Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 390: Art Exhibition with Original Paintings (1) - Part 1

At the meeting in Dyeon Korea, Director Yoon was talking about his friend.

"I have a friend who is running a civil engineering firm. He recently got a road expansion project from the Public Procurement Service. He is expecting to deal with a large amount of earth in the process."

"I guess he will need a truck to move the mound of earth."

"He is going to move the soils to a waterway construction site in Hwaseong City, and he is looking for a transportation company to do the job. He said he would need at least five 25-ton dump trucks."

"GH Logistics primarily handles international transportation work; however, they do lease their heavy equipment as well. How long do you think their construction work will last?"

"The entire construction work will take about two years including pipe construction, but they will need the soil transportation for six months only."

"How much are they willing to pay per month for the job?"

"I don't have an exact figure, but I guess it should be about 10 million won per month since they are asking for 25-ton dump trucks."

"The problem should be after they complete the construction."

"That's why a civil engineering company often outsources their transportation work even though they are equipped to do the work."

After the meeting ended, Gun-Ho made a call to Jae-Sik Moon.

"President Moon, purchase dump trucks. We will need seven 25-ton and three 15-ton dump trucks."

"That many? What is that for?"

"Director Yoon will connect us to a civil engineering firm. They will need five 25-ton dump trucks."

"Really? I'm right on it."

In the afternoon, Gun-Ho received a call from Jae-Sik Moon.

"It is possible to buy dump trucks in installments, but since we are buying many of them, the salesperson recommended using a Capital financial institution."

"Capital financial institution?"

"Yes, Capital will purchase the trucks that we need and will lease them to us."

"Really? Did Capital say they would do that for us?"

"When I told them that the company owns the land that the company is built on, they said they could do that using the land as collateral."

"But we already used the land to secure our 720 million won loan from the bank."

"He said we can take out a second loan using the same real property."

"Really? Well, then let's do that. You will have to hire more truck drivers, huh?"

"I think I will make a one-year contract with each of the truck drivers who we hire after three months of probation period. We don't want to hire them as employees since the turnover rate is high and truck drivers often cause car accidents."

"Hmm."

"If we don't get enough work, then we will let our trucks sit on the company yard, and we will have to pay the truck drivers who are sitting with the truck. We could lose money if that happens."

"I see your point."

"That's why I'm focusing on the work that comes from a large company. That way we will have a steady flow of work."

"Doesn't a large company handle their own transportation work within the company?"

"Not really. They outsource the transportation work too. We have a few truck drivers who used to work for a large company before being laid off. It seems that a large company doesn't want to employ many truck drivers for some reason."

"What reason?"

"I guess I would say labor-management dispute. It costs a lot of money to manage them as well. It's understandable why they prefer to outsource the transportation work."

"You think so?"

"Driving a truck is a risky job. Say, one of your employees died in a car accident while transporting goods. The truck driver's family will come to the company and demand for damages. It could be troublesome, so outsourcing is simpler and easier to manage."

"I see. You're right; that could very well happen."

"I plan to meet with people who are in charge of transportation work in a large company. They always get a price quote from multiple transportation companies and compare the prices before determining which company they will work with. Who knows? GH Logistics could get lucky. That's why I indicated on our company website that GH Logistics provides a total transportation service."

"Really?"

"When you have time, visit our website. GH Media's Team Lead Min-Sook Oh did a very good job in creating our website."

"You have to pay her for it though. You know that, right?"

"Haha. Don't worry about it."

After getting off the phone with Jae-Sik Moon, Gun-Ho stretched himself.

"Jae-Sik sounds vibrant lately which is very good."

Gun-Ho felt relieved. Jae-Sik seemed to get used to the transportation business and had gained knowledge about the field more and more every day.

Gun-Ho was reading a newspaper on the sofa in his office when he saw a news article about the cartoon exhibition with Japanese original cartoon paintings. He then searched for the event on the Internet to find out that not every single newspaper talked about the exhibition but a few newspapers did. All of the sports newspapers posted the news about the cartoon exhibition though.

[A cartoon exhibition with Japanese original cartoon paintings will be held at GH Gallery in Sinsa Town, Seoul City. The exhibition is drawing a lot of attention even before the opening, especially from teenagers since this will be an opportunity for them to look at the popular Japanese cartoonists' original paintings.

The original cartoon paintings that would be displayed during the exhibition will be on sale for the price ranging from 100,000 won to 300,000 won. According to Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda who once worked as a correspondent for a Japanese newspaper in Korea, the exhibition can be a very interesting event for office workers, not just for high school students.]

Gun-Ho smiled as he put the newspaper down on the table.

"As Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda suggested, I wonder if office workers will come to see the cartoon paintings. The price of the paintings is affordable to the office workers. That's for sure."

Gun-Ho received a call again from Attorney Young-Jin Kim in Kim & Jeong Law Firm.

"Hey, have you received the application form from Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University?"

"Nah, not yet."

"You will receive it either today or tomorrow. We don't have much time left, so you will have to fill out the form and submit it as soon as you can."

"I'm not sure if I would have time to take the classes."

"I already submitted mine. I talked with my professor friend at Seoul National University, and he said this course is especially aimed at people just like you, President Goo."

"I don't even run a company that generates more than 100 billion won of sales revenue."

"They set the qualification for applying for the course, but that is not meant to be strictly complied. They just wanted to screen unqualified people from the application stage."

"Well, let me first get the application form before I make the decision."

"You have to take the course with me, okay?"

"Okay."

Gun-Ho's chauffeur—Chan-Ho Eum—usually came to Gun-Ho's TowerPalace condo to pick him up at 8:30 in the morning. Gun-Ho then arrived at his GH Building in Sinsa Town around 9 am. If he had to go to the factory in Jiksan Town, he could usually get there by 10 am.

That day, Chan-Ho came to TowerPalace at 8:30 am.

"What time do you leave your home in Sadang Town?"

"There is usually heavy traffic at Sadang Station and Yangjae Town, so I leave at 7:40 am from my home."

"Isn't it hard?"

"No, it's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, it's hard when I had a drink the day before, but I feel great when we take the highway to get to Jiksan Town."

"Umm, where are you going now?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's the day when we go to the building in Sinsa Town, right?"

"Let's take a U-turn over there. Sometimes I get confused with which day for which company."

"Haha. I'm sorry."

"Don't rush. Let's drive slowly."