The Annual Growth Rate for the Eyewear Category Exceeds 20%
makedreamMay 2, 2026
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Small Business/Startups
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Starting your own business while working a corporate job is no longer a choice; it's a matter of survival. However, our money is too precious to recklessly burn 5 million won just because we're motivated. You must move based on numbers, not gut feelings. In 2024, the South Korean e-commerce market reached $178.9 billion, ranking 5th in the world. Let's talk about how to find your place in this massive playground.
If you hop on a growing market, the boat moves even if you row half-heartedly. Conversely, if you cling to a setting sun, you'll stay in the same spot no matter how many all-nighters you pull. I don't use Google Trends simply to check search volume. I plug five years of data into Excel and calculate the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) myself.
The method is simple. Put the search index from five years ago in the denominator and the current index in the numerator, then enter =POWER(Current/Past, 1/5)-1. If this figure doesn't exceed 15%, don't even start. According to data from the Statistics Korea, the eyewear and eyecare sector grew by 20.2% annually from 2020 to 2024. These are the real niche markets we should target—places that far outpace the e-commerce average of 11.7%.
Waiting until after work to check orders and print shipping labels won't last a month. The more manual intervention there is, the more mistakes increase and your time disappears. You must use no-code tools like Zapier to delegate 80% of repetitive busywork to machines.
Set it up so that whenever an order comes into your Smart Store, a row is automatically created in a Notion sheet. It's also not difficult to design a system where a Kakao Notification Talk is automatically sent to the customer when shipping begins. Be sure to include a Notion-based FAQ link at the bottom of the notification. This serves as a shield that reduces simple inquiries like "When will it be delivered?" by more than 70%. You need this level of setup to run your business without constantly looking over your shoulder at your boss.
Reselling sourced goods makes it a struggle to even maintain a 10% margin. After paying for advertising, there's often nothing left, leading to an eventual shutdown. I mix in digital assets that have zero replication costs.
For example, if you sell nutritional supplements, don't just send the product; email an Excel-based 30-day health management template. The cost is 0 won, but the value perceived by the customer skyrockets. At the top of your product page, show a package that includes a 200,000 won consulting fee first, then place the standard 50,000 won configuration below it. Thanks to the price anchoring effect, a magic trick occurs where 50,000 won suddenly looks cheap. By pulling the margin up to 60% this way, you build the stamina to survive even if advertising efficiency drops slightly.
The cost of acquiring a new customer through ads is seven times more expensive than retaining an existing one. To survive on a small budget of 5 million won, repeat purchases must explode. Contact the customer three days after they receive the item. Don't try to sell them anything else; just ask if they have any inconveniences.
"I personally inspected and sent this myself as the founder; is there anything you're dissatisfied with?" This single sentence opens the customer's heart. Take any complaints from that interaction, reflect them on the product page immediately, and announce: "We have upgraded this based on a customer's feedback." From that moment, the customer isn't just a consumer; they become a partner of the brand. This is the most powerful barrier to entry that only individual entrepreneurs can build—something big corporations can never do.