God-Given Business Genius

Jo I-ruk’s face showed that he was no longer surprised. Roh Se-hee, standing behind me, bowed awkwardly in greeting.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Roh Se-hee.”

“Jo I-ruk.”

“Ahem. I haven’t officially agreed to work here yet. I’m just trying it out for a week before making a decision.”

“Ah~”

Jo I-ruk glanced in my direction. I just smiled sweetly.

“Yes, of course.”

His tone was closer to “Yeah, I’m sure that’s the case.” Noticing Roh Se-hee’s puzzled expression, I quickly intervened to change the subject.

“Since Roh Se-hee-ssi has experience working in a large corporation, I don’t think she’ll need much special training. Jo I-ruk-ssi, please hand over some of your tasks to Roh Se-hee-ssi. For example, things like brand marketing.”

“Certainly. She’s likely more of an expert than I am in that area.”

Jo I-ruk said, pushing up his glasses. After all, he was initially hired as a ‘location specialist’.

As we were starting to expand our franchises, it was better for Jo I-ruk to focus on that aspect of the business.

Later on, it would be difficult for Jo I-ruk to review every franchise, but for now, the success of each individual franchise was crucial.

“I’ll brief you on the most pressing project. We’re about to open the main branch of . Because of that, we’re currently scheduling everything from the photo shoot for the snow flower bingsu menu…”

“Snow flower bingsu?”

Roh Se-hee’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Have you heard of it?”

“Of course. It suddenly blew up, didn’t it? Plus, the fact that it’s not for sale really piqued consumers’ curiosity, grabbing everyone’s attention in no time.”

Roh Se-hee accepted a few bundles of documents from Jo I-ruk and flipped through them quickly.

“Wow. I was trying to figure out which company created this snow flower bingsu. So it was you guys.”

“That’s right. We’re the originators of snow flower bingsu.”

I snapped my fingers as I spoke.

“And I’m confident that this snow flower bingsu won’t just be a passing trend, but will have steady demand going forward.”

At least, that’s how it was in the future I saw.

“So, Roh Se-hee-ssi, I’d like you to manage all the related aspects. Oh, and if you have any ideas for projects, feel free to speak up anytime.”

“Yes! I understand.”

Roh Se-hee’s eyes seemed to burn with passion. Yes, for someone who had been yearning to do work she truly wanted, this must be such an appetizing project.

Roh Se-hee must feel like she’s returning to her initial passion.

‘If we’ve secured Roh Se-hee, the team members under her are practically in the bag too.’

Their camaraderie was incredibly strong. Even later, when they were split into different departments due to their growing importance, they still scraped together what little time they had to meet at least once a year.

Though, as former Hyeonmu employees, they weren’t viewed too kindly later on.

“Oh, and CEO.”

“Yes?”

“Someone from or something like that contacted us. They want to interview you. What should we do?”

, huh.

While not extremely well-known, it was a newspaper that people interested in stocks or economics would likely recognize.

I believe they’ve mostly shifted from print to online news now…

‘At this timing?’

is still just a small business that hasn’t fully spread its wings.

Snow flower bingsu has become a big hit online, but that’s all. We haven’t even properly opened the cafe to turn it into revenue yet.

Moreover, is a small company that hasn’t even gone public.

Before my regression, I did receive several interview requests from such newspapers, but that was when was rising like a star to become a giant in the food industry.

“Did you get the reporter’s name?”

“Yes. They said it was Reporter Kang Yu-ha.”

“Reporter Kang Yu-ha…”

The name sounds oddly familiar.

‘Who is it?’

But I couldn’t easily recall any related memories. It must have been just a passing acquaintance.

‘Which probably means it wasn’t very important.’

To begin with, I wasn’t particularly friendly with the media before my regression. Even now, as I was then, I was considered quite a young CEO.

I always took a step back, hesitant to be in the spotlight for fear of damaging the company’s ‘expert’ image.

‘Foolishly. By maintaining that air of mystery, I had nowhere to turn when crisis struck. I didn’t realize it was isolating me.’

They say regret always comes too late, but this time it’s different.

Because I have a chance to correct my mistakes.

I smirked and waved my hand dismissively.

“Turn them down. It’s not the right time yet.”

It would be troublesome if we caught Hyeonmu’s eye by revealing ourselves. We needed to quietly grow our size a bit more underground.

Until we’re too big for Hyeonmu to mess with easily.

‘Of course, once we’ve established ourselves a bit more, we’ll need to actively utilize the media. After all, people tend to feel more affinity towards familiar faces.’

It’s similar to advertising, isn’t it?

Simply by frequently exposing a brand logo, people develop a fondness for that brand.

‘Before my regression, I tried to handle everything on my own too much. That’s not always the best approach.’

So this time, we need to change our strategy.

“Also, tell them not to feel too disappointed, as I’ll reach out to them myself when the time is right. Oh, and get their contact information too.”

“Yes, understood.”

Being in the spotlight means having many eyes on you.

That alone should make Hyeonmu hesitate to mess with me, Song Woo-yeon, and The Song.

I stopped Roh Se-hee as she was about to take off her coat and said,

“By the way, Roh Se-hee-ssi, there’s somewhere we need to go first.”

“Pardon? Now?”

“Yes. Now.”

As they say, seeing is believing.

“Let’s go take a look at the cafe that will become . Together.”

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The cafe across from Kim Jong-chun’s shop, which had become a waiting area for customers, had reasons for its poor business.

It was due to a large cafe that had opened nearby.

Despite being an independent cafe, it was spacious, had ample parking, and boasted sophisticated interior design.

While some might prefer cozy independent cafes, places like this are perfect for a casual after-meal coffee.

‘Plus, the coffee at that cafe was pretty subpar.’

It had a strong, bitter taste from over-roasted beans. It must have been quite polarizing.

But even that large cafe had to take a step back.

With the sudden appearance of ‘snow flower bingsu’, it lost most of the post-meal customers who would have come for coffee.

Of course, it didn’t matter much since they took customers from other nearby shops, but their sales must have taken quite a hit.

Thanks to that, the acquisition negotiations went very smoothly. We even reached an amicable agreement on the key money.

Thud, thud.

I looked around the empty cafe as I spoke. The interior renovations were in their final stages all around.

Avoiding the paths of passing workers, I examined every detail as I spoke.

“This will become .”

“…The interior is neat, and the table spacing is appropriate. It’s good. We should be able to absorb the existing cafe’s customers too.”

“Right?”

“What are your plans for the owner?”

As expected, that’s the first thing she asks. It’s the most crucial point. That’s just how the food ‘business’ is.

“The original cafe owner will continue to run it.”

“What?”

“Although we’ve acquired it, we don’t intend to be deeply involved in the cafe’s operations. We’ve finished explaining the brand to the owner, and after discussions, we’ve completed a franchise contract where we share a portion of the sales.”

Jo I-ruk must have learned quite a bit about the franchise business through this process. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to focus on other things.

“I see.”

Roh Se-hee looked a bit surprised. I can guess why she’s making that expression, but I pretended not to know and asked.

“Surprising, isn’t it?”

“Pardon?”

“It looks like Jo I-ruk handles most of the work, and I’m just a figurehead CEO. From the outside, at least.”

“Haha…”

She’s still not good at lying. She could have at least said “No, not at all” even if it was just lip service.

I’ve heard that this unyielding personality, while charming, was also a weakness that caused her quite a bit of trouble at her previous workplace.

“That’s part of why I brought you here.”

“……”

“You’re still not convinced, are you? That’s why I want you to see how we work firsthand and then think about it.”

Roh Se-hee nodded slowly.

“Thank you all for your hard work. Ah, that window frame might warp, so please leave a bit more room. Yes. And here, water might splash, so please be thorough with the finishing. Thank you~”

When it comes to construction, being there to point things out directly always improves the quality.

As I glanced around and pointed out things that caught my eye, the workers began to subtly watch for my reactions.

Hmm. It seems they haven’t cut any major corners, thankfully. I did entrust this to a reliable company.

‘It’s all thanks to our Madam Choi Yeo-hae.’

No subcontractor would dare defy the queen who reigns over Han Do Construction. One word of “please take care of it” from Choi Yeo-hae, and even nonexistent diligence springs forth.

“The finishing quality is excellent at this level.”

Roh Se-hee blurted out as the inspection was nearing its end. After watching me nag the workers, she seemed to have roughly figured out that I had considerable experience in this field.

Yes. It’s a beautiful cafe.

Lacking nothing.

Except for one problem that caught my eye.

“This is bad.”

“Pardon?”

We’ll have to tear this all down and redo it.