Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho wanted to discuss the formation of the sales company in China with Min-Hyeok Kim.

Once Dyeon Korea—the joint venture with Lymondell Dyeon—started producing products, they would have to sell them in China.

“Min-Hyeok? Is this a good time to talk?”

“Yes, it’s good.”

“Once Dyeon Korea starts its business, it will produce products right away. If so, don’t you think it would look proper if we sell the products in China with the name GH Parts Company?”

“Well, I suppose… If we form a sales company for it, it would be like we are operating two separate business entities.”

“That’s right.”

“What if we make a distribution center in China for Dyeon Korea?”

“That will diminish the credibility, not to mention the complication with the tax report.”

“If we establish a new entity in China, then how about naming it Dyeon China?”

“When we pack our products for sale, we put them in a bag, and each bag weighs about 20 kilograms. And on each bag of the products, we write the weight and the manufacturing company’s name just like a rice sack. So it won’t be accurate if we put Dyeon China on the product bag since the products are not manufactured in China.”

“Let’s take some more time in deciding what name the sales company will have. What about the capital? How much are you thinking of investing in that sales company?”

“How much did we invest in GH Parts Company in Suzhou City when we started that company? I don’t recall the exact number since it has been a while already.”

“It was 300 million won. We initially started that company with 100 million won, and then you added 200 million won to it. And that 200 million won was used to pay for the company debts and unpaid wages.”

“Was it enough?”

“Once the company started its business, we began to make money, so it was good. The company is currently selling products for about 300 million won per month. We have 17 customers now.”

“Did you say the company has 40 workers right now?”

“It’s 42 to be accurate.”

“Hmm. We can afford to have that many workers because the business is located in China. If we have to run the same company in Korea and assuming we will make the same sales revenue, we wouldn’t be able to have more than 20 workers.”

“Of course. Our sales revenue is increasing steadily. I believe the sales revenue will reach 500 million won by the end of this year because we will start selling our new product—AM083 Assembly—to S Group’s factory in China starting this month. Also, we will receive the payments from our new customer starting this month; it’s a Chinese company, and we are selling them our gaskets. Those payments will count toward our sales revenue.”

“Was it 1.7 million dollars that we received from Jinxi Construction Company when we terminated the joint venture with them?”

“It was 1.725 million dollars to be exact.”

“So it’s about 1.81 billion in Korean won.”

“We used 300 million won out of that fund when we opened GH Parts Company. Also, we used 285 million won to purchase the storage for Dyeon Korea. We have about 1.2 billion won left in our bank account.”

“Hmm.”

“I will think about the name of the company.”

“Okay. Let’s take some time to think about it.”

Gun-Ho received a report on GH Building’s profit and loss from Director Kang, and he had the new accounting manager and Ms. Ji-Young Jeong join the meeting.

After receiving the report, Gun-Ho sighed slightly because after paying the loan interest and salary to the workers, not enough funds would be left for the building maintenance reserve and the depreciation cost.

“Let’s think about a revenue model. We will need to accumulate enough funds for the building maintenance reserve. Otherwise, we will have to lend money if we encounter unexpected major repair of the building, and that will increase our debt.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That doesn’t mean we are going to raise rents to our current building occupants without any good reason though.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Director Kang, please keep a close relationship with the realtors in the area. Have lunch with them sometimes.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gun-Ho then headed to Jiksan Town where GH Mobile was located.

He received the reports again from managers and directors for the GH Mobile matters. Once the reporting was completed, Gun-Ho went to Asan City to visit the construction site of Dyeon Korea.

The soil excavation was already completed, and the workers were building the factory. Director Yoon was talking with the construction company’s president when he saw Gun-Ho coming into the construction site. He quickly ran to Gun-Ho to greet him.

“The building started being constructed.”

“Yes, it won’t take long to complete the building. The finishing work will take some time though.”

When Gun-Ho was walking around the construction site, GH Development’s secretary—Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh—called Gun-Ho.

“Sir, this is Yeon-Soo Oh.”

“Oh, hi. Go on.”

“We just received a call from Ms. Angelina Rein from Dyeon. She said that they will send the vice president next week, who will work at Dyeon Korea.”

“Oh, really?”

“The vice president’s name is Mr. Adam Castler. She said you have met with him before.”

Gun-Ho remembered Mr. Adam Castler. He met him during the dinner party in Seattle. He was introduced to Gun-Ho by the vice president of Dyeon—Mr. Brandon Burke. The man had thick eyebrows, and he was in his 30s. Gun-Ho was told that Mr. Adam Castler used to work for another Dyeon’s joint venture in Mexico.

When Gun-Ho returned to his GH Mobile factory in Jiksan Town, the secretary—Ms. Hee-Jeong Park—brought him today’s economic newspaper with a cup of green tea.

“Will you check if the sales director is available now? If so, please ask him to come to my office now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ten minutes after Ms. Hee-Jeong Park left Gun-Ho’s office, Director Dong-Chan Kim entered the office. Director Dong-Chan Kim was recently promoted to a managing director position from being the sales director, and he was relocated to the newly formed company—Dyeon Korea. He had been with GH Mobile for a long time since the days when it was still Mulpasaneop. He graduated from Chungang University majoring in English Literature, and he was in his mid-50s. He served his military service in Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA). Even though he majored in English literature in college and served KATUSA, he couldn’t speak English very well. Maybe because he hadn’t had a chance to practice it for a long time. He was very good at communicating with other people and he had thick skin, so he had the right aptitude for sales. He developed his career in the sales area in his entire life.

“You sent for me?”

“Please have a seat.”

“I am thinking of visiting our current customers once Dyeon Korea produced the sample products.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I am also working on the pamphlet design right now, so we can carry them with the sample products.”

“Hmm, I see. I have always admired your energy to work hard.”

“Haha. I’m just doing my job, sir.”

“And… the reason I asked you to come to my office is that we were just informed that Dyeon will send the vice president to Dyeon Korea next week.”

“The vice president, sir?”

“You have already read the joint venture contract, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have, sir.”

“If you read the contract carefully, it says that at the beginning of Dyeon Korea, I will be the president of Dyeon Korea, but Dyeon will send one of their workers as a vice president. They can send more workers for various positions with Dyeon Korea, but considering the cost of labor, they are sending the vice president only for this time. A few engineers will be here too, and they will stay with us for several months. They will help us operate the equipment.”

“I am aware of it, sir.”