In reality, Kim Ah-young planned a low-cost carrier (LCC) business after returning to Jeju Island following her trip.
She was confident. Her husband, Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes sparkled at her suggestion, which she took as evidence of the great potential for the low-cost carrier business.
So, she conveyed this to her secretary, Park Min-sook, who was almost like a limb to her.
“I would like you to investigate the market potential of low-cost carriers.”
“Me?”
“Yes?”
“Ah… Jungle is currently the best at market research. I heard that the big data analysis results from that company significantly reduce the likelihood of business failure.”
It was true. Jungle Data even provided big data analysis consulting for other companies for a fee.
Naturally, Park Min-sook thought it would be faster to tell Lee Hyun-woo instead of herself and expressed her doubt.
“I don’t often talk about work with my husband.”
“Ah… I see…”
Only then did Park Min-sook nod and show an understanding expression.
Lee Hyun-woo was famous for his corporate philosophy of work-life balance.
Of course, he wouldn’t bring work home, nor would he want Kim Ah-young to do so.
“Yes, I will promptly investigate the market.”
Park Min-sook quickly followed Kim Ah-young’s instructions and conveyed it to the relevant department. As expected, the relevant department outsourced it to Jungle Data.
The cost was not small.
To receive analysis results step by step, it would cost tens of millions of won.
‘Wow, is making money this easy? Or is Jungle originally good at high-value-added businesses, so they built such a system?’
Park Min-sook was amazed by the cost and once again admired Lee Hyun-woo.
She thought it was not for nothing that he became the richest stockholder in Korea.
Anyway, even though the amount was not small, she paid over 30 million won to know the final stage and received the results.
She handed it to Kim Ah-young and briefly summarized her thoughts.
“It’s already booming in the US, Europe, and Australia.”
“Since the land is vast, it’s understandable.”
This meant that in a small country like Korea, the business potential might not be as high.
However,
“If you look here, it says it can succeed because of Jeju Island.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I won’t say more. It’s quite enjoyable to read.”
The analysis data was almost perfect.
There were negative aspects, but overall, the positive outlook dominated.
The analysis was based on surveys, but Jungle’s big data AI also looked at trending keywords and drew conclusions.
Especially, it concluded that operating a low-cost carrier based in Jeju Island would have a low failure rate.
Kim Ah-young expressed her determination to Park Min-sook on the spot.
“We will go through meetings, but I want to do it… What do you think?”
“I believe it’s the direction our Seorabeol Hotel should take. Currently, we only have a duty-free shop in the hotel, but if we add a low-cost carrier to the tourism and travel we have been preparing for, we could surpass our predecessors.”
Kim Ah-young laughed at the phrase ‘surpass our predecessors.’
Here, ‘predecessors’ probably referred to Guseong Group, and ‘we’ referred to Seorabeol Hotel.
‘Surpass my father’s company?’
It was nothing short of encouraging her to compete with the company her older brother would inherit.
‘It’s not impossible.’
In fact, to prove her value to the world, she decided to lead the rapid growth of Seorabeol Hotel.
So far, the labels following Kim Ah-young were Kim Sung-moo’s daughter or Lee Hyun-woo’s wife.
‘I have to work harder so that they are known as Kim Ah-young’s father and husband.’
At that time, Lee Hyun-woo was also visited by Oh Min-woo.
“Chairman hyung, it seems we’ve entered an era where round trips between Jeju Island and the mainland are no problem.”
“Why?”
“Low-cost carriers. I don’t know who, but someone seems to be planning to push that business.”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled bitterly. How could he not know that ‘someone’ referred to Kim Ah-young?
Oh Min-woo took it a step further and asked specific questions.
“Since it’s a low-cost carrier, the price will probably be around 100,000 won, right?”
“Probably. Maybe even lower. And the price will vary greatly depending on the region.”
Both Lee Hyun-woo and Oh Min-woo were confident that it would be less than half the price of existing large airlines.
“By the way, why don’t you give your sister-in-law some advice and save her some money?”
“Ah, I don’t usually talk about work at home.”
“Then you can do it outside of home.”
“Excuse me?”
“Outside of home. Your sister-in-law can come here, or you can visit Seorabeol Hotel.”
“Oh? That’s true.”
The unwritten rule of not talking about work at home had been very well kept for a while, but sometimes it was frustrating.
In fact, if Lee Hyun-woo had been involved, the emergence of the low-cost carrier would have been much earlier.
Jungle’s success secret is not just about entering businesses that don’t fail.
It is about entering faster than anyone else and maximizing profits at the right time.
‘Then it’s not too late now.’
Market research at Jungle Data was just the beginning, and after several stages, the low-cost carrier would be born, which was very late by Lee Hyun-woo’s standards.
He thought it would be much better to actively intervene and shorten the stages, so he stood up on the spot.
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll go right away.”
“Enjoy a good meal. The food at Seorabeol Hotel is really good.”
“Oh, I’ll eat deliciously and a lot on your behalf.”
“Ha…”
Lee Hyun-woo got into his car after leaving Oh Min-woo behind and called Seorabeol Hotel.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m coming over now. Huh? Just for a date and to talk about something. Okay, see you at the restaurant then.”
A bright smile appeared on Lee Hyun-woo’s face.
When the couple met, they often talked a lot about their child.
For reference, their son, Lee Young-jae, was taken care of by the best nanny, thanks to Jang Hee-jin’s fuss.
Lee Hyun-woo, whether it was a formality or not, first opened the conversation by thanking his mother-in-law for taking care of their child, and after a long chat about daily life, he finally brought up the topic of the low-cost carrier.
But it seemed that this time, she intended to handle it on her own.
“I want to take this opportunity to show that I also have business capabilities.”
“Of course. To be a shutter man early, I have to unconditionally support you.”
Originally, he came here to tell her the shortcut to the success of the low-cost carrier, but Lee Hyun-woo changed his mind.
‘She wants to succeed in this business on her own.’
In fact, being Kim Sung-moo’s daughter was a cheat key in itself. Marrying Lee Hyun-woo, a returnee, added another cheat key, so many people considered Kim Ah-young to be very fortunate.
The trend had changed in a few years.
When the two were dating, the world talked as if Lee Hyun-woo had everything.
‘It could hurt her pride.’
With a heart of empathy, Lee Hyun-woo looked at Kim Ah-young.
If Jungle’s growth rate wasn’t enough to surpass Guseong Group, Lee Hyun-woo might have been more known as Kim Sung-moo’s son-in-law and Kim Ah-young’s husband.
Now it was the opposite, so it might be better to quietly support her.
Fortunately, Kim Ah-young had outstanding business abilities.
One day, he secretly looked at the business plan she had written at home, and she prioritized minimizing or unifying aircraft types.
It was a wise choice.
Having many types of aircraft increases costs.
Here, the cost includes the expense of purchasing new aircraft, hiring maintenance personnel and managers, and the cost of employing pilots that match the aircraft type.
Additionally, there are extra costs for applying safety management regulations according to the type of aircraft, maintenance costs for long-term operation, and the training costs of practical staff, which multiply.
Whether she knew this or not, Kim Ah-young unified the aircraft type into one.
It was the 737 from the aircraft manufacturer, Boy, and the plan was to launch Seorabeol Air by acquiring 20 units.
‘Good, perfect!’
The number of aircraft could increase depending on the business, but 20 units seemed appropriate for the initial attempt.
Moreover, the plan to operate only domestic routes in the first year was also satisfying.
If they aimed for nearby international routes out of greed, the launch would be delayed due to various administrative procedures.
So, focusing on short domestic direct flights while aiming for international routes was a judgment he wanted to applaud.
‘Wow, all the strategies I know are included.’
In his previous life, Deoksung Group once considered acquiring an Asian airline.
Naturally, they had to review the low-cost carrier affiliated with the Asian airline, and workaholic Lee Hyun-woo cleared that too.
So, he couldn’t help but be knowledgeable about successful strategies like now.
‘If there’s an additional way to reduce costs, it’s the implementation of an online reservation and simultaneous payment system.’
Existing airlines have a high percentage of reservations through travel agencies.
As a result, over 10% of the ticket price goes to the travel agency.
If they fill all seats by paying 10%, there would be no problem, but the high cancellation rate due to the ample period from reservation to actual boarding resulted in many flights taking off with empty seats, failing to reduce costs and often incurring losses.
However, if they use the low price as a weapon and implement an online reservation and immediate payment system, the seats would fill up quickly.
So, while Oh Min-woo recently mentioned a 100,000 won ticket, if they apply the online reservation and payment system to Kim Ah-young’s plan, the price could be significantly lower.
‘However, I won’t mention it.’
He decided not to speak up unless Kim Ah-young asked.
But that day came.
That is, Kim Ah-young directly visited Jungle and asked Lee Hyun-woo.
“I came today to talk about business. Is that okay?”
“What is it?”
“To further reduce the cost of the low-cost carrier, we came up with the idea of an online reservation and immediate payment system. So, I think we can’t avoid collaborating with Jungle.”
She talked about an era where even travel products were purchased online.
Not just flight tickets but thinking comprehensively.
“Before coming here, I also met the governor. So, I’m planning to package Jeju tourism products with our hotel. Although the high accommodation cost of Seorabeol Hotel is an issue, we are currently preparing a mid to low-priced brand hotel…”
He couldn’t help but be impressed as he listened.
‘At this rate, Seorabeol Hotel might really become Seorabeol Group.’
It had been three years since Seorabeol Hotel became independent from Guseong Group, and CEO Kim Ah-young was now seizing the opportunity to prove her presence.
