Back in 2019, a pasta restaurant near Hongdae tried ‘The Good Influence shop’ first. It offers free meals for children with a ‘children’s meal card.’ Soon, it developed into a Self-employed worker’s community that provides free meals, medical services, and lectures to children and generally exerts good influence on the community. Similarly, CBNU also has a restaurant owner who is participating in a good influence campaign. He is Lee Jeong-woo, the owner of the ‘Ilmiri Geumgye Jjimdak Chungbuk National University Branch.’ He also appeared in a program called Now Chungbuk-eun in KBS Cheongju as a chance to participate in the good influence campaign. He is also a student at Chungbuk National University’ s Department of International Business. Jeong-woo was really following his dream faster than any other CBNU student on our radar, and the CBT reporters took the time to listen to his unstinting advice and help for many other students who were thinking about starting a business.

Q1. Please introduce yourself briefly.
  I’m Lee Jeong-woo, a 26-year-old student currently taking leave of absence from CBNU, and I am working as the owner of a seven-month-old jjimdak franchise near the university.

Q2. What made you decide to open your own business?
  I’ve been trading in stocks for about four or five years. I considered whether to spend more money on stock investment or start my own business. Same as the principle of stock investments, I invested in the restaurant intending to buy it when the rent price is low like now.

Q3. What difficulties did you face in the process of starting your own business?
  The hardest part was ignorance. The key is that I didn’t know too much. When I was preparing for business, I read a lot of books and traveled around the country to find related restaurants. Also, I gathered various insights, such as visiting a famous place to talk to people, but it was different to carry it out myself.
  Another thing is the huge difference between the projections and the actual finance. I calculated the cost in detail and expected the cost of the start-up to be about 70 million won, but in reality it cost about 10 million won more. It was hard to predict the flow of funds, and how to anticipate and provide for these sudden additional funds.

Q4. Since you recently applied to the Good Influence Shop, is there any change in mindset or attitude?
  I said it once in the KBS interview as well. I don’t think anyone in this country has lived without having a hard time, but I had a hard time too. It was even difficult to live properly for a day without the help of people around me. Therefore, I think there was a desire to reciprocate and relieve the burdens of others that I received help from as a child. That was my purpose at first, but after I’ve been running a good influence shop, people in need came to me, ate the food, and wrote a letter saying it was delicious. This was when I really felt a sense of satisfaction, fulfilment and pride.

Q5. What skills or abilities do young self-employed workers need?
  I think the most important is communication skills. Apart from just being good at speaking, you need to communicate with visitors, employees, and clients. I think self-employed workers need communication abilities because it’s important to have conversations and coordination with clients. Realistically speaking, you need to have good self-control. Even if you have free time or extra money, you should always be able to manage your time and save your money for a rainy day.

Q6. Is there something that young self-employed workers should know?
  First of all, it’s harder than you think. Physically, it’s very hard. It’s the part that many people overlook, so it seems people regret a lot of it here. I’ve worked so many part-time jobs but, there is such big a difference between running a restaurant for more than 10 hours per day as owner. Therefore, if you don’t have enough energy, you can’t do it. That’ s why I want to let you know that staying physically fit is also a required ability.

Q7. Lastly, please say something to students and young people who want to be self-employed or start a business.
  I think to be self-employment is a very good option. Everyone is preparing for the civil service exam because of the difficulty to find a job, isn’t it? Everyone thinks that even though it’s stressful to become a civil servant, the benefits and stability makes it worth the effort. Frankly, in my opinion, it’s a kind of lottery. Even though the process is unstable, everyone runs into it just because the results are stable. On the other hand, I often hear that my self-employed business is too risky. However, I think that self-employed people also have a rightful place in society, and the right to peruse their dreams. If you are confident doing your own business, you can prepare calmly and orderly. In other words, you don’t have to be obsessed to join a major company or take the civil service exam, because there are other options. In my opinion, prepared self-employment is no more of a risk than other more conventional employment options.

By Kim Jeong-min
jmkim@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Ji-min
jimin41@cbnu.ac.kr