CLOSED

Document automation for tax offices opened · CLOSED after 1 yr 7 mo

Yoon Ji-hu, 51 · 1 yr 7 mo

“I forgot to pay myself. For 19 months.”

I closed after 1 year and 7 months. What remained was ₩24,552,458 in debt and 4 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash -₩20,328,118, debt ₩24,552,458, 0 employees, 4 customers. You settled the last bills and closed the laptop. The business failed, but that time did not disappear.

How it went

1. 2026 · preparing to openYoon Ji-hu, 50. You have decided to try starting a company in Seoul. No idea, no product yet. Savings ₩42,620,000, no job.
2. 1/2026: what now?Start a business: «Document automation for tax offices» — You are going with «Document automation for tax offices». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsUS Rates Rose Again
4. 2/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 5 of 20 said they would pay. 6 only said it would be "nice to have".
5. 2/19 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.64%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
6. 3/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 3/5 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
8. 3/28 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe KRW/USD rate rose to 1,378. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
9. 4/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
10. 4/10 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
11. 5/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
12. 6/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
13. 6/17 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
14. 7/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
15. 7/13 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
16. 8/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
17. 8/3 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.64%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
18. 9/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
19. 10/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
20. 10/15 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
21. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
22. 12/2026: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 1 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
23. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
24. US Rates Rose AgainSignals of Fed tightening strengthened the dollar, and this country's funding rates followed. When the KRW/USD rate jumped, costing got complicated again for anyone buying imported ingredients or parts.
25. Year 1 closeRevenue ₩545,980, loss ₩12,057,292. Cash ₩294,708.
26. 2027 · year 2 beginsChinese Demand Cooled
27. 1/14 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
28. 2/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
29. A text offering moneyTake the unlicensed loan — ₩14,330,000 came right away. No contract — just your ID and your family’s phone numbers.
30. Financing approvedBorrow from family ₩15,000,000 · 0.0%/yr · 36 months
31. 3/2027: what now?Apply: Borrow from family — You waited for the Borrow from family decision. Borrow from family ₩15,000,000 approved.
32. 3/10 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
33. 3/19 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
34. 3/20 · The collectors cameThe lender’s men came by. Late again, they said, and photos go to your family’s phones.
35. You are short of moneyHold on — Instead of the bank you called suppliers and asked for a month’s grace. Two said yes, one said no.
36. 4/10 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
37. 4/17 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
38. 5/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
39. 5/25 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
40. 5/26 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ₩3,644,714 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ₩27,700,163.
41. 5/22 · A loan payment bouncedThe loan payment did not go through. One text from the bank, and your credit grade dropped a notch.
42. 6/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
43. 6/27 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
44. 6/28 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
45. 6/9 · Collection callsA number you did not know. It was about the overdue loan. Your family heard every word.
46. You are short of moneyHold on — You closed the loan papers. Instead you cancelled subscriptions, cut what you could do without and pushed the next payment date. Holding on is also a decision.
47. 7/29 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
48. 7/9 · The collectors cameThe lender’s men came by. Late again, they said, and photos go to your family’s phones.
49. 7/8 · Collection callsA number you did not know. It was about the overdue loan. Your family heard every word.

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