God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 214

"I hope so."

Je Yun-jae rose from his seat, buttoning his suit jacket. Quite some time had passed, so he needed to leave soon.

For someone of Je Yun-jae's position, every minute and second was money.

I also stood up to see him out, but Je Yun-jae waved his hand as if to say it was fine.

"Please do entertain me."

He waved his hand gently with a smiling face.

It was such a radiant face that I was momentarily dazzled. Before I could say anything, the door closed with a thud.

I could hear other employees outside startling and greeting him.

"...Haa."

I let out a sigh and slumped back into my seat.

'I survived.'

This time was really dangerous. If I hadn't received a grace period from Je Yun-jae The Song could have perished right then and there.

Of course, I would have resisted as much as possible. But I don't think a head-on confrontation with JC would have ended well.

'I wonder what would have happened without the knowledge from before my regression.'

As the tension dissipated, my body lost strength. Perhaps because I had come after working all night through the weekend, the fatigue was doubled.

As I was slumped like a wet rag, I heard a knock on the CEO's office door.

"Yes."

"I'm coming in."

It was Jo I-ruk who opened the door and entered. Through the open door, I could hear familiar voices bickering.

"Are Ye-won and Jae-ha fighting again?"

"You don't need to worry about it."

Jo I-ruk dismissed it briefly.

I thought I heard something about graduation photos. Was it my imagination?

I tilted my head and looked at Jo I-ruk.

"Is it urgent? I'm a bit tired right now."

If possible, I wanted to just handle some paperwork and take a half day off in the afternoon. As I was thinking this while pressing down on my eyelids, Jo I-ruk added briefly.

"What did you discuss with Director Je?"

"Hmm."

I briefly scanned Jo I-ruk's face. Jo I-ruk was the undisputed second-in-command of The Song, also serving as my secretary, a person who could use two bodies and still be short-handed.

I brought him in when he knew nothing, and I've been making good use of him until now. I felt both grateful and sorry.

'Team Leader Jo should know roughly how things are going.'

Other employees probably couldn't even guess why Je Yun-jae had come all the way here.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard for me to get up right now. I'll tell you like this."

"Yes."

I briefly summarized the conversation I had with Je Yun-jae. I explained how we had used JC as a shield when negotiating with Hyeonmu last time, and how the rumor that started then had snowballed, leading Je Yun-jae to come and check in person.

"...Such a thing happened?"

Jo I-ruk muttered softly. He seemed quite surprised.

"I did wonder why there wasn't much pressure after rejecting Hyeonmu's proposal back then... But I never imagined there was such a backstory."

Well, it would be surprising to hear that the CEO, who they thought was just researching recipes all day, was actually balancing the power struggle between two forces behind the scenes.

The reality was that we had to focus all our efforts on not getting crushed in this fight between two whales until our company grew big enough.

"Well, there's no need to worry about it for now. Director Je said he'd lend us his name for the time being."

"......"

"Thanks to that, we've bought some time. Although we do need to grow to the size JC wants within 5 years."

That was the plan from the beginning anyway, so it wasn't a big problem.

"I had no idea."

Jo I-ruk said in a somewhat gloomy tone.

"I'm sorry, CEO."

"Pardon?"

Jo I-ruk bowed deeply. I couldn't hide my bewilderment as I asked back.

Sorry? For what?

What did Jo I-ruk do wrong to apologize to me?

"I've been unable to properly grasp such crucial matters until now."

"Ah, no. There's no need for that."

Of course, because I didn't say anything.

Besides, it wasn't something that could be resolved even if Jo I-ruk had stepped in. It was a solution that relied heavily on my memories from before the regression. I had no choice but to take action myself.

But from Jo I-ruk's perspective, it seemed different.

"I thought I was managing things well so that CEO wouldn't have to worry. It seems it was all my misconception."

"Come on. Team Leader Jo, you're doing such a great job."

I give you plenty of incentives as a token of appreciation.

In fact, the reason I can focus on recipe research is all thanks to Jo I-ruk's support from behind.

"Thanks to you, I can focus on my work with peace of mind."

So there's no need to worry about it. The CEO is here to resolve such issues, after all.

Clap!

I clapped my hands to draw attention.

"Shall we talk about something else then?"

"What do you mean by something else?"

There was a reason I insisted on coming to work today, even if I had to be stubborn.

'Discontent must have been building up to the brim.'

There was a need to gently press it down before it exploded.

"Our franchise brands. We need to adjust the prices."

"...!"

"Aren't complaints flooding in from everywhere? The franchisees must be clamoring to raise prices."

"Y-yes, that's correct."

He seems surprised that I would bring up such a topic.

That's because I had repeatedly emphasized selling at low margins and high volume, saying that the threshold of the store should be low.

'But if we sell at a level where there's barely any margin, the franchisees' motivation will be crushed.'

It was our headquarters' job to find and propose the appropriate balance between market demands and the franchisees' desired prices.

"The demand for price increases has been steadily growing. But because CEO has been consistently unresponsive until now, we thought the prices would remain frozen as they are."

"It's time for a readjustment."

There was also the story I heard through Kim Jong-chun recently. The franchisees' patience must be nearing its limit.

It's hard to clean up if it explodes like a volcano, so it would be good to make a gesture of negotiation at this point.

"This will be the first time adjusting prices, so I'll explain it to you in detail."

"Yes, I understand. ...Has CEO done this before?"

Oops.

"Hahaha. I-I've just heard a detailed explanation of the process before."

I acted like I knew too much. Jo I-ruk nodded with a face of 100% trust, not seeming suspicious at all.

"I see."

Just hearing about it doesn't make everything work out. Price adjustment isn't such an easy task.

...I want to argue like this. But it would be digging my own grave, so let's keep my mouth shut for now.

Instead, I dangled a carrot on a fishing rod.

"When I'm not around, Team Leader Jo might have to do this, so it would be good to learn it well now, right?"

"...! Yes. I'll keep that in mind."

Jo I-ruk's eyes changed completely.

Unlike the person who had just bowed his head apologizing for not being helpful, his eyes were now sparkling again.

'Should I say it's endearing how his eyes sparkle like this, wanting to be of even a little help to me?'

Although I'm much younger in physical age, I couldn't help but have such thoughts.

I smiled and continued speaking.

"First, please analyze the factors causing cost increases and submit a report. We have quantified recipes for each store, right? Based on those recipes, please investigate how much the prices of the ingredients have increased."

The most basic thing when setting prices is calculating the cost of ingredients.

It's the same when considering price increases. We need to carefully investigate how much the raw material prices have risen to be able to raise prices to a reasonable degree.

"We also need to predict consumer reactions, so please conduct a market survey. Ah, and also a report analyzing the price ranges of other brands in the same industry and consumer reactions."

"Yes, understood."

Up to this point is the realm of mechanical analysis. A part that's decided purely by numbers.

"Is that how we should proceed?"

Jo I-ruk asked as if there was no need to consider anything else.

But business isn't always clear-cut, you know.

"Please conduct a survey targeting the franchisees to investigate their desired prices."

That's why this process is necessary.

'The inflation rate viewed from the cold perspective of the market and the perceived increase rate of individuals are different.'

The increase that franchisees want will probably be much larger than the market's reaction.

If the headquarters keeps deciding prices unilaterally while pretending not to know this gap, dissatisfaction is bound to build up.

"I'll prepare it that way."

I added one more thing to Jo I-ruk.

"The franchisees might ask for a negotiation table to be set up."

"!"

"The franchisee association might send representatives, or they might elect representatives by region to send."

Either way, they'll want a place to communicate directly with the headquarters.

"If they request it, please prepare within two weeks."

"Yes."

Jo I-ruk nodded while busily taking notes.

This person's face also lights up when receiving a new mission like this.

"This isn't the end."

"Is there more to do?"

"How much we raise the price is important, but what's actually more important is what we do after raising it."

Jo I-ruk tilted his head as if he didn't quite get it. I added more to give an example.

"After raising prices, it's good to provide additional promotions or discount benefits to alleviate consumers' psychological resistance caused by the price increase."

For about a month after the price increase, we could provide discount coupons, or offer more discounts on set menus, for example.

Doing so greatly dulls the resistance to price increases.

Jo I-ruk looked surprised for a moment, then nodded.

"We'll be collecting customer feedback and there's a possibility of additional adjustments, so please tell the monitoring team to prepare to be busy for a while."

"Yes. I'll do my best to ensure it proceeds without any issues."

After finishing his notes, Jo I-ruk looked at me with a strange expression and asked.

"...You say you heard all of this?"

"Ahaha."

I laughed awkwardly.