---
title: "ESSAY: Hahoetal – Insignificant Office Worker's Escape, Part 06"
description: "A soon-to-be guesthouse owner meets his future business partner over lunch in Jongno. Two strangers, same timing, same dream—launching properties in Seoul's emerging hostel scene."
published: 2019-06-11T00:00:00+00:00
author: "ONDA 편집팀"
category: "Insights"
image: "https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a9e12ca9262571eecb7029_62e76781ab613565f925b88e_5e9429d2efc8a043ee608390_helloquence-61189-unsplash.jpeg"
canonical: https://global.onda.me/en/blog?slug=essay-hahoetal---hacanheun-hoesaweonyi-talculgi-06
locale: en
---
# ESSAY: Hahoetal – Insignificant Office Worker's Escape, Part 06

**Writer:** Jeong Seung-ho, Seoul Dalbit Guesthouse

**Editor:** Somora, ONDA Manager

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdbea_62e76782ab6135f84525b890_5e9429d2961046c13f7f3179_screenshot-1-3.png)

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdc08_62e76782ab6135337d25b88f_5e9429d2b499e54cf0df34bc_screenshot-2-3.png)

[**Seoul Dalbit Guesthouse Dongdaemun (Main Branch)**](http://bit.ly/seouldbDDM)
Address: 329-18 Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Room types: Small twin, small double, standard twin
Facilities: Common lounge & kitchen, rooftop garden
Nearby attractions: Naksan Park, Heunginjimun Gate, DDP, Changsin-dong stationery & toy market, Dongmyo flea market

[**Seoul Dalbit Guesthouse DDP Branch**](http://bit.ly/seoudbDDP)
Address: 74 Jangchung-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Room types: Double, family (3/4/6-person)
Facilities: Common lounge & kitchen, rooftop garden
Nearby attractions: Jangchung Gymnasium, Namsan, Gwanghuimun Gate, Cheonggyecheon Stream

**Seoul Dalbit Guesthouse SNS**
Website: [http://seouldalbit.com](http://seouldalbit.com)
Instagram: [@seoul_dalbit](https://www.instagram.com/seoul_dalbit/)

## **06. The Meeting**

### **— First encounter with a future business partner**

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a9e12ca9262571eecb7029_62e76781ab613565f925b88e_5e9429d2efc8a043ee608390_helloquence-61189-unsplash.jpeg)

Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash

Late May 2015, a weekday. I had an appointment at a Korean restaurant in Jongno. As I mentioned last time, my friend's junior had been running an Airbnb near Seoul Station since 2014. He'd spotted the market potential in hospitality and was ready to open a proper guesthouse.

Here I was, about to jump into hospitality. And here was my friend's junior — already operating a similar property and launching something new at exactly the same time. **Coincidence? Fate?** The scale suddenly felt bigger than my modest B&B dreams. A little scary. But what did I have to lose by meeting him?

##### **_What kind of person was I about to meet?_**

##### **_He's a year younger but already runs an Airbnb. Family money?_**

##### **_Or is he some kind of travel visionary?_**

I walked into the restaurant buzzing with questions. My friend — pleased to play connector — generously picked up the tab. Much appreciated.

First impression: **Casual to a fault.** V-neck tee, shorts, Crocs. Late May, sure — early summer heat — but *Crocs* at a first business meeting? Looking back, it was a meeting of equals. Who cares about dress codes? But at the time I flinched. I was still deep in corporate-world etiquette.

We introduced ourselves. Me: two-year office worker. Standard college grad → standard corporate track. Dreaming of a slight detour. Average. **I didn't have much to say about myself.** All the GPA points and extracurriculars and résumé lines I'd spun to get hired? **Useless in a real business conversation.** I was a rookie who'd never sold a single thing with my own hands.

Then he started his story.

Sometime in 2014, he took a month-long trip to Japan. Friends there introduced him to Airbnb. A peer-to-peer platform offering travelers affordable stays in spare rooms. Intriguing concept. He picked a listing and booked. The hosts? Four Tokyo university students. They'd each listed their studio apartments on Airbnb. When a booking came in, the host would crash at a friend's place. If three rooms booked out, all three hosts squeezed into the fourth guy's room. If all four booked out... he wasn't sure what happened then.

That experience rocked him. Four college students — no hospitality training, no professional background — listing their own apartments and hosting tourists. Revenue covered Tokyo's sky-high rent, plus living expenses and tuition. **Low barrier to entry.** Yet **massive upside potential.** It fired him up.

He flew home and started prepping his Airbnb launch immediately. Contrary to my assumptions, he got zero help from family. Pure bootstrap hustle. He scraped together savings, side gig money, even his tuition refund from taking a semester off. That was his budget.

He scouted real estate. Not the obvious tourist zones — Insadong, Myeongdong, Namsan — but Seoul Station, the transportation hub. **Every tourist flying into Korea passes through Seoul Station** on their way anywhere else.

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdc03_62e76782ab61357b9d25b891_5e9429d36390007c6cd8b11f_01.png)

View from the rooftop of the building near Seoul Station where he set up his Airbnb

He camped out at a café and cold-called every real estate agent in the area. Slight exaggeration, but he made 30 calls a day. Eventually he got a bite. An old multi-family building. Run-down but fixable. Ten-minute walk from Seoul Station. Most importantly: dirt-cheap deposit and rent. **Low rent meant low costs *and* competitive pricing for guests.**

After securing the space, he started renovations. To save his shoestring budget, he tried DIY first. His first-ever interior construction project. He scoured blogs and home improvement sites for ideas. Watched YouTube tutorials. Spent entire days combing Euljiro and Bangsan Market for materials. He tore down ceilings, wired electrics, painted floors and walls. When he needed extra hands, he'd buy friends dinner and rope them in.

His conclusion: **DIY is hell.** He hired professionals to finish the job. Their fees weren't cheap, but they were fast, easy, and skilled. The experience taught him **the value of outsourcing at a fair price**.

Meanwhile, construction costs and rent kept piling up. His budget was draining fast. As a student, banks wouldn't lend to him. So he borrowed from second-tier lenders — think predatory loan sharks (this part shocked me a bit). Interest rates of 20–30% annually. Brutal. But his revenue projections suggested he could handle it.

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdc00_62e76782ab6135c7e425b893_5e9429d233383249a2438cb3_02.png)

Photos from his Airbnb listing

After a rocky journey — and burning through his entire budget — he finished construction and opened. But a dark early phase awaited.

Hospitality **has no grand opening bump**. Location matters for convenience, not foot traffic. Unlike motels that catch walk-ins, this business runs on advance bookings. Online reservations are the revenue engine. That means you need time to build awareness and reviews before new guests start flowing. People traveling prefer listings with some review history, even if a brand-new spot has great location and pricing.

The post-launch slump hit hard. Bookings trickled in slowly. But **loan payments arrived like clockwork**. The 20%+ interest **strangled his cash flow**. He scrambled for side gigs and worked two jobs to keep the debt at bay. After three brutal months, things turned. Good location and fair pricing kicked in. Bookings picked up. Positive reviews accumulated. As revenue stabilized, he refinanced the predatory loans with first-tier banks. That crisis taught him **how dangerous over-leverage is — and how critical risk management becomes**.

The rough patch only lasted three months, thanks in part to professional photos (paid a designer) and aggressive pricing. In 2014, Korea's Airbnb scene was nascent. Aesthetic differentiation still worked. His listing also featured a warm host introduction and detailed neighborhood guides.

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdbfc_62e76782ab61356e0925b894_5e9429d3f70fbb212a0fd497_03.png)

![](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a8b25efe2167b90acbdc0b_62e76782ab6135f46025b892_5e9429d573fd9df4678987da_04.png)

Friendly greeting, detailed intro, warm photos — his Airbnb host page

In hospitality, most marketing happens online. Interactions occur on standardized platforms (Booking.com, Hotels.com, Airbnb). When formats are fixed and **consumer information is limited, visual appeal becomes decisive**.

Now he'd weathered the storm and learned the ropes. Hospitality had real potential. Time to **scale beyond B&B level — toward economies of scale.**

That was the end of his story. Way bolder than I expected. Maybe even reckless.

I kept chewing on his words. That initial "too casual" impression had long evaporated. He wasn't running an Airbnb for fun on family money. He wasn't chasing some grand travel dream. He approached it as pure business — yet understood what mattered to customers. **He knew how to make money.**

**Thirty minutes into the meeting, I decided to invest ₩50 million.**

---

**\[Series Index\]**

[2019.01 Prologue](https://onda.me/magazine/25/post/1981)
[2019.02 Eyes Open](https://onda.me/magazine/26/post/2102)
[2019.03 Daydreaming](https://onda.me/magazine/27/post/2210)
[2019.04 Observing](https://onda.me/magazine/28/post/2266)
[2019.05 Planning](https://onda.me/magazine/29/post/2294)
**2019.06 The Meeting**
2019.07 Excitement
2019.08 Catching Breath
2019.09 The Math
2019.10 Wandering
2019.11 Breaking Ground
2019.12 Taking Shape
2020.01 Grand Opening
2020.02 Epilogue – Resignation Summary

## [**View full magazine edition <<**](http://bit.ly/magazineon30)

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