STARTUPS DOMINATED BY YOUTH

[Anchor Lead]

Since the pandemic, business startups by people in their 40s to 60s have decreased while young folks in their 20s are the only age group to see a massive spike in new startups. The old saying of setting up a chicken restaurant after retirement doesn’t appear to hold water anymore. Take a look.

[Pkg]

This is Jo Shi-on. She quit her job at an event planning company 5 years ago and opened up this convenience store. She reduced her initial costs by having the head company pay the rent while she shared profits from the store. And last month, she opened another branch.

[Soundbite] Jo Shi-on(Convenience store owner in her 20s) : "I work for 12 hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.. I need to drop by briefly on the weekends as well."

The old saying of running a fried chicken restaurant after retirement has become a thing of the past. In case of franchised businesses, 22% of all those who complete educational courses on startup firms are people in their 20s. It’s a much higher percentage than the past.

[Soundbite] Yoo Yeong-hun(Prospective chicken restaurant owner in his 20s) : "I worked at a shipyard on Geojedo Island and all sorts of part-time jobs including a yearlong stint at a fried chicken restaurant. So I naturally decided to open my own chicken place."

Many factors are in play such as the overall tight job market. But an important reason why young people choose to start their own business is because the return is in proportion to the work they put in.

[Soundbite] Jeong Do-yun(Chicken restaurant owner in his 20s) : "I get great satisfaction from the fact that I can earn as much as I work."

But some voice concern that startups by young people tend to be concentrated in the franchise market.

[Soundbite] Prof. Yoon Dong-yeol(Konkuk University) : "Most new startups overlapped with existing small businesses, so the trend is viewed as another Red Ocean strategy."

In fact, operating profits of small business owners have plunged more than 40% since the COVID-19 pandemic to a monthly average of about 1.5 million won. Amid tight employment conditions, demand for startups is likely to rise even more. Therefore skills of having prior experience and sufficiently analyzing commercial prospects are becoming more important traits than ever before.