Office Worker 1
2.2 Billion
On the 3rd floor of a small building which was near the Sindorim Station.
Swiping the security card, I went into the office.
“Team leader, you came?”
Lee Eunji, who came to work early, smiled and bowed lowly.
Lee Eunji. It had been 2 months since she joined the company, a positive and warm newcomer. Her hard working drive was a sight to see. But that is all she had.
Right, she was the owner of the beautiful face.
“Good Morning.”
I finished my greetings and pressed on the power button of the computer before heading over to the place where the returned boxes were piled up. And gently touched the boxes with my right hand.
(Are there all?)
(Why is the packaging so huge?)
Each of the returned boxes has a head behind it.
Either the size was small. Or the item wasn’t in the shape that the customer expected. Sometimes the reason was as simple as them not liking the item as it didn’t look like the advertising model.
“Eunji, how many items were returned yesterday?”
“76 hotteok mixes and 24 King dumplings sir.”
“Anything else?”
“None sir.”
“All of them are products of True Flavour Food?”
“Yes, should I place the claim?”
“Don’t bother. I’ll look over this.”
The company was made up of 6 employees.
We managed to achieve 10 billion won annual sales last year, but our president didn’t spend the money earnt.
Cheap desks and color changed walls. It looked similar to when I started working there.
Refrigerator and dried plant pots.
No one would ever fathom that this is the 4th largest social commerce office in Korea.
“T… Team leader.”
“Huh?”
“Why does the team leader always look at the return boxes right after coming into work?”
Online commerce usually carries around 20% of returns. However the return of our small company is 3%.
It was all thanks to my right hand that I could hear the consumers’ thoughts.
“Cause, rather than 10 words from the manufacturer, one thought of the customer is more accurate.”
“Sorry?”
Not being able to understand what I meant, Eunji scratched the back of her head with a frown on her forehead.
“Oh! Team leader Won has come early today?”
Kim Jaeyeol, CEO
The only boss of mine in the company.
Turning his head towards me, he is a different man from when the company started. The one who said that he couldn’t throw away the old sneakers was completely covered with luxury goods. The one who said that soccer was the best, was going to the field every day to play golf. He used to insist on using his old car, saying he liked the power of the car. Not long ago he leased a Bentley which cost over 300 million won.
I felt sorry for the car.
He leased me a new Sonata car and stated that all the leasing was to reduce the taxes.
“What are you doing here this early?”
“What about the other employees?”
“They will be coming soon.”
“Why aren’t they still here? What time is it now?”
“It’s 8:30.”
The rush hour is at 9.
CEO Kim nodded and covered his mouth with his hand and coughed. “Ah right… Team leader Won! Why did the sales fall down yesterday? Did you have some kind of a problem?”
It’s starting again.
He always checks the admin page in real time and makes calls as soon as he sees a drop in the graph.
“What happened to the instant rice and ramen packs sales yesterday?”
“And so?”
It wasn’t a product on sale, and there was only an output graph.
I turned towards the monitor to see the admin page and explained the situation.
“Right. The expiration date is rather short so I cancelled all the orders sir.”
“Just sell them, why did you have to do that?”
“There will be no end to that situation. And if the return items are small ones, it’s a huge pain”
“That… yeah, good job. Rather, can I see you for a moment?”
CEO Kim lacked the basic common knowledge about commerce.
He is a person who drew the line right from the beginning, saying that his only focus would be on the management and entertainment.
I followed him into the CEO room. As soon as CEO Kim entered the room, he carefully wiped off the dust which had piled up on his favourite orchid.
“Sit. Shall we have a cup of coffee?”
“Sure.”
CEO Kim took out the corporate card from his pocket and handed it to Lee Eunji and sent him on an errand. After confirming that she had left, he spoke in a quiet tone.
“Team Leader Won. Are you aware of the BO Foods?
Bo Foods is one of the three major food companies in Korea, everyone in Korea would know them.
“What about BO Foods?”
“What if we join hands with them?”
Social Commerce is where we source inexpensive products and sell onto 5-10 units in the form of an event. Which was why we often worked alongside vendors with limited stocks and not large scale manufacturers.
“BO Foods?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accept their products?”
“No. It isn’t that. It is because we will receive better offers.”
“What offers are those?”
“Jihoon.”
He suddenly called out my name. Which meant that he had something to ask from me…
Something didn’t feel right.
“What is it?”
“Has it been 2 years since we have been working together? You do realize that since I know nothing about Social Commerce I always depended and believed you, right?”
“And isn’t that why you are doing so great now?”
“What do you mean by doing well… These are just small openings in tough times. I’m still struggling these days.”
CEO Kim has always been as such.
He isn’t the kind of person to try and remember how his life was a couple years ago, he always lived saying that life was tough.
“The man who used to ride a galloper now rides a Bentley, this should be considered as a success!”
“That is being used for showcasing a dignified stance. It’s hard for me too. Do you have any idea how hard I struggle while playing the damned golf which doesn’t even fit well with me? You have no idea! Ugh…”
“There are meetings today, let’s only talk about work.”
At my cold response, CEO Kim smiled and continued what he wanted to talk about.
“BO Foods bet 2.2 billion on us.”
“2.2 billion?”
“Yeah, they bet 2.2 billion to take over this snotty site!”
Not long ago, Social Commerce was a small start-up which sprang up over 100 companies within a month.
Perhaps they thought that if only one product is handled well, they will be able to manage the company.
However, the results were disastrous. After one year, only 14 social commerce companies remained.
Three of them grew significantly with the help of large capital investments and quickly began to acquire the other commerce companies which had loyal members. And of course, we too were offered such acquisitions.
Even that time, CEO Kim tried to hand over the company for a small amount of 300 million won. It was only because of my strong opposition to that offer that we managed to grow like this.
But 2.2 billion from BO Foods?
This was definitely a whole different amount from them.
And it wasn’t the money which made me blind, but the fact that such money was coming from a domestic food company.
And if it was indeed true, then accepting it would be right. However, I couldn’t shake it off that CEO Kim who knew nothing about how commerce worked was able to catch the attention of such a huge company. So, I ended up voicing my suspicion.
“Why is a big company like BO aiming for a small company like us?”
“Jihoon, you know about the chain market?”
“Yes.”
“They filed there yesterday. BO Foods intends to buy all the commerce specializing in food materials like us.”
BO Foods starting commerce business?
That did make sense.
As I thought for a moment, CEO Kim took the moment and explained with excitement.
“They were curious too, seeing that such a small company like us has survived and even hit a shooting 10 billion won as annual sales. And our rejection to Top Mall’s proposal must have been a refreshing move for them.”
“Then why are we second? We are the No1 in food commerce!”
“That was because we bounced back. So the amount was raised to 2.2 billion. Jihoon-ah. Do you know what my dream is?”
“What is it?”
“To retire before turning 40.”
“Can you really retire with that money?”
I owned 20% of the company.
When I first proposed the business idea, he asked me to invest 10 million won. 80% of 2.2 billion would be 1.7 billion.
If it was the CEO Kim of the past, he would have gladly retired with 1.7 billion won, but he had changed over the years and his cost of living soared high, that amount was absolutely impossible. Again, he shook his head and smiled.
“NO, that won’t be possible at all.”
“Then?”
“I’ll take 20& in cash and the other 80% as stocks. As a stock of the BO Commerce which would be made by BO Foods.”
“That company hasn’t even been listed, how?”
“If the holding company is BO Foods, what should I be worried about? And, once the certain amount of performance is reached, they are said to list immediately. Jihoon-ah, this isn’t for my well-being. You will also receive shares of worth 400 million. It is heaven! An opportunity you presented to me!”
“What about the other employees?”
“They will be transferred to BO commerce. They are going to accept all the employees and even a raise of their salaries by 20%. And Jihoon-ah, the final meeting is next week, you need to attend it, understand?”
“Why me?”
“This is off the record, but it was rumoured that Choi Gu-yeol will be there. You used to buy that person’s book.”
Choi Gu-yeol. A myth in social commerce which began to boom. He tried social commerce for the very first time in the US, at one time, he managed to exceed the sales in open markets such as Amazon and eBay. And the reason why I started getting interested in commerce business was because of his books.
“He is on BO’s side?”
“Yes. Sooner or later, it’s going to hit the papers. The BO is ready to put its life on the line for this business. The new corporate capital is said to be 30 billion won.”
“30 billion won…”
I gulped at those words.
CEO Kim got up from his seat, smacked my shoulder and put on the jacket which was hung.
“I have an appointment I need to go to. Call me if there is anything else!”
* *
One week later.
In a room of a high-class restaurant with CEO Kim, director Choi Go-yeol in his 40s and another gray-haired man in 60s entered the VIP room.
In the room, director Choi Gu-yeol in his 40s, whom I only ever looked at in photos and a man in his 60s with gray hair. They looked at us, got up from their seats and extended their hands.
“CEO Kim! Long time no see.”
“It is an honor for us to see the director in person!”
CEO Kim did a complete 90 degree bow.
He was the man who said that 99% of the business was based on confidence and now he bowed to the strong. The gray haired man shook hands with CEO Kim and reached out to me.
“You must be team leader Won? I heard a lot of rumors about you.”
“Rumors?”
“Hahaha, there are rumors that he is the second Choi Gu-yeol.”
“That is all exaggeration.”
Over the past two years, I have met numerous manufactures and distributors.
I heard their hidden memories each time, and thanks to that, I was confident in the relationships.
“I am Jung Geun-young, who will be in charge of BO Commerce in future.”
Jung Geun-young spoke like a warm looking village uncle.
Had it not been for the rimless glasses with the sharp ends, he would have looked like any normal person. After an awkward hand shake, he signalled for us to sit.
“Sit down. I ordered the food.”
I quickly took CEO Kim’s coat and approached the coat hanger at the corner of the room. And lightly brushed the grey coat which was already hanging over there.
<You want to bet 2.7 billion won on an operating profit of 200 million? Chairman can’t be this insane in your acts!>
2.7 billion. Was that the maximum number for us?
It wasn’t clear as there wasn’t any definite subject, but the offer seemed worth thinking about.
I sat down with a light smile on my lips.
