Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 102

Dream Agency (2)

As soon as I finished talking with the players, I immediately began preparing to establish the agency.

As promised, Lim Ye-ji did not prevent the players who wanted to join me from leaving the company.

Thanks to her, the players were able to terminate their contracts with YJ Agency without any problems.

Now, the first thing I had to do was find accommodation and training facilities for the agency’s players, as well as office space.

I considered having an office in the middle of the city, but I didn’t think it was necessary.

I decided that managing the players by having the accommodation, training facilities, and office space all in one place, as I had been doing, would be much better.

Lee Ju-hyeok had already looked around and narrowed down the list to some extent, so I just had to choose a place I liked from the options.

The most important things I considered were whether the accommodation was comfortable, which was basic, and whether I could secure enough training space.

My main goal was to create an environment where they could train in the best conditions.

Of course, it also had to fit within the budget I could secure right away.

Lee Ju-hyeok and I rode in the car with the licensed real estate agent.

We were able to reach our destination before long.

“Here it is.”

When I looked at the place the real estate agent was pointing to, I was speechless for a moment.

“Ah…….”

My first impression wasn’t great.

I should at least go inside and check the interior.

“You said you needed a training facility, right? The space isn’t lacking, so it should be enough for you to use as you wish.”

The real estate agent went around introducing the advantages of the building.

However, besides the fact that the building looked old, the space didn’t seem that spacious for use as a training facility.

“What do you think, CEO?”

“Hmm…….”

I couldn’t answer Lee Ju-hyeok’s question.

I could find advantages if I tried, but compared to where I had been living, there were many shortcomings.

Since it was a space where the players would stay, rest, and train, I wanted it to be at least as good as the current accommodation.

Lee Ju-hyeok seemed to read my thoughts just by looking at my expression.

“It’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it?”

“I’m not satisfied, to be honest.”

“It’s a property where you can minimize costs while securing the necessary space.”

“I see…….”

I looked around the space again at the mention of reducing costs.

I didn’t have a lot of money right now, so it was difficult to spend lavishly, which made it good in that respect, but…….

No matter how I looked at it, I felt too sorry to provide this level of facility to the players who would be with me.

“Can we see other places?”

“Of course, let’s go.”

The real estate agent nodded and gestured for me to get in the car.

We moved to the next location, but a lot of time passed without arriving.

“How much further do we have to go?”

“It’s a bit far. It looks like we’ll arrive in about 30 minutes.”

“That’s quite far, isn’t it?”

“It may feel far because we’re moving from the first place we saw, but normally it’s a quick trip.”

I listened to the real estate agent and checked the distance on the map app on my smartphone.

Contrary to what the real estate agent said, it was quite far.

It took us over an hour to get out of the car.

“The condition should be better than the last one. The site is also much larger.”

Following the real estate agent’s introduction, we looked around the place.

“When I looked around, this place was much more pleasant.”

As Lee Ju-hyeok said, this place was much more satisfactory compared to the first place.

With a little interior work, the training facility could be used with plenty of space.

The number of rooms was also large, so it wouldn’t be too much of a burden for several players to stay.

“Everything is good, but…….”

“It’s too far, isn’t it?”

Lee Ju-hyeok answered as if he already knew what I wanted to say.

“That’s right. It seems like it would be too much of a burden for the players to travel.”

No matter how good the conditions were, it would be counterproductive if the players used too much energy to travel.

“How much is the monthly rent here?”

“It’s just within your budget.”

With this level of facility and a budget that fits, it wasn’t a bad choice, but…….

While I was contemplating, the real estate agent hurriedly added a word.

“There’s still one more place left, so why don’t we look at that first and then decide?”

“Ah, there was one more? Let’s go.”

We got back in the car and moved to the next location.

After driving for a long time again, we arrived at the last place.

I was starting to feel tired from running around since early in the morning.

“Oh, wow!”

I couldn’t help but exclaim as soon as I saw the last place.

I stood in front of it with my mouth open for a long time.

The building was clean, as if it hadn’t been built long ago, and the site was spacious enough to secure training space.

Even looking around the interior, I could immediately feel that it had been well maintained.

“It seems like it would be enough to create an indoor training facility, and it seems like it would be possible to train outside as well.”

“It seems better than where we’re living now.”

“Ju-hyeok, do you think so too?”

“Yes, it was really good.”

Lee Ju-hyeok nodded vigorously in response to my question.

I took out my smartphone and accurately searched for the location of this place.

It was a much better location than the second place.

“The location is excellent. It will be easy for the players to come and go.”

“That’s right. It’s close to the city center, so the infrastructure is good too.”

In many ways, it seemed to be the best of the three places I saw today.

“Then…… how much is the monthly rent here?”

This was the last remaining obstacle and the most important part.

“That’s the problem.”

I could roughly guess the answer just by looking at Lee Ju-hyeok’s darkening expression.

“Does it exceed it by a lot?”

“Yes……. It looks like it will cost twice as much as we thought.”

“Twice as much?”

My mouth dropped open even wider than when I first saw this place.

“But the facility is well-maintained, so we don’t have to do any remodeling to move in. It’s fortunate that we don’t have to spend extra money on that.”

“That’s true…….”

But remodeling is a one-time expense, and rent is a monthly expense.

It was definitely the most appealing, but I couldn’t ignore the financial aspect and make a decision.

“Let’s stop looking at properties for now and think about it.”

I needed to calculate how much more money I could raise first.

My head became complicated.

* * *

Being able to recruit great players to the agency even before starting the company was a great stroke of luck in itself.

But that didn’t mean I was so well-off that I could ignore reality.

Since I had just started the company, I had to keep in mind the possibility that it could be in the red for about a year without any income.

And that was what I was planning to cover with the personal loans I had received.

But I was facing a crisis from the beginning.

Lee Ju-hyeok and I started a meeting without even having time to relieve the fatigue from running around all day.

“Ju-hyeok, which of the places we saw today did you like the most?”

“Well, it’s the last one, of course.”

“Right?”

I sighed without realizing it as I spoke.

“But if the cost is too burdensome, shouldn’t we choose between the first and second options?”

“…….”

“Since the second one is too inconvenient because it’s too far, I think it would be better to decorate the first space well. Even though it’s old, everything else seemed good enough.”

It was definitely the best option we could make right now, even if it wasn’t the best.

“Is there no other way?”

“Yes?”

Lee Ju-hyeok tilted his head, wondering.

“It’s true that we both like the last option the most.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s think about how we can choose the last option.”

“Ah, yes!”

I looked at Lee Ju-hyeok and continued the conversation.

“It’s true that it’s burdensome with the amount we can borrow right now……. Is there any other way we can get money?”

The limit of loans from the bank was ridiculously low because we didn’t have any business history as a company yet, and it was difficult to prove that we were a solid company with a lot of sales.

“Then how about getting an investment?”

“Investment?”

“I heard that there are many venture capital companies in Korea now. There seem to be quite a few companies that want to invest in sports-related businesses.”

I nodded and focused on Lee Ju-hyeok’s words.

“Besides, you have a high profile in the industry, and our players have a huge number of fans. The potential for future growth is endless. If you look for investors who want to invest in this kind of agency, there will be plenty.”

“I’ve heard about investments, but wouldn’t it be a little difficult for us to approach them?”

It was one of the methods I had thought about, but…… I didn’t know anything about that field.

“I’ve done a similar presentation before, so I think it will be a little helpful in preparing.”

“Really?”

He had direct experience. I had already expected that Lee Ju-hyeok’s knowledge of baseball would be helpful, but I didn’t expect him to help with this kind of thing.

“What should we prepare first?”

“I think it’s important to set the core values and direction we want to pursue first. It’s important to show investors exactly the direction we’re trying to go.”

“Core values, direction…….”

I wrote down the things that came to mind as soon as I heard them without hesitation.

“And we also need to show what we’re going to do for the next few years, and finally, if we finish by showing that we’re the company that can do it better than anyone else, we’ll probably be able to convince them enough.”

“There’s a lot to prepare for this too.”

“I’ve read the interview you did before. There were already a lot of answers in the story you told then.”

“Ah, that interview?”

I didn’t know it would be used here too.

“The values and direction you mentioned then haven’t changed, have they?”

“That’s true.”

Now that I’ve created an agency, my goal is to realize the original intention I had when I first became an agent.

“Then let’s start right now.”

With Lee Ju-hyeok’s help, I began preparing a presentation to meet with investors.