agreements and anything with a figure that matters are also worth sending by email, so both sides have a record.

How to practise while the business runs

Start with the 40 words: play Falling Stars and Pop It with the business owner set for a few minutes at a time, and say each word aloud, since tones are what separate đối tác from đối thủ for a listener. Then read the second situation aloud in both roles and record yourself. The lines with nếu ... thì and giúp tôi một chút được không are the ones to repeat until they come without thinking.

For listening, the podcasts on WELE let you hear real Vietnamese at natural speed, which is faster and less clear than a classroom recording. Copy a short passage line by line and check it. For structure, see the courses, and take the vocabulary test to see where your word base is. The VPT mock test measures listening and reading, but it will not tell you whether you can ask for a discount politely, so treat the score as a rough marker only.

Other resources are worth using. VietnamesePod101 has audio lessons by situation. Business associations such as EuroCham and AmCham hold events in Hà Nội and Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh where you can practise in a low-pressure setting, and many of the people there will switch to English if you ask. If your daily work is in an office, Vietnamese for office workers covers that side. All the professions are on the professions page, and this one on the business owner page.

Questions owners ask

Do I need Vietnamese to run a business in Vietnam?

You can start without it. Many partners, especially in export and tech, work in English. But the day-to-day talk with suppliers, staff and officials happens in Vietnamese, and a business owner who understands even a little of it hears things that the English-speaking contact does not translate. The word set in this article is the minimum that covers meetings, prices and money.

How do I address a partner when I do not know their age?

Use anh for a man or chị for a woman with the name, and listen to what they call you. If you cannot tell, anh and chị are safe for most adults in business. You can also ask directly, Tôi nên gọi anh là gì cho phù hợp? (What should I call you?), and most people appreciate the question.

What does 'để em bàn lại với sếp' mean?

Literally, let me go back and discuss it with my boss. It can be a genuine need for approval or a polite way to pause. Ask a specific question to tell which: Khi nào anh có thể cho tôi câu trả lời? (When can you give me an answer?). A partner who names a day usually means it.

Is bargaining expected in business deals?

In many trades a first price is the start of a conversation, and asking for bớt một chút (a little off) is normal. What matters is that each concession is paired with something in return, such as volume or faster payment. A blunt demand for a lower price without offering anything often ends the talk.

How do I read large figures like 5 tỷ or 50k?

Tỷ is a billion, so 5 tỷ is 5.000.000.000. K is shorthand for nghìn, so 50k is 50.000 đồng. In Vietnam the dot separates thousands, so 1.250.000 is one million two hundred and fifty thousand. When in doubt, ask Mức đó là bao nhiêu triệu? (How many million is that?) and have it written down.

Should I pitch in Vietnamese or English?

Many Vietnamese founders and investors are comfortable with English, and decks are often in English. If your audience is local or older, opening in Vietnamese for a minute and then switching often earns goodwill. Ask the organiser which language the room prefers.

One thing to do this week

Play one round of the business owner set at Falling Stars, then write down three sentences with nếu ... thì ... about the next concession you might offer a partner, and say them aloud.