God-Given Business Genius

“Here’s the first one!”

Hmm. I glanced around. Office buildings lined the area.

It’s slightly off the main street. I can guess the selection criteria.

“Isn’t In-cheol’s place in a similar area? Since we’re opening the same kind of shop, I thought a similar location might work well.”

The idea itself is quite commendable. It’s typical for a beginner, but it shows he’s put some thought into it.

“From that perspective, the location isn’t bad. With many office workers around, weekday business should be decent…”

“Right?”

Kim Jong-chun’s eyes sparkled at my words.

“The shop size is similar to In-cheol’s too. The premium is relatively low, and there aren’t any similar soup shops nearby. I waited here for a few days to check the foot traffic, and it seemed pretty good.”

He really tried hard. He seemed to have done his best, picking up bits of information and checking things out himself. I felt bad for Kim Jong-chun, who was looking at me with bright, expectant eyes, but…

“This won’t work.”

“Huh? Why?”

“In-cheol’s shop location isn’t particularly good. They’ve been established there for a long time, so it can’t be helped, but you’re just starting out. There’s no reason to choose a subpar commercial area.”

“It’s a bad area?”

Of course. I explained the reasons step by step.

“Basically, office districts are hard to call good commercial areas. That’s because weekend business is poor.”

“Ah…!”

“The main customer base, office workers, only come around here on weekdays. In-cheol’s place is okay because there are some residential officetels mixed in, but this area is just companies. Weekend sales won’t happen here.”

“I see.”

Of course, if there’s another trump card to compensate for a poor location, it could work.

For example, if word spreads about a signature menu item only available at that shop, customers might come from far away.

‘But that’s not a suitable business model for a franchise.’

That’s only possible for individual businesses. No one’s going to travel far for franchise food.

‘Uniqueness’ and ‘franchise’ are inherently conflicting values.

That’s why franchises need to be in much more accessible locations.

“What about the second one?”

“Ah, it’s this way!”

Following Kim Jong-chun, we arrived at the second candidate location. A much more open main street came into view.

I checked my watch. 10 AM. Even on a weekday morning, the foot traffic was decent.

‘The age range… is quite diverse.’

Not a bad sign.

“It’s on the second floor here.”

Kim Jong-chun pointed to the second floor of a building occupying a corner of the main street. It seemed to have been a piano academy before, with posters still stuck here and there.

“The owner suddenly fell ill and put the place up for sale. Since they’re in a hurry to sell, the price is good. Of course, it’s much more expensive than the place we just saw…”

“That’s inevitable since the commercial area is better.”

“It’s a good area, right?”

Kim Jong-chun looked at me with a proud smile. His confidence that ‘this place should be good enough’ was slightly visible.

But…

“This one’s out too.”

“Why?!”

This time, Kim Jong-chun whined that it was the place he had ambitiously prepared. He seemed hurt that I was rejecting the results of his days of legwork after just a quick look.

Still, if it’s not right, it’s not right.

“First, the fact that it’s on the second floor.”

“In-cheol’s place is on the second floor too!”

“That second floor and this one are different. Look at the width of these stairs.”

I pointed to the stairs inside the building as I spoke.

“They’re much steeper than the building In-cheol’s in, aren’t they?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“There’s no elevator in this building either. Climbing stairs like these will ruin elderly people’s knees. Can we have a soup shop where it’s difficult for the elderly to come?”

The building housing In-cheol’s soup shop has lower ceilings on each floor, making the stairs less daunting.

But newer buildings tend to have higher ceilings, which inevitably makes the stairs higher too.

Even with the same number of steps, steeper stairs are much more challenging.

“It’s already less accessible being on the second floor, and with stairs like these… Would you feel like coming here to eat? I certainly wouldn’t.”

“Ugh.”

Unable to let go, Kim Jong-chun countered once more.

“But there are apartments nearby, aren’t there?”

Kim Jong-chun pointed behind us. Looking over, I saw some quite luxurious apartments.

The name sounded familiar; they seemed to be a brand apartment complex from a major construction company.

“…What’s the size of those units?”

“Huh?”

Kim Jong-chun looked confused at the sudden question.

“Why ask about the size? Are you interested in those apartments? They must be expensive…”

“You think I’m asking because I want to live there?”

“Then why?”

“The size of the apartments affects the formation of the commercial area. From what I can see, these look like quite large units. Am I right?”

Kim Jong-chun quickly searched on his phone and nodded.

“Yeah, seems so.”

“As you said, areas near apartments are generally good for business. That’s because apartment residents somewhat guarantee weekend sales.”

Kim Jong-chun enthusiastically agreed. Yes, yes.

“However, I don’t really recommend high-end apartments.”

“Why? Isn’t it the opposite? Wouldn’t people living in luxury apartments have more money and boost sales even more?”

“It’s easy to think that way.”

But that analysis shows a lack of understanding about customers. Without a clear understanding of the target demographic, it’s easy to make such misconceptions.

“If you were opening a high-end beef restaurant or an elegant traditional Korean restaurant, it would make sense to set up near a place like that. But we’re opening a soup shop, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And not the kind serving expensive rib soup for over 10,000 won a bowl. We’re talking about an affordable soup shop competing on value for money.”

“Ah…!”

Kim Jong-chun’s eyes widened as if he had caught on to what I was trying to say.

“The basic business principle for soup shops is high volume, low margin. That means the per-customer spending isn’t high. So we need customers with high turnover rates—those who eat quickly and leave quickly.”

I smiled gently as I delivered the conclusion.

“In other words, our soup shop and those apartments have completely different target demographics.”

“I see!”

Kim Jong-chun exclaimed as if he’d had an epiphany. It’s not just about the ‘apartments.’ What matters is who lives in those apartments and what kind of customers they are.

‘I made the same mistake in the past, doing business in a high-end apartment complex’s commercial area.’

I ran a pork spine soup restaurant, but while nearby shops were bustling with people, ours remained quiet.

Later, I found out that all the other places were selling high-end Korean beef barbecue, grilled eel, ginseng chicken soup, and such menus.

Our pork spine soup shop stuck out like a sore thumb among them.

Naturally, our profit margins couldn’t compete.

It was a painful lesson learned back then. Well, at least I could use that experience to help Kim Jong-chun avoid making a similar mistake.

“I see…!”

Kim Jong-chun nodded, absorbing the information. His gaze towards me held a hint of reverence.

“How do you know all this, Woo-yeon?”

“…I learned it on YouTube.”

“Maybe I should watch YouTube too.”

Ahem. That stings my conscience a bit. It’s not entirely untrue. Before my regression, I did share my business know-how through YouTube…

Perhaps someday, Song Woo-yeon TV will launch again.

“Um… Woo-yeon. These two were all the candidates I found.”

Kim Jong-chun said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“I’m sorry. You took the time to come out, but they were all unsatisfactory places. If you give me a few more days, next time I’ll really find a good spot…!”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Huh?”

“I can see how hard you’ve worked to find these.”

He’s more than proven his diligence and passion. He must have seen and heard a lot. The fact that Kim Jong-chun, once a complete novice, now considers factors like foot traffic and competitors shows how far he’s come.

“Come this way.”

I had spotted a pretty good location on our way here.

We backtrack. We arrive at a spot roughly midway between the first and second candidate locations.

Thud.

I stop walking, turn around, and speak.

“How about here?”

Kim Jong-chun stares at me blankly for a moment, his face showing complete incomprehension of what I’m saying.

A moment later, his face fills with astonishment.

“Wait. Woo-yeon… You’re joking, right?”

Unfortunately, it’s not a joke.

Seeing my grin, Kim Jong-chun’s face pales as he reads the answer.

“But this place…”

Looking around, numerous shops are still dark. The entire alley is like that, giving it an eerie feel as if ghosts might appear.

The atmosphere is a world apart from the bustling main street we just left, where people were moving busily with shops open early in the morning.

Somehow, it even feels colder here.

“Isn’t this place too deserted?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

“Ahjussi, I’m not great at professional market analysis either. That’s the domain of experts.”

I’m neither a market analyst nor a chef. Just a merchant.

So I can’t overstep into the expert’s domain. I might be able to imitate vaguely, but that’s all.

“My method might not be accurate.”

Checking my phone, I see it’s just past 10:30. As it approaches 11, lights start coming on in various shops.

Tap-tap-tap.

Luckily, the lights come on in sequence from the inner part of the alley. In an instant, the pathway brightens up.

It would have been nice if In-cheol were here too.

Because right now, magic was unfolding.