Original Coverage & Source Attribution: en.fnnews.com
[Financial News] Comedian Kim Won-hyo, 45, spoke about why celebrities fail in business.
On the 18th, a video titled “I Put 10 Years Into It… After Gag Concert Flopped, Kim Won-hyo Finally Hit It Big in Business” was uploaded to the YouTube channel “Business Landlord Kang Ho-dong.”
Wonhyo, who recently started an offline group-buying marketplace business, said, “When people meet me, they ask, ‘Why aren’t you on TV these days?’ I want to appear, too, but broadcasting isn’t something you can do just because you want to. They have to invite you.” He added, “You can start a business even if you don’t have money, even by taking out a loan, but broadcasting isn’t like that.”
He said he had gone through trial and error while running various businesses over the years. “I’ve tried running a gimbap shop, a underwear business, and even selling Jirisan air,” he said. “There were steps I had to go through to get where I am now. Business doesn’t work just because I’m good at it. You have to learn.”
Wonhyo also spoke about why celebrities fail in business. “The income celebrities earn from broadcasting is very high in terms of hourly or daily pay,” he said. “Singers can earn tens of millions of won for singing a few songs at an event, and they can also earn several million won for hosting an event for an hour or two.”
By contrast, when you run a store, the money you take home is relatively small even if sales are high, because of labor and ingredient costs, among other expenses, he said.
Wonhyo said, “No matter how well a business is doing, even if monthly sales exceed 100 million won, when there are a lot of people, the costs go up accordingly. Once everything is deducted, there’s not much left.” He added, “Then celebrities start thinking, ‘I’d be better off doing one event than running a business all month,’ and consider going back.”
On franchising, he said, “The income from one store may be less than what you earn in entertainment, but if the profits from several locations are combined, they can eventually grow so large that entertainment earnings would be hard to match.” He pointed out, “They don’t make it to that stage.”
He cited the business structure as another reason. In most cases, people put only their name or an equity stake into a business without taking direct responsibility, making it difficult for them to get actively involved in management.
Wonhyo said, “Many people participate by putting up their image rights or taking only an equity stake to avoid the risks they would have to bear if the business went wrong.” He added, “Even if you only have a stake, you can do well if you get actively involved, but that’s not easy. If even just 100,000 or 500,000 won of my own money is invested, I’ll work harder because I’d hate to see it go to waste.”[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter
