God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 176

Knock knock.

As the secretary knocked on the door, a voice saying "Come in" was heard from the other side. The secretary silently opened the door and stepped aside.

I entered slowly.

Everywhere my gaze fell was dazzling. Not only was the interior design sophisticated, but even the minute details that would be hard to notice without knowing were well-executed.

Indeed. The chairman's office of a major construction company was different, I thought.

"You're here?"

Choi Yeo-hae who raised her head while wearing thin-rimmed glasses, exuded the most 'chairman-like' aura I had seen so far.

Whenever I saw Choi Yeo-hae it was always in a five-star hotel suite. This seems to be the first time I'm seeing her working like this.

I thought <The Song> had grown quite large, but it's no comparison to this side.

"Sit down. Would you like something to drink?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Anyway, Choi Yeo-hae seemed too busy to come out to this guest table. What's the point of me drinking tea alone?

"I came suddenly. Fortunately, the timing worked out."

"That's right. It's not often that you contact me first. I was surprised when you asked if you could come by suddenly."

Choi Yeo-hae said as she took off her glasses and put them down on one side of the desk.

"As you can see, I'm too busy with work to go out. I had no choice but to call you here."

"Of course I should come. Thanks to that, I get to see the company, which is nice."

"What is there to see? All companies are the same."

They're different though.

I swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of my tongue. <The Song> is still a growing startup after all...!

"Usually, there are two main reasons why a venture company CEO who received investment personally comes to see me."

Choi Yeo-hae leaned back languidly in her chair.

"One is to ask for an increase in investment, and the other is..."

"The other is?"

"To apologize for failing in business, I'm sorry to say."

Ugh. Just imagining it gives me a headache.

If I had received investment from Choi Yeo-hae and then failed miserably, I probably would have acted the same way. I would have knelt down, begged profusely, and apologized.

The scale of a company's investment is different. It's at a level that's difficult to repay even if an individual works their entire life.

Either hope for leniency from Choi Yeo-hae or face bankruptcy.

"Which do you think it is?"

"Well. It's rare to see a place that provides such a nice return on investment as our CEO Song."

"Haha. Is that so?"

"It seems you've also resolved the recent issues well. So it's probably not the latter."

Choi Yeo-hae smiled faintly.

"How much do you need to have made such a precious visit? Hmm?"

"You're too much. I could have just come because I missed you, CEO."

"That kind of flattery doesn't work on me. I've seen enough sly foxes to trip over them."

"I guess there's no helping it."

If she refuses even when I try to give some lip service. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't come because I need money."

"Then?"

"I came to get something even more expensive."

"When you say it like that, it makes me nervous."

Choi Yeo-hae said with an expressionless face.

"We're preparing to launch a new franchise brand on our side."

"Again?"

"Yes. It's a new menu item we tested at <Song Kitchen> and the response was good. We want to test it by operating a directly managed store."

"Hmm."

Choi Yeo-hae put her glasses back on and flipped through some documents placed beside her. She seemed to be looking for something, then looked at me over her glasses that were perched on the tip of her nose.

"You just need a place to open one store, right? What size are you thinking?"

"You catch on quick."

"It's obvious what you want when you come to me with such a story."

That's true.

"But looking at where your brands are located, you've been getting amazingly good spots."

That's because we have a location scout named Jo I-ruk, Team Leader in our company. His performance is amazing.

"I wonder if you needed to come all the way to me."

"What I want isn't simply 'a place with a good location'."

Perhaps reading the subtle tone hidden in my voice, Choi Yeo-hae put the documents back down.

We looked at each other silently for a while. Seeing my smiling face, Choi Yeo-hae slightly furrowed her brow.

"What are you thinking?"

Her tone was as if she was demanding to know if I was plotting something.

That's too much. It made me feel like I was some kind of villain. Although I do often do outrageous things.

I cut to the chase.

"The new city development, it's nearing its final stages, right?"

New city.

It was a massive project undertaken to shed the notorious title of 'Seoul Republic', with the goal of creating a large administrative-centered complex city outside of Seoul.

As it was a national project, it was proceeding with a guaranteed minimum population as numerous public institutions were relocating.

A massive national project, in other words, means massive capital is moving.

There were so many construction companies coveting this attractive fruit. Choi Yeo-hae too was making a life-or-death investment in the new city development.

"...And?"

Choi Yeo-hae's gaze sharpened.

She must have entered a defensive stance, feeling like I was bringing up the company's business.

But I'm not a construction company. I had no intention of trying to get a foothold in the new city construction at this point.

"The large-scale complex commercial facility being built in the center of that new city, in other words... the shopping mall, I mean."

This was where my goal lay.

"Isn't the biggest problem that the commercial area formation is unstable because it's still in the early stages of the new city?"

"...That's right."

"Especially since most of the residents have suddenly moved due to work, there's a strong tendency to go out to nearby cities like Seoul or Daejeon for shopping, right?"

Although it ambitiously started with the intention of creating a city separate from Seoul, such unfortunate circumstances arose due to the ambiguous distance.

"The infrastructure isn't fully in place yet. Customers are leaking to nearby cities. In this situation where everything is uncertain because it's a new city... it won't be easy to attract anchor tenants that can guarantee stable customer influx."

"Ha. You even know the word 'tenant'?"

"Of course. Anyone who rents and uses space is called a tenant, right? Simply put, it means lessee."

It's not a familiar term as it's often used in the real estate industry. But when you run a company for a long time, you pick up trivial knowledge.

"An anchor tenant refers to a tenant that plays a crucial role in attracting many customers in such shopping malls."

"Correct."

Choi Yeo-hae shook her head as if she couldn't stand it.

"Anchor tenants can determine the success of a shopping mall. Imagine if an E-mart Traders opened in the basement. It could attract all the nearby residents."

If only it were that simple, the success would be guaranteed. But the response from corporations was lukewarm, which must be making Choi Yeo-hae anxious.

If such anchor tenants aren't confirmed, smaller tenants will naturally hesitate to move in.

Moreover, if it's a new city located quite far from Seoul with the unfamiliar purpose of being an 'administrative-centered complex city', it's even more so.

This was where the gambit began.

"Our brand will move in as an anchor tenant."

Choi Yeo-hae's eyes widened at my words.

"...What?"

"The directly managed store of the new franchise brand I mentioned."

I pushed firmly.

"Although it's a new brand, the menu's popularity has already been proven. It's a menu that's not currently being sold, so opening an offline store will generate high interest."

This was definitely a win-win strategy.

"You can aim for differentiation by having a unique brand move in, and you can also expect an influx of young people."

"......"

"And in a shopping mall, snack shops like this have the power to increase customer stay time."

In the long run, there was nothing bad for either of us.

Choi Yeo-hae closed her eyes and seemed to ponder as if measuring something, then slowly opened them.

It was the gaze of a merchant who had finished calculating profit and loss.

"What are your conditions?"

Yes. That's how it should be.

"If you simply wanted to open a store, there would be no reason for you to come like this. You could just rent one of the vacant spaces."

Correct.

The reason I personally came to see Choi Yeo-hae was to 'negotiate'.

"State your desired conditions."

"First, I'd like a spot near the main escalator."

"You want to secure a prime location. And?"

"The burden of rent is the biggest obstacle to the initial settlement and growth of the brand. I'd like benefits such as a 50% rent reduction for 6 months, or rent exemption for the first 3 months."

"Huh. Even the rent?"

I smiled brightly.

"You know that we can create synergy effects greater than the reduced rent, don't you?"

"I'll review it and get back to you. We need to crunch the numbers properly on our side."

"Of course, I wasn't asking for an immediate decision."

I can wait as long as necessary.

"Third."

"There's even a third?"

Choi Yeo-hae's face contorted. It seemed her patience was reaching its limit.

But I pushed on without stopping.

"Third, we need a dedicated space that fits the brand concept. It would be great if we could set up a photo zone. Don't you think that's what will make people feel it's worth coming all the way from Seoul?"

"......"

Choi Yeo-hae made a complicated expression. It was true, but her face showed that she found my brazen demands very annoying.

Scribble, scribble.

Choi Yeo-hae roughly scribbled down the three proposals I had made and said:

"You're a robber without a knife."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Sure. That's the highest praise at this point."

I shrugged my shoulders. Choi Yeo-hae pressed her brow as if she had a headache.

"There isn't a fourth, right?"

"I can add more if you want."

"I'm too scared to even joke anymore."

Choi Yeo-hae shook her head.

"Will the review take long?"

"Three days. Three days will be enough."

"Good. Then I'll be waiting for a positive response."

As I bowed slightly, Choi Yeo-hae gestured as if telling me to leave quickly. I turned around with a slight smile.

It wasn't a bad condition for Choi Yeo-hae either, so while she might try to modify the conditions a bit, she probably wouldn't refuse the move-in.

'That alone is already a gain for me.'

Considering the continued growth trend of the new city, this preemptive effect would snowball and return later.

Moreover, this new city was expected to have a stable high-income group as its main consumer base.

'Just thinking about the real estate value until the contract renewal, it's already a big win.'

Thinking about that, a smile involuntarily spread across my face.