Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho made a call to his brother-in-law to inform him about the property that they wanted to lease for GH Logistics’ new location.

“We got the rental property in Siheung City on Onbid.”

“Oh, really? How much did we offer? I think I read you a wrong number last time. It was 6 million won, not 60 million won.”

“Our price is 6.15 million won.”

“That’s good. It’s the rent for one full year, so its monthly rent is about 500,000 won.”

“That’s correct. Now, brother, tell me about your plan with the office setting. Are you going to place a container office there?”

“I think so.”

“What about electricity?”

“I saw a utility pole nearby. I think I just need to apply for the electricity service to the Korea Electric Power Corporation. I will contact them.”

“What are you going to do with water then?”

“Water…”

“You will need a bathroom and access to water to have an office there.”

“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry.”

“Use the property that we are leasing through Onbid to store the trucks. President Moon is going to rent a vacant daycare center building. You can use it as an office. It’s right on the adjacent property.”

“Oh, there was a vacant daycare center nearby?”

“It would just need to be cleaned before placing the necessary furniture and office supplies. They have everything that you need for an office use, like electricity and water service, sewer system, bathrooms, and even a kitchen.”

“Oh, really? Thank you so much. President Moon is a very thoughtful man.”

“Did you sell your wing body truck already? The land needs mowing.”

“Okay, I will take care of it.”

Gun-Ho made a call to his sister as well.

“Sister, we got the property that we want.”

“That’s great.”

“Since there is no way to use the property for an office purpose, we are leasing an additional property. It’s a small building next to the land. It was used as a daycare center. It’s vacant now.”

“A daycare center?”

“Yeah. You need at least water and electricity service to have an office. You gotta use a bathroom while you work there all day long, right?”

“That’s right.”

“You need more than just a parcel of land to run a business. President Moon will sign the lease contract for the old daycare center today. Just know that.”

“If the building was used as a daycare center before, maybe I can run a daycare center there as well. The building can be used for two businesses— an office for GH Logistics and a daycare center. I have a license as a social worker. I think I can do that.”

Gun-Ho felt an urge to scream, but he could manage to suppress that urge.

“Focus on one business at a time, please. You won’t have enough time to run two businesses. You will have to start with 27 vehicles, and you should expand and grow the business by adding 50 and 100 more trucks. Moreover, that area is a small town with a low population; you would receive a few tens of children if you are lucky. You won’t be able to make enough profits with several children at a daycare center. You would easily fail two businesses if you run them simultaneously.”

“Hmm, that sounds right.”

Gun-Ho almost blurted the mistake that her sister’s husband made to give her a reality check, but he didn’t.

“Once President Moon signed the lease agreement for the old daycare center, you will need to have that building cleaned.”

“Okay. Don’t worry about it.”

The media started talking about Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s wood carving art exhibition. It seemed that President Jeong-Sook Shin’s idea of throwing a cocktail party for the journalists worked. Several photos of his wood-carved figures were placed on some newspapers as well. Once newspapers began to talk about his art exhibition, online media also started covering it.

[You will have an opportunity to meet magical wood-carved figures which you won’t be able to distinguish from real animals or insects. The wood carving art exhibition will be held at GH Art Gallery in Sinsa Town, Gangnam District. Those wood figures were carefully carved by a world-renowned Japanese mold engineer— Mr. Sakata Ikuzo (age 65). His artworks are sensationally popular in Japan.]

While reading the newspaper, Gun-Ho smiled.

“President Shin is very good.”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s wood carving art exhibition brought about unexpected results which Gun-Ho learned when he received a call from GH Mobile’s President Jang-Hwan Song.

“Does Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s wood carving art exhibition last by the end of this week, doesn’t it?

“That’s correct.”

“S Group is making a fuss about his art exhibition?”

“Why is that so?”

“Because of our internally developed product— AM083 Assembly— that we are currently providing to S Group.”

“What about it?”

“They figured that our AM083 Assembly was made with the mold that Mr. Sakata Ikuzo carved.”

“Really?”

“S Group’s Chairman’s son asked all of their employees to visit Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s wood carving art exhibition.”

“Oh, really?”

“They are also using the fact for their marketing. They are spreading words that their products, that are supplied to many auto manufacturing companies in the world, are the world-renowned engineer— Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s works.”

“Haha. That’s nice. Good for them.”

GH Art Gallery was filled with people on a daily basis during Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s wood carving art exhibition. It was a huge success. However, it couldn’t tell that it would bring corresponding good profits since the gallery didn’t charge any admission fees to the visitors, and also it was not like the wood-carved figures were there for sale. The amount of profits that the art exhibition would bring to GH Media was uncertain for the moment.

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s previous art exhibitions in Yokohama City and Nagoya City were held in a public art gallery, so they cared less about profits. However, GH Gallery was a for-profit entity, and it was by nature sensitive about making profits out of any work that they made.

Gun-Ho received a call from Jae-Sik Moon about the GH Logistics’ land that was on the market for sale.

“That cosmetic company’s owner president was here today to see the land himself.”

“I guess that they are serious about purchasing our property.”

“He said he did like the location and the shape of the land. The only thing that bothered him is our price.”

“Our price for the property is 1.5 million won per pyung, right?”

“Yes. How low can you go if he really wants to buy it?”

“You told me that the real estate agents in that area said that the adequate price would be 1.2 or 1.3 million won per pyung, right?”

“That’s right. But those two agents didn’t even visit the property. Their estimate is based on the map. Well, they said they saw the property when they were passing by the other day.”

“If we sell it for 1.2 million won per pyung— so, it would be 6 billion won in total— how much can we make after paying the capital gain tax?”

“The capital gain tax? I can ask that to the tax accountant who we have been working with.”

“No, it won’t be necessary. Well, let’s offer him 1.3 million won per pyung. Our lowest price is 1.2 million won.”

“Got it. I will let you know once I talk to them.”

“Okay.”

“I signed the lease contract for the old daycare center.”

“You did? Good job.”

“Your sister actually wanted to come when I sign the contract, so she was here too.”

“Really?”

“We got the keys from the owner, and I gave them to your sister, so she could clean it. Your sister seemed to like it a lot.”

“Haha. That’s good to know.”

“I told her not to buy any office furniture and stuff just yet since once we sell the property here, we will move stuff from the current office to the new location. She will know then what additional furniture and office supplies she would need.”

“That’s good.”