Boyer & Associates is pleased to welcome another member to the team. Alex Nhan joins as an associate consultant for Business Central. From sushi chef to business analyst to small business owner, his winding path to consulting has given him plenty of experience.
After getting a degree in business administration and finance, Nhan took a detour to spend the next few years traveling the world as a sushi chef.
He eventually returned to his home in California and landed a job as a business analyst. He got his first look at Microsoft Dynamics ERP in 2016 while working with a consultant who did updates on Dynamics NAV.
“I got my feet wet there,” he said.
But the food industry was calling his name again. In 2017, he moved to Colombia and opened first one, then two Vietnamese Pho restaurants. With his business background and restaurant experience, both businesses thrived for five years — until the Covid pandemic arrived.
“I just saw it as an opportunity to do something different and something fun and something challenging,” Nhan said. “Everything was going great until covid came down.”
Nhan said the service industry in Colombia received no help from the government. After nine months of “bleeding money and stress,” he closed the doors on his restaurant business.
He did some more traveling before returning to California to brush up on his accounting skills. With his knowledge of NAV, he taught himself the intricacies of the ERP’s cloud counterpart, Dynamics 365 Business Central. He recently earned his Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant certificate from Microsoft.
Nhan said he’s always loved business concepts and processes. “I know its geeky, but I love to improve processes and I love to improve businesses. That’s what I enjoy,” he said.
Nhan discovered Boyer as he was searching online for top Microsoft partners. He sent resumes to ones specializing in Business Central, including Boyer. Eventually, he landed an interview and the job as an associate consultant for Business Central.
“I’m excited to join the Boyer team and just want to bring some value to the company and the clients. I’m excited to get to work,” Nhan said.
So far he’s enjoying the job, but he is missing the onsite connection he had in the days of working with on-premise NAV.
“That part was enjoyable to me just going and meeting the people,” he said. For now, he will settle for remote meetings with Boyer’s staff and clients.
When he’s not traveling the world, Nhan lives in Long Beach, Ca. with his dog Lou, whom he describes as a shag dog like Benji.
He loves to travel and considers himself a foodie. His motto is, “You have to try everything at least twice.” After all, the first time could simply be a bad restaurant or cook, he explained.
Nhan’s favorite place to travel is Florence, Italy, because he says one can wander in any direction and discover fun little gems. His favorite memory is coming across a tiny little shop where a grandma was sitting outside making focaccia. “It was the best day I’ve ever had in that country,” he said.
Besides cooking, Nhan spends most of his free time outside, hiking/running or snowboarding. He’s just a few minutes from a nice walk along the beach and less than two hours from the mountains.
