Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

“Sir, I came here because I heard you are in the office today.”

The internal auditor sat on a chair and President Song said to him, “I was talking to President Goo about the dividend. I am making a recommendation to him that we probably want to increase our company’s capital with the dividend rather than just holding off paying for the debt.”

“If we are about to register with KOSDAQ in the imminent future, then we should do that.”

Gun-Ho chipped in the conversation between President Song and the internal auditor.

“I read a news article about a small company that successfully registered with KOSDAQ. That company didn’t have many employees and had relatively small sales revenue.”

“I guess that company must be a start-up business, but we are not a start-up company.”

“What’s the definition of a start-up company?”

President Song smiled and explained, “A start-up company to which a different rule applies in registering with KOSDAQ is a research company that devotes mainly to develop some technologies or patented products, etc. You need to get an official determination from the Small and Medium Business Administration that your company satisfies all the requirements to be deemed as a ‘start-up company’. We are in a smokestack industry, so we don’t qualify for it.”

“But our factory doesn’t have a smokestack.”

“In the old days, we used coal to produce heat in manufacturing products while we use electricity instead these days. We manufacture our products by using extruders and injection molding machines that use heat. So we are in the smokestack industry.”

President Song asked a question to the internal auditor while sipping his tea, “What if we increase our capital stock without consideration, rather than increase our capital stock after distributing the dividend?”

“Well, I think there must be some restrictions in increasing capital stock by reinvesting net profits before applying for the KOSDAQ registration because the government can collect taxes on dividends after they are distributed.”

“I think you are right, Mr. Internal Auditor. By the way, the position of an internal auditor exists in a large company only, doesn’t it? It is more appropriate to place you to a position as an executive officer in the finance department.”

Gun-Ho quickly chipped in.

“I didn’t know much about position titles in a company when I took over this company. Since he has been working with the title— Internal Auditor— maybe we can just keep it that way.”

“Haha. I’m just saying it, sir. We can grow this company as a large company if we have to correct job titles.”

“What’s the definition of a large company?”

The internal auditor explained, “According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the size of a company’s assets determines whether a particular company is large or small. To be considered as a large company, it has to have at least 10 trillion won of assets. If it’s too hard to become a large company, we can just get into the mid-size company category.”

“Mid-size company?”

This time, President Song explained further, “As long as we generate 150 billion won of sales revenue on average annually, we can be considered as a mid-size company, or we can hire more than 1,000 employees, or the value of the company’s assets needs to be more than 500 billion won. I will strive to make our company a mid-size company in three years.”

“I do rely on you both.”

“If you need anything further to tell us, sir, we will go back to work now.”

After President Song, who was in his mid-50s, and the internal auditor, who was in his late 50s, left Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho let out a sigh.

‘They both have been in the business field for years, and they are highly knowledgeable. Well, I guess there are a lot of things that I’ll have to learn from them.’

Gun-Ho headed to Dyeon Korea in Asan City in his Bentley.

“Hey, Chan-Ho. Aren’t you hungry? Let’s have lunch before we go to Dyeon Korea.”

Chan-Ho, who was driving, looked at Gun-Ho’s face through the rear-view mirror.

“I’m good either way, sir.”

“What do you want to eat today?”

“I will eat what you eat, sir.”

“Well, I want to eat what you want to eat for today.”

“Then, I want to eat meat.”

“Let’s have grilled beef sirloin then.”

“Beef sirloin? That’s expensive.”

“I can afford it. Let’s go eat beef sirloin.”

“I will head to the hot spring spa area. We will find a good restaurant there.”

Gun-Ho and Chan-Ho Eom went to a Korean restaurant that specialized in grilled beef sirloin.

“It’s very easy and convenient to park a car here unlike Seoul.”

“Do you feel not wanting to go back to Seoul once you are here in Asan City? Also when you are in Seoul, you don’t feel like going to Asan City, huh?”

“Yes, sometimes I feel that way.”

“I do value your honesty, Chan-Ho. Order anything you want, beef sirloin or beef ribs or anything.”

“Guess what Tae-Young bro told me the other day.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, my mouth must be happy since I often indulge in food with you, sir.”

“Haha. Really? But I haven’t fed you that often.”

“You have. When I’m with Tae-Young bro, sometimes we can’t even afford to have a pork belly dish.”

“When we go back to Seoul, let’s get together with Tae-Young and have beef sirloin.”

“That sounds great.”

Gun-Ho and Chan-Ho ate grilled beef sirloin as much as they could and took a short nap in the car before heading to Dyeon Korea. When Gun-Ho arrived at Dyeon Korea, Jae-Sik Moon was waiting for him. It was an unexpected visit.

“Hey, President Moon? What’s up? Did you come here to see me?”

“Yes. I wanted to see you and also Director Kim.”

“Director Kim? For what?”

“He said he has another work for me.”

“Really? Let’s go into my office.”

Jae-Sik followed Gun-Ho to his office.

“Did you eat?”

“Yes, I did. I actually had my lunch here in the company restaurant.”

“Have you met Director Kim yet?”

“I was told that Director Kim is at a client’s site. He is not in his office now, but he is on his way here.”

“What sort of work does he have for you?”

“It’s transportation work for another company that used to work with GH Mobile before.”

“Really?

Jae-Sik looked concerned. He said, “I need three 4-ton freight trucks to do the work though.”

“And? Is there a problem?”

“The thing is that I want to buy those trucks in installments, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Even though a company is newly established, we can purchase things in installments with its president’s personal guarantee. But, since I don’t have a good credit score, they denied our application for it.”

“What level of credit score do you have?”

“Mine is 9.”

“Just buy the trucks with cash.”

“I do have some money left from the initial investment funds of 300 million won, but if I use them to buy trucks, I might not have enough funds for operating the company.”

“Just get those trucks with cash now. If you need more money, I will send you more.”

“I just feel sorry...”

“Don’t be. If you keep feeling sorry for things like this and try not to ask for help, you won’t succeed in running your business. People will recognize you as a good person, but not a good businessman.”

“Okay. I will get three freight trucks with cash then. I already posted a job opening for a truck driver.”

“And, get another truck that can be used to transport artworks. Have that truck customized to serve a special purpose—to safely transport artworks. You will need some metal shelves and hangers. If you are not sure what to do, just hire a truck driver who has work experience in that field.”

“Got it.”