New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 111. Time of Harvest (1)

 

The results finally came out in mid-December.

 

The Federal Supreme Court refused to acknowledge the recount, confirming Candidate Bush’s election, and the General Manager and I received this news faster than the Blue House.

 

“The presidential election is finally over.”

 

“It certainly took a long time. And President-elect Bush still has another month left before taking office.”

 

“We can only make more accurate preparations once he’s inaugurated, so there’s nothing more we can prepare for now.”

 

We had made all the preparations we could.

 

We had established Middle East connections and already made contact with French companies to resolve outstanding receivables.

 

However, since nothing was decided about what goods we would receive, we couldn’t proceed any further.

 

“For now, let’s just focus on our work. TwoWork and EverBed platforms are doing incredibly well.”

 

“The response is better than expected. We’ve moved beyond just covering real estate maintenance costs to generating quite substantial profits.”

 

Users were literally exploding in numbers.

 

Being linked with Rollbook and Google, users were rapidly increasing.

 

Not only our newly opened 10th shared office location, but even Trump Tower’s vacancy rate had dropped to single digits.

 

“There were even reports that Trump Group could record their first profit in years.”

 

“Actually, Trump Group has benefited the most. Being promoted as EverBed’s flagship hotel, they’re receiving the most attention.”

 

“Well, we also used Trump Hotel as a promotional tool effectively, so it’s a win-win for both sides.”

 

It seemed we wouldn’t need to give President Trump the $100 million.

 

If we just maintained the current trend, we could surpass breaking even and even break maximum sales records.

 

“Other hotels are also inquiring about partnerships. We’re getting inquiries from smaller accommodation businesses like motels too, so commission revenue is expected to increase significantly.”

 

“The platform’s value might become greater than the real estate value.”

 

“Since this platform was created with the premise of selling it, we made the connection structure weaker compared to other Rollbook sites.”

 

The platform’s value increased faster than expected.

 

Thanks to this, massive commissions were coming in, and I came up with a new commission business idea.

 

“I’m thinking of creating an online airline ticket booking platform too.”

 

“Aren’t airline tickets already available for online purchase?”

 

“It’s possible in the United States, but such sites haven’t become mainstream in Korea or other countries yet.”

 

“If we link it with Rollbook, we could capture the airline ticket booking market too.”

 

“I plan to connect aviation and accommodation. If we create a site where people can book airline tickets and hotels simultaneously, we can significantly increase market share.”

 

Aviation and accommodation were no different from package deals.

 

Even when visiting travel agencies, people usually booked airline tickets and accommodation together.

 

But since there wasn’t yet a site where you could book both products online simultaneously, we could definitely dominate the market first.

 

“Are you planning to sell the airline ticket booking site together later?”

 

“We’re adding the airline ticket booking system to increase the value of the real estate platform. Of course, we plan to sell them together when we sell.”

 

“Before the IT bubble, this would have been an item that could attract investment money with just the idea, but now it needs to be materialized to make money.”

 

The era when ideas alone could make money was now over.

 

Such times might come again someday, but right after the IT bubble burst, you could only be valued if you had a clear profit structure model.

 

“To materialize this, we need connections with airlines and travel agencies.”

 

“Tiger Fund Headquarters will handle that part.”

 

“Meanwhile, I’ll be creating the site with Rollbook employees.”

 

“You won’t be bored before President-elect Bush takes office.”

 

The year 2000 didn’t have much time left.

 

But since there were still several unfinished tasks, there wasn’t a moment to rest.

 

***

 

The atmosphere at Rollbook Office had definitely changed from before.

 

First, there were more employees.

 

Students from the research lab who were approaching graduation got early employment, and we also created and operated separate support departments, so the scale was definitely larger than before.

 

“CEO, you’re here!”

 

“Nothing special today, right?”

 

“Everything is going smoothly. Delivery service, music streaming, and point shop are all stabilized with no major issues.”

 

Rollbook was on the verge of becoming Korea’s number one internet platform.

 

Portal sites still maintained high market share, but Rollbook had caught up to their chin with various functions.

 

And if we added travel content to those ‘various functions’, we could aim for first place.

 

“We’re going to attach an online airline ticket booking site to Rollbook. I’ve brought a rough composition plan.”

 

“After real estate, now airline tickets too? Online booking would definitely be convenient. You wouldn’t have to go to airports or travel agencies.”

 

“Tiger Fund Headquarters will support airline and travel agency cooperation, so we just need to create the system. When can it be completed?”

 

Kim Sang-sik and other employees rushed over to examine the materials.

 

“CEO, you’ve already created the basic framework, so it seems like we just need minor modifications. But the problem is we’re not sure if the connection with airlines will work properly. Real-time seat inquiry APIs are also insufficient, and we need to enable system integration with airlines and travel agencies.”

 

“We can solve that problem gradually. And since Tiger Fund Headquarters is involved, airlines and travel agencies will actively cooperate.”

 

With EverBed’s success story, it wasn’t difficult to request cooperation.

 

And the Tiger Fund name added credibility, so there was no reason to refuse.

 

“If airlines and travel agencies actively cooperate, it shouldn’t take too long.”

 

“It’s not just a simple airline ticket booking site, but also needs to integrate with the real estate platform.”

 

“Then it might take a little time. Still, wouldn’t one to two months be enough?”

 

“Please finish it within a month.”

 

The developers hung their heads.

 

They were wracking their brains over the tight schedule, but I wasn’t someone who made unreasonable demands.

 

I had proposed one month considering all the employees’ capacity.

 

While the developers were writhing in agony.

 

Yu Min-jung, who had been quietly looking at the materials, came up with a new idea.

 

“This is interesting! We could also create student-exclusive products. Like backpacking packages or working holiday products.”

 

“That’s a good idea.”

 

“We could also create programs like museum tours or historical site explorations, and linking with EverBed, we could offer them at affordable prices!”

 

“Min-jeong, you handle the program design.”

 

“Really? I’ll try putting in everything I want!”

 

Yu Min-jung, with her abundant liberal arts sensibility, was perfect for this kind of planning.

 

She immediately spread out a world map and began designing travel courses.

 

Meanwhile, Kim Sang-sik, who had been briefly frustrated, approached and reported on one matter.

 

“The same-day delivery system is almost finished too.”

 

“Are negotiations with Daehyeon Courier and Midopa completed?”

 

“Yes. Since same-day delivery is limited to Seoul for now, there weren’t any major problems. Daehyeon Courier recruited additional drivers for the Seoul area, and Midopa’s warehouse-type mart will open soon.”

 

Same-day delivery was one of the unfinished tasks.

 

The luxury section remodeling at Midopa Department Store was almost finished, and the warehouse-type mart remodeling was already completed.

 

“The warehouse-type mart opening was next week, right?”

 

“That’s right. So the same-day delivery service is also planned to coincide with next week.”

 

“The real-time order and inventory integration is fine, right?”

 

“We’ve installed the system you created, CEO, in all stores. We’ve tested it hundreds of times, but no errors have occurred yet.”

 

Inventory tracking was important for same-day delivery.

 

Same-day delivery was impossible for out-of-stock items, and you could only quickly replenish inventory if you knew what was in stock.

 

“Please double-check the delivery route optimization too.”

 

We’ve confirmed the optimized routes centered on each hub mart multiple times. We even ran simulations using Daehyeon Courier drivers.”

 

“Verify the optimized routes more than 6 times repeatedly. Maximum delivery time error should be 3 minutes, and inventory reflection time shouldn’t exceed 15 minutes.”

 

Optimized route design was a sensitive area.

 

Just looking at tangled routes could give me hives.

 

“We’ll deploy more personnel for optimized route verification.”

 

“And let’s make the refund process as simple as possible. There might be problem customers, but for now, improving service quality is priority even if we have to accept losses.”

 

Difficult customers were bound to appear anywhere.

 

However, since market dominance was more important than losses, we decided to ignore losses from problematic behavior.

 

“We’ll proceed that way. But I’m a bit concerned about pricing.”

 

“You mean because we’re selling too cheaply?”

 

“Of course it’s a warehouse-style mart. It’s true that we need to sell at lower prices compared to regular marts, but there’s not much profit left.”

 

“We can’t help it for now. We need to establish our position first before we have room to negotiate with distributors.”

 

Costco had already established its roots in the United States.

 

Thanks to that, they possessed a global distribution network that could sell various products in large volumes at low prices.

 

On the other hand, we were just starting out, so we were inevitably weak in that area and had to use new strategies.

 

“It might take several years to establish our position.”

 

“It won’t take that long. We can buy time with money.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“We plan to purchase Korean distribution rights for famous brands. We’ll buy distribution rights or manufacturing rights for products that have demand but are mainly imported, like cola, potato chips, and Daily Necessities or hygiene products.”

 

Of course, we weren’t buying all the rights.

 

The efficiency compared to investment could be poor.

 

Instead, it wasn’t difficult to secure warehouse mart-exclusive large-volume, low-price product lines through direct contracts with manufacturers. Even just doing that would secure ‘bait products’ to attract consumers.

 

“If that happens, we’ll definitely be differentiated from other marts.”

 

“Especially with Tiger Fund as our backing, negotiations with US Headquarters will be easy. If we say Tiger Fund will bear the investment costs, there’s no reason to refuse.”

 

“They can save money and expand their Market, so there’s no reason to refuse. But won’t it cost too much money?”

 

“It’s not that big of a loss. And once the warehouse mart establishes itself, we’ll recover the investment and have plenty left over.”

 

It was guaranteed profitable business as long as we could handle the initial investment.

 

But there weren’t many places that could use this strategy.

 

It was also a strategy we could use because we had the reliable backing of Tiger Fund.

 

“It’s reassuring to have Tiger Fund. At least we won’t face situations where we can’t do something due to lack of money.”

 

“That’s right. But Tiger Fund’s Funds aren’t infinite. So we need to stabilize as quickly as possible. To do that, we need to perfect the same-day delivery System.”

 

“We’re continuously adding related Algorithms.”

 

Online sales were ultimately an Algorithm battle.

 

Customer satisfaction would vary depending on which Algorithms were used and how.

 

“I’ll also create and add new Algorithms whenever I have time.”

 

“First, we need the warehouse mart and same-day delivery System to start so we can secure data. We need data to create new Algorithms too.”

 

“Until we secure data, we’ll have to organize everything manually.”

 

“We’re used to all-nighters. There are several Employees who sleep in the Office even when there’s no work.”

 

Rollbook was more like a university Research Lab than a Company.

 

Everyone was from Research Labs, and they were Employees who got jobs at Rollbook right after graduating from Research Labs.

 

As a result, they used School-like titles, calling seniors “Senior,” and they all gathered together to order late-night snacks and lived and slept at the Company.

 

“Let’s get more portable beds. And for the time being, let’s make food and beverage support unlimited.”

 

“Really? If you do that for us, it’ll make work enjoyable!”

 

The Rollbook Employees were happy with just this level of welfare.

 

Of course, this was possible because they were also receiving industry-leading salaries.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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