Small Business Owners in Crisis Seek Solutions at 'Sajangnim School'

Cumulative Number of Business Owners Participating in Baemin Academy Training Approaches 300,000

Amid ongoing political instability, attention is focusing on the 'Sajangnim School' for small business owners. This is because small business owners struggling with their operations are seeking programs that help solve their management concerns and support growth. Platform companies with business models that can only grow if small business owners thrive are expected to put particular effort into running such programs this year.

According to Woowa Brothers, which operates Baedal Minjok, the free education consulting program for small business owners called 'Baemin Academy' provided 3,652 online and offline training sessions as of the end of last month. The cumulative number of participating business owners reached 286,012. Baemin Academy is a business education program for restaurant owners started by Baemin in 2014. It offers more than 50 free online and offline training sessions every month, providing essential knowledge for running a business, management theory, practical training, and consulting through various programs.

Small business owners are attending offline lectures at Baemin Academy. Provided by Woowa Brothers.

Currently, offline training is conducted not only online but also at the Seoul Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the Gyeonggi Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Initially, the program was centered around the Seoul Center, but after the spread of COVID-19, online and real-time non-face-to-face training was expanded from July 2020. In fact, since the provision of online non-face-to-face education, the accessibility of training for busy restaurant owners has greatly improved, leading to an approximately tenfold annual increase in Baemin Academy participation.

The most popular lecture at Baemin Academy is the 'Sajangnim Special Lecture,' where restaurant owners currently working in the field share vivid business know-how. Other well-received programs include 'Business Concern Consulting,' which offers customized advice and consulting from restaurant industry experts, as well as training on Instagram marketing, cost management, and profit and loss management. A Baemin Academy representative said, "We will continue to actively collaborate with various experts in the restaurant industry, as well as institutions and associations for small business owners, to create diverse programs and provide high-quality education to restaurant owners."

The local community platform Danggeun is also steadily conducting online lectures for neighborhood small business owners through the 'Danggeun Sajangnim School.' This is because Danggeun operates not only a secondhand trading platform but also marketing channels like 'Biz Profile' for local small business owners. According to Danggeun, the Danggeun Sajangnim School online education has been held more than 88 times from April 2022 to the end of last year, with an average of over 500 small business owners applying for each lecture.

The distinctive feature of Danggeun Sajangnim School, as promoted by Danggeun, is that it offers practical store management know-how through vivid lectures by so-called 'masters' from various industries, including restaurants, Pilates studios, and repair shops. Recently, it has also conducted 'Introduction to Advertising' for all neighborhood small business owners nationwide who are curious about effective local marketing know-how, as well as 'Industry-Specific Special Lectures' containing marketing operation know-how for sectors such as fitness and academies.