"Trends are Not the Answer"... What are the Survival Strategies for Self-Employed Businesses Amidst Plummeting Sales and Rising Interest Rates?

Amidst the triple hardships of high inflation, high interest rates, and shrinking consumption, uncertainty in the self-employed market is increasing. While sales are decreasing, operating costs such as labor and ingredient costs are rising, and the burden of loan interest rates is also intensifying, leading to a trend of deteriorating management environments for the self-employed. In this situation, core strategies that must be considered for sustainable entrepreneurship are being presented and drawing attention.

"Steady Sellers Over Trends"... The Key to Selecting Entrepreneurial Items

Recently, the self-employed market has been characterized by a shortening 'cycle of rise and fall,' where brands sensitive to trends appear and disappear quickly. According to a video from "The Man Who Explains the Economy (Kim Kwang-seok TV)," the participant pointed out that while trend-sensitive brands may achieve high profits once, they carry a high risk of rapid decline. On the other hand, the success strategy presented through the case of a specific brand is to select 'steady items.'

Ji Seong-won, CEO of Namsan Donkatsu, who appeared in the video, stated that they are recording robust sales, expecting 160% growth last year and 80% growth this year. CEO Ji emphasized that "a food category that must exist no matter what is a steady seller like tonkatsu," and that selecting items that generate steady demand without following trends is the first condition of starting a business.

Operational Efficiency and Risk Management: "Start Light"

As important as item selection are operational efficiency and the scale of initial investment. CEO Ji cited 'simple operations' as the second strategy. This is because the higher the complexity of the menu, the more difficult it becomes to manage personnel. He explained, "The number of side dishes should be reduced and the cooking process should be simplified to make operations easy," noting that efforts such as standardizing the cooking process through headquarters support are necessary.

The final strategy presented is 'Light entrepreneurship,' or a light start. Excessive initial investment leads to high debt, which becomes a fatal burden for the self-employed during periods of rising interest rates. CEO Ji advised minimizing the scale of initial investment so that one can stand up again even if they fail, stating, "If you make unreasonable investments while lacking experience, a single loss can make it difficult to make a comeback."

Meanwhile, concerns were also raised in the video regarding the financial burden on the self-employed. The participant diagnosed, "Self-employed borrowers are more vulnerable to interest rate hikes because their loan scale is larger compared to wage earners," and warned against the vicious cycle where taking additional loans to secure operating funds in a situation where sales are not supported leads to the mass production of multiple debtors and the expansion of the low-credit class.