Director Kim came back from the business trip to India. He was giving a report to Gun-Ho.
“The company is officially established in India. Its director’s register is currently listing three directors— Manager Jong-Geun Lee who is in India now, a local Indian worker whose name is Anirvan Khan, and myself. Mr. Anirvan Khan is a local person recently hired by Manager Jong-Geun Lee. He speaks English very well.”
“Do you think that we can trust him?”
“He looks alright. I think he is good.”
“Did he already get the business license issued as well?”
“Yes, it clearly shows that the company was established with 100% of investment funds from Dyeon Korea. I brought a copy of its business license.”
“Hmm.”
“That company was formed as an independent company in India, rather than a branch office of Dyeon Korea. Therefore, it could later start manufacturing products if we want it to. As you can see in the photos, its storage has a structure and a yard. In my opinion, it has enough space to store 100 tons of raw materials. Manager Lee hired a security officer for the storage as well.”
“Have you met with our clients in India during the trip?”
“Yes, I visited Mandong Company, Egnopak, and S Group. All of them seemed to be very happy with the fact that we are joining them to the area. Fortunately, Manager Jong-Geun Lee, who used to work as an interpreter for Mr. Adam Castler, is about the same age as other overseas presidents of those companies. I’m sure that he will get along with them just fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Also, Manager Lee seemed to feel relieved when the initial investment funds of 100,000 dollars were transferred to the company account. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the company’s funds or your personal funds, but you need enough funds on your hands to feel more comfortable when you are away from home.”
“I know that. It wouldn’t be just a feeling of discomfort, but you would feel terrified when you have no money on your hands, especially when you are far away from home without your family or friends.”
“As a start, we sent 50 tons of raw materials to India. In determining the price for them, we had to consider the shipping fee, so we priced the products for 4.4 million won per ton rather than 4.5 million won per ton.”
“Did Mr. Adam Castler agree with the export price to India?”
“Of course, sir. We now have clients— Mandong Company, S Group, and Egnopak there. Other than those client companies, how many more clients we could procure from now on is up to Manager Lee’s sales ability.”
“Hmm.”
“Since Manager Lee has no problem communicating in English, he is currently contacting companies in Europe.”
“I understand that we are now sending a significant amount of our products to China and India, but I believe that we have enough manpower and system to handle the workload without making our workers stay overnight. Am I right?”
“Yes, sir. We don’t need to work at night.”
“Well done, Director Kim. You must be very tired from the trip to India. Please take a deep rest now.”
“Thank you, sir.”
When it was almost the end of July, the weather was getting hotter and hotter every day.
Gun-Ho went to GH Mobile to work that day. He received a call. It was from A Electronics’ CEO Park who Gun-Ho played golf together the other day with Minister Jin-Woo Park.
“Oh my, hi. How are you, sir?”
Gun-Ho felt grateful that CEO Park contacted him first. He then wondered if CEO Park called him to ask for playing golf again with him. In fact, Gun-Ho really enjoyed playing golf with his friends, but it was not so fun playing golf with people who he had to be careful dealing with. It gave him constant stress while playing golf with people like that.
“I will be in the area today. I have a business that I need to attend at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan City. I’d like to stop by your office afterwards if it’s okay with you. It’s not an official visit, so please don’t tell anyone, but let’s just meet quietly. I will see you within an hour then.”
‘What does he mean by meeting me quietly? What’s it that he is not telling me?’
Whatever agenda that CEO Park had in mind, Gun-Ho felt a bit nervous. He is the CEO of a company that most of the young people in Korea wanted to work for after all. Gun-Ho called for Director Jong-Suk Park quietly.
“Director Park, someone is visiting our factory one hour from now. Please get the production site ready to show how clean it is. Don’t tell it to the workers, but just have them organize incomplete products that are scattered everywhere at the site.”
“No problem. Who is coming?”
“Just someone who I know. Don’t ask me more though.”
CEO Park came to Gun-Ho’s factory by himself; he was not with his chauffeur. In the visitor’s book, he indicated that he was a college friend of Gun-Ho.
Secretary Jeong-Hee Park came into Gun-Ho’s office to inform CEO Park’s arrival.
“Sir, I just received a call from the security office. Your college friend— CEO Park— just arrived.”
“My college friend? Oh, oh, okay. Please let him in when he gets here.”
After a moment, CEO Park entered Gun-Ho’s office.
“I just stopped by your office since I was in the area. I was hoping to take a look around your factory and have a cup of tea with you.”
At that moment, Secretary Jeong-Hee Park brought two cups of tea.
“You haven’t told anyone that I would be here, have you?”
“No, I haven’t. Many of our executive officers are out of the office at this very moment anyway.”
“I had a quick glance at your factory on the way to this office. It looked very clean. Is it a newly constructed factory?”
“Yes, it is. We had a building dedication ceremony about one and a half years ago.”
“Do you have lots of workers?”
“We have about 300 workers here.”
“Can I take a look at the production site before I leave?”
Gun-Ho was wondering, ‘Is he thinking of having a business with us?’
Gun-Ho responded, “Of course. Would you like to take a tour now?”
A Electronics’ CEO Park stood up from his seat right away showing that he was ready to take the tour. He didn’t even finish his green tea.
He said, “I will just take a look at the production site. It will be brief. You don’t even need to alert the managers there. I don’t want my presence to disturb their work.”
Gun-Ho showed CEO Park around the factory himself. When he saw Director Park coming in the direction to Gun-Ho, he gestured for him not to come near. A Electronics’ CEO Park walked at a rapid pace when he looked around the production site. When he finished his tour, he said, “It seems to be very well organized with a good system for a mid-size company. A factory needs to be clean with clearly established rules to follow. That way, the factory can reduce the defect rate on their products. For that aspect, I would give a big pass to this factory.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you mind if I ask how much sales revenue that this company is generating?”
“We made 81.6 billion won last year. We are anticipating more than 90 billion won for this year.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Also, we are aiming at registering the company with KOSDAQ the year after next. I believe that we can make it once we reduce our debt ratio.”
“What’s the current debt ratio?”
Gun-Ho laughed and said, “Well, it’s a bit high. We are planning to lower that under 150% right before the point that we apply for the KOSDAQ registration.”
“I guess your plan is that you want to pay for the debt with profits, and you won’t take any dividends in the meantime.”
“Hahaha. That’s exactly what I’m planning.”
“Thank you for showing me around today. I guess I’d better take off now.”
CEO Park extended his hand to Gun-Ho for a handshake. They were standing in the company yard after the tour.
“Are you leaving that early? Why don’t you have lunch with me?”
“No, but thank you for your offer, maybe next time. Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement. Do you live around here, Mr. President Goo? I’ve heard that you have several companies that you are running.”
“I come to this factory on Mondays and Thursdays only.”
“I see. Well, I’d better go now. Thank you again for your time.”
CEO Park hastily left, and Gun-Ho found it strange.
‘Why did he come here? It doesn’t seem like he wants to place a product order from us. I don’t think he just wanted to hang out with me either. It’s strange.’
