YouTube 'Human Story' Choi Sang-hoon's Story Gains Attention
Began Business Trusting Acquaintance, Failed and Felt Despair
200 Million Won Debt... Paid Off in 5 Months Working at Butcher Shop
A young man who incurred a debt of 200 million won due to a business failure paid it all off in five months by selling meat at a mart, drawing attention. On the 27th, an interview with Choi Sang-hoon, the CEO of a livestock company, recently uploaded on the YouTube channel ‘Human Story,’ spread widely on online communities.
Choi said that five years ago, at the age of 28, he failed in business and incurred a debt of 200 million won. At that time, he was persuaded by an acquaintance who said, “Trust me and invest,” and he opened a store with borrowed money but ended up failing. Afterwards, he experienced severe depression and helplessness but gradually gained courage by starting with sales jobs such as water purifiers and bidets.
Then, he saw a job posting at a mart’s butcher shop and started working as a service staff selling meat. The structure was such that after selling the meat he received, Choi could take home the amount remaining after deducting the margin and the mart’s commission. The mart suggested to him, “Since the meat isn’t selling well, try selling as much as you can. We will meet your conditions.”
In response, Choi studied meat and used that knowledge to explain to customers, making great efforts to make conversations interesting. He sometimes stayed at the mart from 7 a.m. to midnight without leaving. He said, “To beat someone, you have to work and study twice as hard. So while others usually leave work around 5 or 6 p.m., I kept selling until midnight. I worked while sleeping two hours at a time.”
The meat Choi sold amounted to a whopping 120 million won per month. It is reported that he earned 36 million won in salary in the first month and 52 million won in the second month. As his financial situation improved, he paid off the 200 million won debt in five months. He explained, “I saved over 200 million won, but I shared it with my family and gave 1 million won each to 20 people who helped me when I was struggling.”
After quitting the mart job after one year, Choi started his own business again. Currently, Choi’s franchise business is still in its early stages, and he is directly in charge of distribution and sales. He said, “As a one-person business, I achieved 11.8 billion won in annual sales.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
