Gwangju Bank's 'Small Business Management Consulting' program, operated by the Inclusive Finance Center, has surpassed a cumulative total of 1,000 cases. Photo by Gwangju Bank
Gwangju Bank announced on the 26th that the "Small Business Management Consulting" program run by its Financial Inclusion Center has surpassed 1,000 cumulative cases, establishing itself as a leading example of community-based financial support.
Launched to support small business owners struggling amid the prolonged economic downturn and rapidly changing consumer trends, the program has provided customized consulting over the past five years to a total of more than 1,000 small business owners. Rather than simply delivering theory, it focuses on offering practical improvement measures that can be applied immediately in the field.
The consulting program is structured around the main difficulties that small business owners face in their actual business operations, and is composed of four areas in total: marketing, management diagnosis, specialized fields (tax and legal), and store operations.
In the marketing area, it supports online sales channel development, social media promotion strategies, and ways to utilize delivery platforms. In the management diagnosis area, it helps establish cost-saving measures and medium-to-long-term growth roadmaps through analysis of revenue structures. In the tax and legal area, it provides tax-saving strategies and basic education, while in the store operations area, it offers practical, operations-focused improvement plans such as store layout design, inventory management, and enhancement of customer service (CS).
The greatest strength of the Gwangju Bank Financial Inclusion Center's consulting lies in its "on-site, hands-on support." It does not end with a one-off, formal consultation; instead, professional consultants visit the business sites directly, diagnose management issues, and present solutions that can be implemented immediately on-site.
In particular, the bank has recently strengthened its marketing support to respond to changes in the digital environment, and it also runs tax and legal consultations with a focus on practical operations, thereby enhancing management improvement effects that small business owners can truly feel. These efforts are being credited not only with strengthening the competitiveness of local small businesses, but also with having a positive impact on revitalizing the regional economy.
The continued attention and support from Gwangju Bank have also been recognized externally. Gwangju Bank has been selected as an exemplary case for three consecutive years at the "Best Practice Presentation on Management Consulting for Self-Employed and Small Business Owners in the Banking Sector," hosted by the Korea Federation of Banks.
In addition, at the "2025 Inclusive and Co-Prosperity Finance Awards" hosted by the Financial Supervisory Service, the bank was the only regional bank to receive an institutional award in the "Self-Employed Management Consulting" category, proving the excellence of its systematic and continuous on-site, hands-on consulting model.
The program is open to any small business owner with a willingness to improve their management, and, where necessary, it can be linked to financial support consultations to help achieve tangible management stabilization. Consultations can be requested through any nearby Gwangju Bank branch, after which professional consultants will visit the business sites in turn to provide customized consulting.
Gwangju Bank President Jung Ilseon said, "In difficult times, support that can be felt directly in the field is especially important," adding, "We will continue to strengthen our practice of co-prosperity finance as the leading regional financial institution that supports the sustainable growth of small business owners."
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