About the Store
Hanchon Seolleongtang (한촌설렁탕) is a 40-year-old brand founded in 1982. The Myeonmok-Yongma branch sits on Sangbong-ro in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, about an 8-minute walk from Myeonmok Station. Owner Ryu Seong has been running it for about a year.
Why This Franchise
- 40% of stores running long-term, 20% multi-unit operators — a sign of brand durability and growth
- Competitiveness across brand, product, ingredients, and technology
- Professionally processed bone broth and ingredients from the Osong smart factory
- A headquarters policy that treats employee-operated stores the same as any other franchisee
Strategy for Surviving COVID
To break out of the COVID-era slump, the owner introduced delivery and a points program at the same time. The logic was simple: delivery is immediate revenue, and customer data is a long-term business asset.
Delivery is the paycheck. Customer database management is the savings account.
How They Use DodoPoint
- Points as a customer benefit — small monetary rewards through DodoPoint create a reason to come back
- CRM to drive repeat visits — promotion and event alerts lift repeat-visit rates
- 47-day Boknal (dog days) campaign — designed using DodoPoint’s customer data and visit-frequency insights, this campaign lifted revenue
- Smarter inventory — the dashboard reveals visit times, gender, and age demographics, guiding prep and stock decisions
Results
Introducing change was hard, but pairing delivery with customer database management built a strong regulars base — and revenue grew 5x after acquisition.
From the Owner
DodoPoint is essential for store operations — point earning and redemption, CRM, all the customer-management basics. Hanchon Seolleongtang actively encourages franchisees to adopt DodoPoint at the headquarters level.
Full Interview
Many small business owners share the same feeling about life after COVID: “everything is different, and everything is harder.” The Myeonmok-Yongma branch of Hanchon Seolleongtang went through that too — but pulled through by embracing new changes (delivery and a customer database). Let’s hear it from owner Ryu Seong.
”Bringing in change wasn’t easy.”
Q. Tell us about Hanchon Seolleongtang and your Myeonmok-Yongma branch.
Hanchon Seolleongtang launched in 1982 and has now spent 40 years building trust through the honest taste of seolleongtang (ox bone soup), gomtang, suyuk, and more. The Myeonmok-Yongma branch is on Sangbong-ro in Jungnang-gu, about an 8-minute walk from Myeonmok Station. I’ve been running it for nearly a year now.
Q. You’re both an owner of the Myeonmok-Yongma store and an employee of Hanchon Seolleongtang. Does that come with any perks, or any challenges?
Running a store as an employee gives me no special treatment at all — if anything headquarters watches more closely. I’m operated 100% like any other franchisee.
Q. With no special perks, what made you want to run a store yourself?
It was a chance to get even closer to Hanchon Seolleongtang. Two reasons in particular drove my decision to sign on as a franchisee.
First, long-term operation rates and multi-unit ownership rates. For a franchise, longevity is the most fundamental signal of brand durability. And multi-unit ownership is a clear indicator of revenue and scalability. About 40% of Hanchon Seolleongtang stores have been running for over five years, and about 20% are operated by multi-unit franchisees — that told me the brand has both staying power and growth.
Second, competitiveness. When you’re going to run a store yourself, weighing your brand against others is essential. Hanchon Seolleongtang stood out to me in brand, product, ingredients, and technology. Watching the Osong smart factory work — the professional processing behind our bone broth and ingredients — only confirmed the decision.
Hanchon Seolleongtang official site: http://www.hanchon.kr/new/
“Delivery is the paycheck. Customer database management is the savings account.”
Q. Many small business owners had a rough time during COVID. How did Hanchon Seolleongtang get through it?
Hanchon Seolleongtang hit a slump after COVID started. Customer caution and regulations dragged revenue down visibly. After a lot of internal discussion we introduced delivery and a points program together.
There was pushback at first, but we made the case based on the growth in delivery and the customer repeat-visit data — and many stores are now seeing real results from the combination. Delivery was a sector that grew during COVID, and DodoPoint’s customer database and CRM features were especially effective at building regulars.
I think of it this way: delivery is the paycheck, and customer database management is the savings account. Delivery is the present; the customer database is the future. Because the database lets us bring customers back, we work hard to keep building it.
Q. You mentioned DodoPoint. Anything else to add?
DodoPoint is a store management service — point earning and redemption, CRM — the essentials for managing customers. Hanchon Seolleongtang partners with DodoPoint and uses it across many branches. It gives guests visiting Hanchon a tangible financial benefit through their accumulated points.
On top of that, the CRM helps us share promotions and events when they’re running, which plays a big role in bringing customers back through our doors.
Q. Any memorable campaigns you ran with DodoPoint?
At the headquarters level, Hanchon Seolleongtang actively encourages franchisees to adopt DodoPoint. We’ve also run a 47-day Boknal (dog days) campaign together. We designed it using DodoPoint’s customer data and visit-frequency analytics, and it drove a real revenue lift.
Q. Beyond customer database and CRM, are there other ways franchisees should use DodoPoint?
It helps with inventory management. The customer management dashboard shows detailed breakdowns of points earned over time, new customers, and more. From point usage and earning patterns you can pinpoint the days and hours customers visit most, and use that to manage prep and inventory. You can also see gender and age, which tells you who your main customers really are — useful for tying promotions to the right audience.
Q. Any closing thoughts?
Hanchon Seolleongtang welcomes many customers and has consistent revenue growth. With strong headquarters support around DodoPoint, building a regulars base is easier here. We hope you’ll keep an eye on Hanchon Seolleongtang. Thank you.
Sitting down with Director Ryu Seong of the Myeonmok-Yongma branch, the old saying “patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet” came to mind. Change is hard, but pushing through delivers more than you put in — this case proves it.
And with future savings (the customer database) accumulating steadily, Hanchon Seolleongtang’s future looks even brighter than its present.