Korean Man’s Cof fee Story in Chongqing

□ Edited by Lovia A gyemang

Korean Man’s Cof fee Story in Chongqing

□ Edited by Lovia A gyemang

The rapid development of Chongqing has attracted many foreigners. With the upgrading of Sino-Korean Industrial Park, more Koreans have established businesses in the city. With a skim through the city, there are uncountable café shops of which many belong to Koreans. Min KyoungIL, is the owner of a unique Korean style coff ee shop and bakery. His shop is popular due to its unique style that depicts his love for the city.

His impression of Chongqing: GDP growth ranks 1st in China

In 2007, Min KyoungIL came to Shanghai and set up an investment company. He later moved to Chongqing in 2011, upon arrival his first impression of the city was "just like home!” Min said that one of the most important reasons for coming to Chongqing was its economic growth, “It was during the construction of Jiangbeizui that I started investing in the real estate industry.”

As a professional in fi nancial investment, Min has observed the economic growth of the city by far and in his own words, “I have always been interested in Chongqing's GDP growth over the years.” From 2011 to 2014, Chongqing has maintained its total domestic product with an average annual growth rate of 13.3%, which ranked first. This year, Chongqing won again with an outstanding 10.7% growth rate. “This is particularly surprising to me,” He stated.

Min speaks fl uent Chinese, not only the basic dialogue, but also some fi nancial vocabulary, he told me, this is due to the nature of his job and working in different companies.

Min also mentioned that the reason why his Chinese is so good is because his ancestors were from China. “' Min ' is a rare family name in Korea, and mostly associated with Chinese people who migrated from Fujian to Korea, therefore there is a close relation to china. In his opinion, most of Chinese culture, especially Confucianism has deep cultural impact on Korea. “In Korea, especially amongst the old generation like my grandfather, 15% are familiar with Chinese characters and can speak a bit of Chinese.”

His vision: be optimistic about the coffee industry

As Min’s investment company flourished, he planned to open a coffee shop. Min believes that in a city with rapid economic development, the coffee industry would also develop rapidly. Although through the years there have been many Korean coffee shops opened in the city, none stands out. Therefore Min believes there is more room for improvement. Compared to the numerous coffee shops across the city, Min focuses more on baking, promoting a combination of healthy and organic food as well as promoting coffee culture.

According to Min, opening a coffee shop was a challenge to his career. In his eyes, Café offers more than just coffee, but also a living culture. “Our daily life’s are full of stressful events, therefore a café serves as a place for many people to release pressure or socialize, I personally drink one cup of coffee a day, so opening a coffee shop was the ideal personal preference.”

“I am still making decisions in my career and the direction can change at anytime, therefore, I am working and hope to bring the coffee culture to Chongqing.” Min remarked.

From finance to working in the service industry, Min being a foreigner has to work as hard as the local Chinese and put in more efforts. Even though Min has employees, he takes the pleasure, serving people in his shop. He has by time become accustomed to the preferences of his customers and able to serve without asking for their order. He also takes time chat with most of his customers and sometimes gives advice or recommends other products. He makes sure every customer is cared for thus giving them the warmth of their homes. Due to his diligence and care for his customers, Min has many loyal customers who without no fail, comes to his shop everyday.

Although some of his employees don't understand this kind of behavior, he believes that jobs that involve customer service is worth doing-it-yourself, so that as a manager you are able to learn about your customers as well as realize your short comings and rectify them. Also, employees are able to feel your presence and authority to improve themselves and learn from you. Although it is a cross-industry business, the fundamentals are the same, as long as you do it with all your heart, it will succeed.

Just like all foreigners in China, Min has also met some difficulties in running a business here. “Maybe 1 out of 10 foreigner succeeds, this probability is very low. Many foreigners in China fail, mainly because they do not understand the Chinese culture; cultural difference is the main problem. Min believes that “when you go to Rome, you do as Romans do, respect the culture and customs of the natives.” Excellent business philosophy is not just doing paper work, or following a template that is applied to doing business in any country or region, but should be combined with adapting to local characteristics and this will pave the way to a successful business.

His gains: made lots of friends

Min has developed not only a stable career, but also many friends in Chongqing. “The reason I like Chongqing is because of the people.” He said that, the people are warm and friendly just like back home, so this makes him feel more at home. When the Cafe was first opened, many of his friends volunteered to help with his business as “waitresses". In his remark, “I was truly touched.” He is also very fond of Chongqing hot pot, " Koreans love spicy food just like people in Chongqing, so to me it’s kind of a coincidence.” he laughed.

In the future, Min has set two goals for himself; one is taking the time to enjoy the life in Chongqing by relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the city he has come to love. The other goal is working hard to develop and open more coffee shops in the city as well as contribute to bringing a coffee culture to Chongqing.