Seoul City to Recruit 218 Participants for Second Half 'Seoul-style Dasisogi 4.0 Project' Until Next Month 5

Support Targets Greatly Expanded to Include Honest Failed Small Business Owners and Re-Entrepreneur Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation are providing essential services as a ‘package’ to small business owners who are making a comeback after past failures, including expert one-on-one management consulting, 2 million KRW in initial business funds, low-interest loan support, and up to 1 million KRW in guarantee fee support.

On the 18th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Foundation announced that following the first half of the year, they will implement the customized comprehensive support package for re-challengers, the ‘Seoul-style Restart 4.0 Project,’ in the second half as well. This project, which was previously limited to so-called ‘diligent failures’ who had faithfully repaid debts but did not achieve full repayment, has expanded its target to include ‘re-startup companies’ with prior business closure experience, aiming to support the re-advancement of small business owners in Seoul.

Seoul City will first provide free customized re-challenge education and one-on-one management consulting. The re-challenge education consists of ‘Basic Re-challenge Education,’ which focuses on fundamental concepts that serve as a foundation for business growth such as customer management, commercial district analysis, finance, and labor, and ‘Specialized Re-challenge Education,’ which includes business strategies for success, entrepreneurship to cultivate management mindset, and online marketing education to increase sales.

Additionally, small business owners who diligently complete the re-challenge education and consulting will receive up to 2 million KRW in free initial funds for business-related purposes such as rent, product development, and purchasing supplies. Credit guarantees for operating funds necessary for the business will also be provided. This plan aims to solve the financing difficulties, one of the biggest challenges for diligent failures and re-startups, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful re-challenge.

For companies that receive financial support, one-on-one close field visits for follow-up management will be conducted. Additional support measures that can maximize growth will be reviewed to continuously support scale-up.

The Foundation plans to select 218 final recipients by comprehensively evaluating applicants’ will to restart and business plans. Joo Cheol-soo, Director of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, said, “The business environment surrounding small business owners remains difficult due to the resurgence of COVID-19,” and added, “We will do our best to promote this project so that small business owners who have experienced failure can dream of success once again.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.