Business is something that cannot be separated from money. I'm not trying to say this in a fancy way; I will explain it a bit more simply. When we talk about money, we need to answer this question: who gives us this money? The customer does. But when does the customer give it? Essentially, the customer gives us money when they are satisfied. So, to what level does their satisfaction need to reach? It needs to be at a level where they don't feel the need to look for anything else. Additionally, how satisfied do we need to make the customer? I believe the satisfaction level should be such that they forget they even spent money, and they think, Wow, I am so grateful that this service exists in the world.

It's at a level where it is almost completely irreplaceable. What you just mentioned is that business operators need to win the hearts of their customers. In the beginning, they need to earn their trust. What is business, right? Then they will ask, What is marketing? Ultimately, business operators must win the hearts of customers without fail. Winning hearts doesn't mean that if I press a button, suddenly this person's heart will open up. It's a very human relationship. I believe that what is ultimately irreplaceable is the relationship between the brand and the consumer. So how does that relationship develop? The cold heart gradually warms up, and it's very similar to a romantic relationship. Initially, when hearts are distant, and after meeting two or three times, eventually, they start dating.

When I got married, my feelings were really different. But you can't just build that kind of relationship with anyone. It's truly irreplaceable, and I am so grateful that this person exists in the world. Because of this person, I feel like I am gaining so much. So I just continue along that path. However, I think companies with a lot of money and big corporations don't need to go to that extent, but I believe this is very necessary for businesses. It's irreplaceable, and I am genuinely thankful and satisfied. Ultimately, customer success and satisfaction should reach a level where my problems are truly solved by this brand, almost to the point of success. For example, when I first started doing sales, I thought that if I learned sales skills, I would succeed. So at the beginning, since you all like to hear about starting out, I wasn't very good at it either.

Even though I'm doing really well now, there was definitely a time when I was terrible at it. Back then, I often heard in books or lectures that if you just know this one thing, you can achieve a lot. I believed all of that, so I studied hard. I thought that if I excelled in sales, I could make money, so I focused a lot on sales techniques and communication skills to captivate people and get them to sign contracts. My goal was to earn 24 million won a month. At first, I achieved that 24 million won, and then when I aimed to earn 40 million won a month, I made countless phone calls to reach that goal, and it felt amazing. I realized that this was the real deal; I could actually get people to sign contracts through communication skills and persuasive speaking. However, even though I could get them to sign contracts, it was still a challenge.

The game is that after that, if my contract renewal does not lead to additional purchases from customers, I never thought that other customers would spread rumors about my reputation. At that time, I was focused on the sales for that month and couldn't think beyond that. So, the really important thing is that ultimately, when customers are satisfied and money is generated, for it to be considered a business, I believe cash flow must be created. Cash flow. So, to summarize, a business is a game where you have to make money, and that money comes from customers. But when do customers give you money? They do so when they feel an extreme level of satisfaction. It's not just about selling products to people casually; it's about achieving an extreme level of satisfaction from the customer's perspective.

When I felt this, I thought, does this customer just feel satisfied on their own and that's it? No, they either share their experience with others or they make a repeat purchase. I categorize this as becoming a true fan. When someone becomes a true fan, they create cash flow for me. They keep purchasing and help others to buy as well. It's a very simple principle. When you think about it, doesn't it make so much sense? Regarding business, it's a game of making money, right? But who provides this money? The customer does. So when does the customer give money? When they are completely satisfied at a level of true success. When that satisfaction is achieved, what happens? They become a true fan of the brand. Once they are a true fan, they either buy again or encourage others to buy. So when customers act this way towards me...

Ultimately, what is created is cash flow. That's how I see business. The reason I think this way is that I have experienced it myself. As I mentioned earlier, when it reached 2,400 or 4,000, as I said, more than half of the contracts were canceled. At that time, the management performance was in the red, with deficits of around 100 million or 200 million. To be precise, I heard it was a little over 200 million. But I was only earning 2,400 or 4,000, and half of the contracts were disappearing. In that situation, I had to make a decision. I realized that if I continued making calls to secure contracts, I would be destined to do this for the rest of my life. I understood that I needed to take bold action and stop pursuing new sales.

I decided not to proceed with the previous approach. Instead, I aimed to satisfy our existing clients—those who had not yet terminated their contracts—at an extraordinary level of success. This is the essence of business, and I organized my thoughts around that. During that time, I was heavily focused on my work, and my main clients were lawyers. I began studying the legal profession intensely. What did I study in terms of law? No, I studied the psychology of clients. So, if I wanted to choose a lawyer in a specific region, like Daejeon, Changwon, or Jeonju, how would I go about it? Every morning, I made phone calls. If I wanted to ensure the success of a lawyer in Jeonju, I called every lawyer I thought someone would contact when considering a divorce in Jeonju to seek advice.

I became someone who wanted a divorce, and I wanted to help a certain lawyer in Changwon succeed. So every morning, I called all the rival lawyers to see how they were doing. I called lawyers from Daegu, Busan, Incheon, and Seoul, and I spent all day just eating and doing that. As for me, of course, the lawyers know the law better. However, depending on the case—whether it was a divorce case, a drunk driving case, or a personal rehabilitation case—people who come in for consultations have certain psychological reasons for seeking advice. During that time, there probably wasn’t anyone who worked as hard as I did. I really understood the psychology behind it. You all need to understand your clients; it shouldn’t just be based on assumptions. It seems necessary to make the effort to go and get consultations without hesitation. At that time, I was making calls.

I am very sorry to those who received me, but I was in a hurry at that time. So from then on, I started to develop strategies, and the lawyers who applied those strategies became the best in the area, even to the point of lying about their success. There are many success stories shared, and things began to take off. Lawyers who started with personal offices began to call law firms, claiming to have made 100 million won or hiring former prosecutors to transition into law firms and become the best in the region. Various testimonials started coming in. By that time, I had already stopped doing new sales, and instead of just making phone calls every day when I went to work, clients began to line up. Existing clients started bringing their friends to sign contracts. For example, one lawyer brought three friends along.

I sat them down and explained everything myself, telling them to sign the contract. Team Leader Kim is a very busy person, so I shouldn't take up too much of his time. I realized that while I thought the essence was to make customers successful, it actually became clear that when these customers become true fans, the cash flow generated for the company isn't just a one-time thing. It’s not a game to be played for quick gains; for sustainability, there must be a consistent cash flow for the company. This cash flow is created not just by regular customers but by those who become true fans. That’s when I understood. Now, let’s summarize up to this point. I’ll ask you again: as business owners or people who operate your own brands, let’s set our navigation correctly. Try to summarize what you think your business is in two lines. Yes, I see that you all have done that. There’s an important point here; this isn’t about finding the right answer.

The key point to verify is that the subject of the sentence must always include the customer. It is not important whether I solve the problem or become an irreplaceable entity in the market; what matters is that the customer feels an irreplaceable level of satisfaction. The customer should feel that their problems are genuinely resolved, rather than me just solving them. Therefore, in every discussion, the subject is the customer, and you should check whether cash flow has been mentioned. Many people make the mistake of thinking that if they can somehow entice and persuade the customer to make a purchase, that’s the end of it. This mindset completely violates the overall flow of things. The customer and I must become a team. The customer should like me, and I must truly love the customer for a relationship to be formed.

In conclusion, many people who are struggling with their businesses often believe that marketing is about deceiving customers and taking money out of their wallets. This is more common than you might think. They also tend to think that they just need to excel and become irreplaceable. To those people, I want to say: consider becoming an influencer. If you want to express yourself, just be a creator or an influencer. To truly satisfy customers, you need to genuinely love them; it can be really challenging otherwise. You need to become one team. It's not just about showcasing an attractive image to gain fans. It's about genuinely satisfying customers with your product or service and solving the problems they have together as a team. I am there to solve problems and guide them, and we become one team in that process.

In what you mentioned, the customer is at the center, and from the customer's perspective, it’s important to feel that this person is not someone trying to take money from my wallet but rather someone who is genuinely trying to solve my problems. They are on my side, part of my team. When someone genuinely cares about my serious issues and works with me to find solutions, I become a true fan. This leads to repeat purchases and creates cash flow, which I believe is what business is all about. You need to organize this concept in your mind. It's not a game with a clear answer. You need to understand this and recognize the key points. Even while running a business, many people are unaware of this. A typical example is from my own experience; I wish someone had come to me and said that I needed to check this and that. However, as I went along, I encountered various opinions on what was considered good.

If something looks good over there, I'll go there, and if something else looks good, I'll go there. So, my priorities are always changing. But if I think about it fundamentally, I need to understand the principles that operate rationally and figure out what I should focus on. No matter how trendy something is or what's hot, I need to determine how much it can help my customers succeed. Can that customer achieve true satisfaction to the point of making repeat purchases or bringing their friends? If they continue to buy from me, will it generate cash flow? If I make decisions based on these criteria, it actually becomes quite simple. The key point here is that, ultimately, the path of a business leads to making money. Therefore, a business must generate profit. Having a lot of views or subscribers does not equate to a business.

Influencers and creators are people who aspire to be YouTubers or write a lot on blogs, but that's not really a business. So, who pays the money? The customers pay the money. Therefore, the center of any business should be the customer. However, the customer should not just be an ordinary customer; they need to be a true fan. The core of this is that they should be a genuine fan. What are the criteria for a true fan? A true fan is someone who makes repeat purchases or refers friends. Lastly, there may be questions about the cash flow created through this process. What is cash flow? For example, if I earned 15 million won this month, then this is a situation where there is cash flow.

It's a situation where there is no situation. Cash flow is something that is sustainable and predictable. If I earned 15 million won this month, to determine whether this is cash flow or not, I need to know if I can earn 15 million won again next month, the month after that, and even the month after that. So, earning 15 million won this month alone is just a one-time earning; it’s not a flow. 

A misconception that business owners often have is thinking that earning 10 million won or 20 million won this month is the end of it. In business, there needs to be a flow that indicates that I can earn that amount next month, the month after that, and the month after that. There has to be cash flow. That’s why it's important to have referrals from acquaintances. Otherwise, my cash flow won't be established. 

Let’s say you earned 10 million won this month. To earn another 10 million won next month, you need to...

Every month, it's like starting a game all over again from zero. Eventually, you get tired and fall out. So, why should there be a system that you desire? Is it a system where I can earn money without working, or is it a system that makes my cash income predictable? It should be about making it predictable. There are many people around me who have set up systems very well, but among them, there is no one who earns money just by sitting idle. The system creates a flow; it generates cash flow and makes it predictable. It allows me to predict how much money I will earn next month or the month after. Therefore, I believe that business is ultimately about cash flow. It’s about whether I have cash flow or not. However, this cash flow is...

It's not just about investing randomly; the focus should be on the customer. The center of the business should be the customer, not just any customer, but almost like a true fan level. I need to completely satisfy these customers so that they continue to bring money to me, creating a cash flow. If this isn't organized, there's a real possibility that you might just be playing around with self-development in business. You might think you need to learn this or that, and go here and there to learn, but in the end, it doesn't come together as a whole. Now, for the last part, I'll give you one minute to write down what you think a business is.

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