Tei, Kim Tae-woo, Lee Jang-woo, stars who have become successful bosses

The number of celebrities who are successful not only as entertainers but also as successful side hustlers is increasing. He is running a business and listening to his boss. Some cases where the income earned from a side job is more than from the main job are known and are attracting attention.

The one that became the most talked about was singer Tei. Tay, who was active in various fields such as music, musicals, and theater, shined even brighter when he started working in the restaurant business. Tay runs two hamburger restaurants. The hamburger restaurant that started with the recommendation of Baek Jong-won, whom they met on the SBS entertainment program 'Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant', became a huge hit.

Tay's burger restaurant is relatively small, with only about 5 tables in the store. However, store size and sales were inversely proportional. Tay appeared on MBC's 'Radio Star' in November of last year and said, "Annual sales sometimes exceed 1 billion won. The store is very small, but we maintain daily sales of 1 to 2 million won."

As business is doing well and word of mouth is spreading, franchise requests are also coming in. Tay plans to expand into the franchise business. It cannot be left out that the reason for the success was because of Tay's popularity, but Tay also put his heart and soul into developing the menu himself.

There is another star who went viral for his hamburger restaurant. Singer Kim Tae-woo opened a handmade hamburger store in Sokcho with chef Lee Won-il. Kim Tae-woo's hamburger restaurant was featured on KBS2's 'The Boss's Ears Are Donkey Ears' last year. On this day, Kim Tae-woo said, “I made over 30 million won in sales over 5 days.” Daily sales amount to 6 million won.

There are even travelers who go to Sokcho to go to Kim Tae-woo’s hamburger restaurant. Sokcho City appointed Kim Tae-woo as the new public relations ambassador for Sokcho City on the 21st. Sokcho Mayor Lee Byeong-seon said, “I ask you to spread the word about not only culture and tourism, but also the style, taste, and beauty of Sokcho.”

Tae-Woo Kim also revealed that he received offers to open a store in Jeju, Haeundae, Daejeon, Dasan New Town, and Apgujeong Rodeo. Afterwards, he actually opened a store in Dasan New Town. Now, in addition to the modifiers 'group god' and 'singer', 'CEO' is added to his name.

Lee Jang-woo is more popular for his mukbang entertainment than his main job as an actor. Lee Jang-woo, who was loved for his delicious eating appearance on MBC's 'I Live Alone', opened his own udon restaurant. Lee Jang-woo's udon shop became a hot topic for its open run (the act of waiting in front to enter the store once it opens) and long waiting times.

Lee Jang-woo appeared on mukbang YouTuber Tsuyang's YouTube channel and revealed the reason for opening the store, saying, "I really like instant udon," and "I make a lot of hangover with udon, but it's too far to go there to eat. I opened it because I wanted to eat."

If we had only relied on celebrity recognition, we would not have succeeded. Of course, it would have enjoyed a greater opening and sales effect than a regular store. Tei, Taewoo Kim, and Jangwoo Lee put as much effort into opening a store as they put into their main business. This is why stores have been ‘running for a long time’ until now. It became a good example for celebrities to expand their businesses.

Ten Asia Reporter Kim Seo-yoon seogugu@tenasia.co.kr