“I didn't have the talent to be a professional, but I wanted to make more money than I could have.”

The author is a manager with seven years of experience working for a leading domestic chemical company.
He is 32 years old this year and is also the father of a daughter.
However, in the third year of employment, he confidently reached the salary of a manager, in the fifth year, he earned as much as an executive, and now, in the seventh year, he has achieved an annual salary of 1 billion won.
Is this something that can be done with just a salary?

He has a secret.
While working at the company, I started a business as a side job without anyone knowing and made a net profit of 50 million won per month.
It was a fiercely competitive red ocean, and it was an offline business at that.
The company was profitable from the very first store and gradually expanded to eight branches, recovering all of its investment in eight stores in just five years.
How did he successfully grow his own business while working at a company, without any unique items or significant investment? The secrets to his success are fully revealed in "The Story of Manager Kim: Earning 5,000 Won a Month in Net Income While Working at a Company."


The author speaks frankly.
He said he didn't have the ability to become a professional, but he wanted to earn more money than a professional.
I wanted to become someone who earns more than my boss or executives as soon as possible.
If that were the case, I wouldn't be able to plan my own future and that of my family if I just depended on my salary.
In order to find the fastest way, I took out a loan and tried everything from stocks, real estate, and coins, and the conclusion I came to was 'my own business'.


This book is packed with the author's vivid business secrets that he learned through firsthand experience, from the reason why you should run a business while working to how to find a business idea that even office workers can do, launching know-how that makes a profit from the start, how to build and operate an automated system that requires minimal human intervention, marketing strategies for selecting a location and attracting people, operation secrets for increasing profits while increasing stores without additional investment, and even smart tips to avoid having to work a second job at the company.

The author, who is a manager and president of Kim, who has been with the company for 7 years, emphasizes:

“Never quit your job. Start small while working.”

The idea is to start by working for a company that provides a stable foundation and the best learning materials for business systems, and then leave when your business has sufficiently developed growth potential.
If you're an office worker who harbors vague thoughts like, "Should I quit my job right now and start my own business?", heed the author's advice and start with a "small start."
If you apply the know-how contained in this book to your own situation and personality, there will surely come a day when you will bow your head and thank your current self in five or ten years, just like the author did.

I value money very much.
I wanted to be someone who earned more than my boss, more than the professionals, more than the executives at our company, as soon as possible.
Now, five years after starting my business while working at the company, I have achieved all of these goals.
I believe that the clearest and most certain evidence proving whether the way I live is right or not is the amount of money I earn.
--- p.5

I focus a lot on building 'regulars', especially when I first open.
Loyal customers not only drive sales, they also become voluntary fans and serve as free promotional ambassadors for your store.
If a customer signs up for a diet and successfully loses 20kg, everyone around them will naturally follow suit. Their CLV will double, triple, tenfold... and the sky's the limit.

However, if the employees did not work with all their heart and passion, achieving the customer's goals would not have been possible or would have taken longer.
Of course, I am still confident that I can do better in many areas than my employees.
However, it is not desirable for me to do everything.
I would be satisfied with training employees who can produce results that are only about 70% of my level.
If I could replicate and train another employee who produces 70% of the output with the spare capacity left over from that employee, I could achieve 140% of what I could achieve, beyond 100%.

--- p.54~55

Above all, stock selection is important.
Depending on the nature and character of the business, such as whether it is a restaurant or facility business, online or offline, there are areas where you can do well and areas where you cannot.
You need to understand who you are and carefully select the items that you can combine with 'two or three of your strengths that you are slightly better at than others.'
(…) If my strength was ‘I can imitate the dishes from Black and White Chef, even if it’s not exactly the same,’ I would probably have chosen a unique pub or izakaya.

--- p.59

The basics of business are increasing sales and reducing expenses.
However, it is easy for people who are starting a business to forget this basic principle.
With the vague concept of 'economies of scale', people think that they have to start big and make things look good to be successful.
On the other hand, I planned to start my first store small.
‘Not going broke’ came before ‘making money.’

--- p.66~67

Don't quit your job.
Just don't quit.
Don't ask why.
To be precise, you should resign when you can clearly understand the reason for your resignation.
There are always factors that make you want to quit, such as the company situation, interpersonal relationships, and salary conditions.
They say that salaried workers always carry a letter of resignation in their hearts, but as your side business goes well and you gain confidence, you will find yourself having more frequent, sad moments when you want to throw in the towel.
However, you should only consider resigning if you have a 'reason that I can fully accept'.
Until then, you should prepare to go out into the world with peace of mind, protected by the 'huge and stable fence called the company'.

--- p.75

The sense of accomplishment that came when my monthly income became equal to that of my manager, who had always seemed so high, became a source of energy for my work life.
Considering taxes, I actually earn more.
At a company, employees who have been employed for three years are considered to be undervalued.
This is the age where you are cautious about your words and actions and feel discouraged due to your rank and seniority.
However, in the professional world, when you consider that the biggest indicator is 'annual salary', my value is not lacking no matter where I put it.
Rather, there is not much difference between a manager who orders dozens of team members around.
That alone gave me a sense of confidence in my actions and words.
It's only natural that better results come from being armed with confidence rather than working in fear, right?
In this way, I was promoted to manager in just my third year of employment, all on my own.
It's a special promotion, a special promotion, a special promotion, a special promotion.
It's almost like a job application routine for the youngest son of a conglomerate family.
--- p.96~97

Even though I'm a businessman earning $500 million a month, I still ride my Honda Super Cub 110cc scooter to and from work.
(…) At work, my seniors and juniors drive cars from the German Big 3 or Volvo, so they look at me with amazement because I still ride an old scooter.
I think he's that kind of guy now that he's freed from his ignorance.
Some of my acquaintances who know that I earn money through a second job look at me like I'm a mutant.
If someone were to look at me, they would think I am a monk who has escaped from material possessions, but the truth is different.
It's a choice with strategic reasons.

--- p.139

Employees can be angels or devils at any time.
You don't have to blindly trust their loyalty, but you don't have to blindly doubt it either.
The boss's job is to create a path for employees who might otherwise be devils to become angels.
We call this a 'system'.

--- p.182

I realized that reducing my 'time option' to spend on other important things reduces my future benefits.
If you've been running a business full-time from the beginning, you probably haven't really felt the "limitation of time and energy."
However, as I faced the physical, mental, and time limitations of working two jobs, I realized how crucial it is to the continued growth of my business to use my time and energy efficiently.

--- p.211

How do you get into the "top 10%" in any field? I know.
If you do it till the end, you can definitely get into the top 10%.
The reason is that the majority, 90%, give up before going all the way.
If you survive and make it to the top 10%, you can go somewhere and rub shoulders.
My strength is tenacity, which is stronger than a rope, so you can trust that and go for it.

--- p.295