A Thirty-Something Earning 30 Million Won a Month from 'Elderly Kindergarten' Faces Online Hate Comments

Running a Senior Day Care Center in Buk-gu, Gwangju
Faced with Malicious Comments and Critical Calls After Revealing Income

A man in his 30s who runs a senior day care center shared his struggles after revealing his monthly income and receiving a barrage of malicious comments. Criticized for earning a lot of money while working in social welfare, he questioned, "Do I have to be poor while doing good deeds?"

Shin Seungjun operates a senior day care center. Screenshot from the YouTube channel 'Stories of a Life That Makes Money'

Recently, the YouTube channel 'Tamgu Saenghwal - Stories of Profitable Lives' uploaded a video titled 'A 36-year-old CEO who created a kindergarten for grandpas and grandmas and earns 30 million won a month.' The video featured a day in the life of Shin Seungjun (36), who operates a senior day care center in Buk-gu, Gwangju. The center cares for elderly people who have difficulty moving or suffer from dementia.

Shin revealed that after disclosing his income, he was bombarded with malicious comments such as "You're making money by exploiting grandpas and grandmas" and criticized for "making a lot of money while working in social welfare." He even confessed that his mother received phone calls criticizing him.

He said, "YouTube only shows the results, skipping the process," and asked, "Does that mean I have to live in poverty while doing good work?" Shin explained that the senior day care center operates with 85% covered by national social insurance and 15% paid by individuals. Although the daily income is about 3.9 million won, the actual profit is less than 20% after deducting labor and incidental costs.

Now running a second branch, he said, "Every business has a break-even point," adding, "The second branch reached the break-even point after six months, but until then, it was running at a loss."

He cited staff management as the most challenging aspect. He said the trial and error experienced while working with staff in their 50s and 60s was the hardest part. "Since I work with staff around my mother's age, it took a lot of effort to communicate and manage," he shared.

As for the secret to his success, Shin emphasized, "You need both a welfare mindset and a business mindset." He said, "As a service provider, it's important to create services that customers like and increase their satisfaction," recalling, "There were times when I would go around visiting senior centers and promoting in front of welfare facilities."

Shin added, "To succeed in the senior industry, which requires a high initial investment, you need both sincerity in social welfare and business acumen. You can't succeed by focusing only on welfare or only on business."