CEO Mai Quoc Binh - Differentiation leads to greater heights.
From a barren rural background, haunted by worries about food and clothing, businessman Mai Quoc Binh has strived to become the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Gioi Giay, SkyB Group, and Sachi Queen, while also being the Co-founder of 11 startup businesses in the consumer goods, agriculture, and retail sectors. How did he go from a meager capital of 30 million VND to a multi-million dollar enterprise? That is the inspiring story of Mai Quoc Binh's self-taught journey of rise in Ho Chi Minh City.
Le Xuan -Technique:Hong ToaiOctober 12, 2025
Born in Anh Son into a family plagued by poverty, Mai Quoc Binh graduated from the College of Economics in 2007 with only a Martin bicycle as his sole asset. A new business idea suddenly came to him during a chance visit to the supermarket: why should consumers have to carry paper rolls home instead of having a dedicated delivery service? Quick-witted and bold, Mai Quoc Binh soon established The World of Paper Company. Naming it The World of Paper, the young man aspired to bring Vietnamese paper to the world and the best paper from around the world to Vietnamese consumers. But that was also a mistake, because when he thought he had it all, he had nothing. The company couldn't provide what customers needed, and the products it offered were things customers didn't need. The initial capital was only 30 million dong, collected from relatives and friends from selling pigs, cows, and agricultural products. In just over a month, that 30 million dong was gone, leaving him completely penniless.
To continue or to stop? A debt of 30 million dong, for someone who had already failed, became a huge sum. How to get the next capital to restart the stalled business? To solve this problem, he had to gamble all of his family's existing assets, mortgaging a plot of land in Anh Son, to start a new venture.
With 30 million VND, he liquidated his entire inventory, and the only product he chose to sell this time was... toilet paper. His nickname, "Toilet Paper Bình," originated from that day. A large shipment at a good price, coupled with product promotion from the company's official website and a team of enthusiastic and persistent sales staff, gave him a relatively smooth start to his next venture.
From the very beginning, Mai Quoc Binh worked up to 18 hours a day. Until 2016, every morning he would arrive at the office, carrying a stack of orders, with two phones and three SIM cards, and work diligently until late at night. He believes that if a person lives without a mission, life will be incredibly dull and meaningless, a life of aimless wandering before fading into oblivion. A business born without a mission will never grow, remaining stuck in the state of merely making a living day by day. Therefore, when choosing a product or field to do business in, Mai Quoc Binh first asks himself five questions: Will the business benefit the environment? Will it bring benefits to the nation and contribute to changing the world's perception of a Vietnamese product? Will the business bring profit to his team? What benefits will it bring to partners and customers? By answering those questions, Mai Quoc Binh is exploring and experimenting in a completely different direction, creating a superior competitive advantage for himself. With this principle, he has researched and created new products that address customers' "pain points."
Now, multi-purpose tissue boxes are available everywhere, in hospitals, in offices, offering convenience and hygiene with their dust-free and water-repellent features. This idea came to Mr. Mai Quoc Binh quite by chance, when he went to wash his face in a restroom at his workplace. Instead of a towel, all he saw was a hand dryer. Seeing this inadequacy, a new and bold idea suddenly struck him.
Mai Quoc Binh has launched Roto, a multi-purpose paper towel that can also be used for wiping the face. The product is now available in most office, factory, and industrial restrooms across Vietnam. Not stopping there, with a mission to serve the public more broadly, he explored the hospital market. He observed that doctors use towels before and after examinations. Using disposable cloth towels was costly, costing 2,000-3,000 VND per use, and reusing them didn't meet hospital standards. He successfully advised doctors to use paper towels instead of cloth towels, saving a significant amount of money while still ensuring medical safety.
To solve the problem of reducing costs for customers, Mr. Mai Quoc Binh researched and found that some developed countries use large rolls of toilet paper in public restrooms. This product helps save paper, reduce waste, eliminate worries about paper loss, and create a clean and luxurious space for restrooms. In 2011, Mai Quoc Binh launched An Khang large roll toilet paper. This is the first large roll toilet paper brand in Vietnam, helping thousands of organizations and businesses save 20-30% on monthly paper costs compared to regular toilet paper products. The product is favored and regularly used by agencies and organizations.
In its early days, The Paper World was one of the pioneers in the field of online sales. Although the company's website wasn't particularly eye-catching, it was full of energy. Every day, after work, Mai Quoc Binh set a goal of writing and posting three articles. Customers searched more frequently, and his company sold more. To raise capital for the company, he dedicated almost all of his time to work without accepting a salary, adopting a minimalist lifestyle and using the money to keep the company running and growing. In this way, over 10 years, from an initial capital of only 30 million VND, The Paper World was valued by experts at nearly 30 million USD.
To achieve that success, Mai Quoc Binh went through many hardships. In 2011, all he owned was 300 million VND. At that time, he wanted to produce large rolls of toilet paper, but buying the machinery alone would cost 1.5 billion VND, not including the factory and other expenses. Having no other choice, he went to meet with the directors of various paper mills, persuading them to produce for him. It took six months before someone agreed to cooperate. With the new machinery, large rolls of toilet paper were mass-produced, but not a single roll sold. Customers had never used such large rolls of paper before; they were unfamiliar with the new product and asked him, "What is this?" In this deadlock, he realized that the origin of this type of toilet paper was overseas, so he sought out companies with foreign direct investment (FDI). Fortunately, they were also looking for this product and introduced him to many other companies. Gradually, the company's sales increased.
The Paper World company held a large market share in the corporate/organizational (KA) sales channel. Business was booming until the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted everything. Manufacturing businesses and large companies were virtually shut down for extended periods. The company's sales plummeted from 20 billion VND per month to just 2 billion VND per month. Undeterred, Mai Quoc Binh quickly shifted his business target, from companies and organizations to households in apartment buildings and urban areas. The product met the demand perfectly, as people couldn't go to supermarkets or stores due to the pandemic. This wise decision helped Paper World gradually recover and expand its customer base.
The pandemic caused a surge in demand for paper, and many companies took advantage of the situation by raising prices and reducing quality. However, The World of Paper remained steadfast in its philosophy of not raising prices, ensuring standard raw materials from Indonesia, and minimizing waste. Always prioritizing and protecting customer interests, providing timely supply, and offering numerous preferential policies, The World of Paper has become the "unspoken choice" supplier for hospitals, organizations, and businesses.
In 2020, The World of Paper received investment capital from its partner Oita Paper Co. Ltd – the third largest paper company in Japan. However, Mai Quoc Binh did not consider technology or finance to be The World of Paper's strengths. To maintain its leading position, Mai Quoc Binh established unwavering working principles for his team: Dedication, Integrity, Trust, Creativity, and Development.
Despite being a small company, The Paper World allocates a significant budget to employee training. A keen learner, Mai Quoc Binh leads his team in continuous learning. "No one succeeds alone," he believes, and therefore invites experts for internal training, while also personally teaching and sharing his experience with employees. Many employees have changed their outlook on life and work methods while working at The Paper World. The company has become a home, where each employee works and connects for a common mission. Unlike other companies, The Paper World has many humane regulations. For example, if an employee unfortunately passes away, their family will receive a subsidy of 5 million VND and 50% of their monthly salary until their children reach adulthood.
Mai Quoc Binh believes: "If you can't package your system and keep expanding, you're just duplicating the problem." Thanks to this approach, Mai Quoc Binh has now developed and expanded his company sustainably. Currently, in addition to paper production and supply, he also engages in agriculture and participates in 16 other business sectors such as: consumer goods retail, business consulting, startup training, etc., effectively.
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Alongside business development, CEO Mai Quoc Binh always believes that happiness comes from sharing and bringing value to others. Therefore, The World of Paper's business activities are always linked to environmental protection, social responsibility, and community building. The company implemented a program to donate free paper to hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a total value of up to 3 billion VND. He also visited families in difficult circumstances, sharing small gifts filled with warmth and compassion. Mai Quoc Binh returned to his hometown and built useful projects to further enhance life skills for children in the highlands, such as green libraries and summer swimming pools in Anh Son commune. He hopes to inspire the children, showing them that hard work and effort will one day lead to success, and that success is already evident in their daily lives, studies, and playtime…
To date, CEO Mai Quoc Binh's main concern isn't competitive pressure or financial issues, but rather the risk of falling behind as the market and customer demands constantly change, especially in the last two years with the remarkable development of artificial intelligence (AI). At The Gioi Giay (World of Paper), he has applied AI to almost all operational processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase competitiveness. While in the early days of his startup, he focused on work, now he dedicates a significant amount of time to learning. For the past five years, he has spent 60-80 days each year attending courses. He attends in-person classes five days a month, not including 1-3 hours of online self-study each day. He believes that learning can help improve and upgrade oneself, thereby enabling adaptation to future changes.
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From a poor rural area where hunger and poverty were still a constant threat, Mai Quoc Binh is now the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Gioi Giay, SkyB Group, and Sachi Queen, as well as the co-founder of 11 startup businesses in the consumer goods, agriculture, and retail sectors. Through his efforts to rise above adversity and his continuous learning, Mai Quoc Binh is writing a beautiful story of a Nghe An entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City.
