On August 5, 2022, The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) held the ‘2022 Real Estate Service Industry Startup Competition’ to discover a promising company in the real estate industry and support its further development. Kim Sung-soo and six others from Dankook University’s (DKU) School of Urban Planning and Real Estate entered an idea from a team called the Future Always Comes (FAC) and took home the grand prize.

▲ FAC Team Leader Kim Sung-soo (Photo from The Dankook Herald)

   Unlike last year, the 2022 Real Estate Service Industry Startup Competition, held competitions in the existing start-up business sector and the preliminary start-up team sector. DKU’s FAC team participated in the preliminary start-up business sector, entering their residential life platform ‘Daejabo’ which provides useful housing information for college students. This innovative item led to a great response from the judges and translated to the FAC team winning the grand prize. Members of the FAC team, including Kim Sung-soo, Kim Young-hoon, Ryu Han-shin, Seo In-kyo, Sim Eun-ji, Lee Hyung-joo, and Jung Hee-yeon, received five million won in prize money as well as honors from the award. In addition, they were offered office space in Gangnam for free for their own work and received benefits like office automation for a year. However, The Dankook Herald(DKH) thinks the biggest change of all is that they have taken a big step closer to their dream as Dankookians (Students of DKU).

1. What made you think of “Daejabo” (Useful Tips for College Students Living Alone) as a start-up business item?

   Originally, I did not think of this as an item for a startup business. At first, I conducted a project that only gave simple information, but I realized there were some limitations to that project. That is why I focused on the new keyword "living alone." We decided on Daejabo as the name of the product with the intention of offering information related to living alone like a handwritten poster.

2. How did you prepare for this competition?

   I tried to develop the item by adding a few more concrete plans to the existing project. When I first made a suggestion to my colleagues, I felt like I was wasting their time. So, I thought I should do better on my own, and thanks to my good colleagues, I won the award.

3. What was the most important factor in preparing for this competition?

   Since this competition links to the real estate service industry, I tried hard to focus on the essence of the competition. I carefully thought about whether our team fits the purpose of this competition, rather than just thinking "Our team will absolutely do great." Therefore, the service itself focused on finding a room or informing information about the location of the home based on the taste of the consumer.

4. What was the most worthwhile moment for you during this competition?

   The most worthwhile moment was the moment our team won the award. Also, the result of this project was excellent. The number of visitors to our site was more than 4,000 in two months, and about 20 small and medium-sized enterprises helped us to make this. Overall, the biggest thing that our team achieved was that we made this wonderful result.

5. What were some difficult things you experienced while preparing for the competition?

   The most difficult thing we faced was that there was no IT developer on the team. I wonder what it would have been like if we made our own application, not using the communicating platform, ‘Naver Café.' We also had some conflicts between some team members. Some members wanted to focus and develop more on technology, but others wanted to solve the existing problems more carefully. However, I believe the project was able to grow through the conflicts we faced.

6. Could you give some advice to Dankookians who also want to participate in this competition or people dreaming of a career related to the real estate industry?

   The most important thing is to give it a try. I might not have taken part in this project if the teaching assistant did not recommend it. I did not even expect our team to pass the first selection round. Thanks to this project, now all our concerns about getting a job are melting away! I think it is important to try anything you are interested in. If it works out well, you will succeed in that specific area, and you may learn a valuable lesson even if it does not work out well.

▲ FAC Team's Awards, Prizes and Prize Money (Photo from The Dankook Herald)

   The DKH congratulates the FAC team for winning the grand prize. The DKH will continue to encourage them so that they can develop their ideas into a practical scheme. We hope that Dankookians will be encouraged by this interview, believe in their abilities, and achieve their dreams just like the FAC team.