God-Given Business Genius

‘Of course, excessive waiting isn’t ideal.’

Within reason, a wait can be one of the elements that makes a restaurant more appealing.

“When the wait time decreases, the pleasure of anticipation diminishes, which can easily lead to the perception that ‘the taste has changed’. In reality, it’s just the environment that’s different.”

How frustrating must it be for restaurant owners? Especially stubborn and particular individuals like Lee In-cheol can’t stand such evaluations.

“Originally, only 30% of taste is perceived by the mouth, the other 70% comes from elsewhere. People who enjoyed the feeling of having their own hidden gem can’t tolerate the change in that 70%, regardless of the actual taste.”

-Hmm. Customers’ hearts are truly complex.

“That’s why we removed tables, to make that 70% change feel as gradual as possible.”

At my explanation, Lee In-cheol finally seemed to understand, making a small “Hmm” sound.

“After all, people are the best decor.”

What better mark of authenticity for a popular restaurant than a queue?

-You know, I thought when the wait got longer, oh no, we’ve failed, people will go elsewhere seeing it’s still packed even after expansion~ But what’s this? It seems even more people are flocking in than before.

“Value is often determined by scarcity.”

Plus, thanks to Facebook, word of mouth spread quickly. Moving to a more accessible location with the expansion should bring in a steady stream of family customers too.

“Anyway, it’s worked out well. The timing was good. It looks like you’ll settle in nicely after the expansion, so don’t worry too much.”

-I’m worried about having to hire more serving staff! You helped out for a few days, Woo-yeon, but you’ll be busy now too, right?

“Haha. That’s true.”

-Da-on and Sol, those kids are starting university too, so they’re cutting back their part-time hours. I need to hire more people. Oh, and Da-on said he’s going to work at his mother’s shop instead?

“He mentioned that? Well, is probably short-staffed too right now.”

-Aish! I guess I’d better post some job listings right away.

“You’d better hurry.”

Lee In-cheol grumbled. With all the other shops thriving too, it was nothing but good news for the company headquarters.

-Oh, Woo-yeon. About that snow flower or spring flower bingsu or whatever it’s called.

“Snow flower bingsu. What about it?”

-We’re running out of those tasting vouchers. When are you going to give us more? At this rate, we’ll run out within a week.

“Oh, that?”

I flipped through the calendar on my desk as I answered.

“Hmm~ I don’t think we need to give out any more.”

-What?

“We’re opening soon.”

-Ah!

Lee In-cheol let out an involuntary exclamation.

-You mean… the cafe across from Jong-chun’s place? Did you really acquire it?

“Of course.”

When anticipation for the snow flower bingsu is at its peak. And now, as summer’s heat creeps in and the scorching sun beats down.

It’s been completed at the perfect timing.

“ is set to open next week.”

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“Sunbae. Take a look at this.”

Kang Yu-ha showed her senior a YouTube video titled [Snow Flower Bingsu?! Making VS Eating!].

“Wow. That bingsu looks unusual.”

“Right? It’s causing quite a stir these days. They say it’s about to officially open. I’ve never seen such a commotion before a place even opens.”

Kang Yu-ha’s eyes sparkled. It was the look she got when she’d found an interesting story lead.

“So I looked into where this snow flower bingsu is sold~ and found the website for a place called . And when you look at the related sites… there’s , , and so on.”

“Never heard of them.”

“Right? From what I found, Hapjae Soup Rice is a new franchise that just opened another branch, and Happy Snack seems to have only one main store. Though it looks like they’re preparing to open a few more branches.”

“But? It doesn’t seem that special. What piqued your curiosity, Kang Yu-ha-ssi?”

Without hesitation, Kang Yu-ha replied to that question.

“The speed.”

“Huh?”

“The company listed as their headquarters. . It’s only been around for about 6 months.”

“Oh, really? That’s surprising. They seem to be making quite a famous bingsu. Such a new company? And they already have four stores?”

“Exactly. It’s an impossible speed.”

Kang Yu-ha nodded vigorously.

“I’m suspicious about the source of their capital. I wonder if some big corporation is working behind the scenes to make it their subsidiary, or if they’re growing it through mergers and acquisitions to divide shares without inheritance tax.”

“Come on, isn’t that going too far?”

“If it’s not that… hmm. Then the CEO of must be some kind of god-given business genius.”

“Haha! A business genius. That’s interesting.”

Her senior chuckled and patted Kang Yu-ha’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you dig into it, Kang Yu-ha-ssi? At worst, it’s just an interview with a growing startup. If you find anything, it could be big.”

“Yes!”

Kang Yu-ha immediately turned her gaze back to the monitor. More precisely, towards the three characters of the name in the executive introduction on ’s homepage.

Song Woo-yeon.

She became very curious about the owner of that name.

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“Is this list all the franchise inquiries we’ve received?”

As I flipped through the papers, Jo I-ruk brought over another file with a smile.

Thud.

“No. This is the complete list of applicants.”

“There’s a lot….”

As I quickly read through the documents containing brief personal information and self-introductions, Jo I-ruk stood beside me and started to add comments.

“This is the list filtered according to your criteria, CEO. We’ve excluded those already operating other franchises, and most of those completely new to the food industry.”

“Thank you.”

It will be difficult for me to closely manage the upcoming branch openings as I’ve done until now. So rather than complete beginners, people with some know-how in the food industry would be better.

‘It would be even better if I could keep them close and teach them myself. Ah, we should also set up a facility to train franchisees.’

As I was flipping through the documents impassively, I paused longer on a familiar face and name.

Noticing my pause, Jo I-ruk peeked over and chimed in.

“Ah, this person. They’re an acquaintance of Boss Kim Jong-chun.”

“…Is that so?”

I already knew.

“They apparently worked at the same workplace before. Now they’ve left with severance pay and are looking for their next job. It seems they became interested after hearing about it from Boss Kim Jong-chun.”

“I see.”

“They’re new to the food industry, but since they came recommended, I included them in the list.”

I set the document down on the desk with a thud. Clipped to the document was a business card bearing the logo of what was now their former company and a familiar name.

[Seo Beom-jun

Contact: 010-XXXX-XXXX

Email: SBJXXXXkakao.com]

“Is there something special about this one?”

“Pardon?”

“You seem to be paying particular attention to this person’s application.”

Jo I-ruk looked puzzled. Fair enough. He probably wondered why I was focusing so much on what appeared to be an unremarkable resume.

It’s understandable. There were many other applicants with impressive credentials. Some had already run soup rice restaurants elsewhere. Others boasted long careers as chefs.

But my mind was made up.

“Let’s give this person a franchise.”

“What? So suddenly?”

“Oh, and these two as well.”

I picked out a couple more familiar names from the list I had scanned. They had also been franchisees with me before and had shown decent results.

We need steady, reliable franchises at this point.

Expansion.

For a budding company, rapid growth is crucial. Especially since brand lifespans are getting shorter these days.

If you don’t penetrate the market quickly, you’ll fall behind latecomers.

“…I can’t figure out your criteria. There doesn’t seem to be any common thread among the people you’ve chosen.”

“Haha. Let’s just call it a whim.”

I can’t exactly say I’ve seen the future. I just smiled and brushed it off.

By this point, Jo I-ruk seemed used to my eccentricities. He nodded weakly without any particular objection.

“By the way, you’re starting to look quite the office worker now.”

“…Do I?”

“You must be very busy? It’s work you’ve never done before.”

“You knew? I thought you must have assumed I was experienced, given how you’ve been piling all the work on me.”

There’s a sting in his words. I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. I feel bad. I’ve just been so busy running around everywhere.

“Come on. I’ve still been keeping an eye on things, you know? It’s just that I’m out of the office a lot.”

“I know. You always say that creating a store is just the beginning, maintenance is the real challenge.”

Did I?

I was surprised to have my own habit pointed out to me. As I stared with wide eyes, Jo I-ruk pushed up his glasses and said,

“Still, I can’t handle all the franchise work by myself. I’m here primarily as a location specialist, aren’t I?”

“I thought you were the secretary.”

“I’m certainly being worked like one.”

Oops. With nothing to say, I just grinned sheepishly. Jo I-ruk let out a deep sigh, took off his glasses, and pressed his brow as he spoke.

“Anyway, now that is growing, we can’t continue with just the two of us. We need more people.”

“I know.”

I was aware that I was overloading Jo I-ruk with work. I felt bad about it, but things progressed faster than expected, so what could I do?

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring in new employees soon.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’ve been waiting for this summer.”

“Summer?”

Jo I-ruk asked, but I just smiled without further explanation.

As always, my words hit the mark like a prophecy.