Book 4 of 4 · Restaurant strategy
Business Is Strategy
How to Build a Restaurant or Shop That Survives Anything
Business Is Strategy is Eugene Kim's field manual for owners of restaurants, cafés, and small shops. It is organized as seven strategies, each a set of short, self-contained lessons, and it argues that real differentiation comes from what a business refuses to do.
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Real differentiation isn't in being “different.” It's in what you refuse to do.
About the book
Good food isn't enough. Hard work isn't enough. The restaurants and shops that survive are the ones with a strategy.
Most owners open with a recipe, a location, and hope. Then they copy the number-one place down the street and wonder why customers walk past. Eugene Kim has spent more than twenty years in kitchens and dining rooms alongside small business owners, and his rule is simple: real differentiation isn't in being “different.” It's in what you refuse to do.
Business Is Strategy is built as seven strategies, each one a set of short, self-contained lessons you can read in a sitting and use the same day. Every lesson comes from real Korean restaurants and shops, many of them the author's clients, named. This edition is his complete rewrite of the Korean original.
The examples come from South Korea, and the principles work anywhere customers have a choice. KICK! boxes throughout sum up what to do next.
Who it's for
Owners and would-be owners of restaurants, cafés, and small shops who want a plan for surviving, not just a recipe and a location.
Key takeaways
- Design a concept that says no. “We're not such-and-such” beats “We're different.”
- Build the menu around one clear target customer, and create a menu item that can never fail.
- Pricing weapons, price-guessing cues, and the right words let a shop charge more.
- Details move people: rice cooked to order, heavier cutlery, and 100 ultra-detail strategies that each add 1% of value.
- Lighting, photos, sound, and video sell before anyone walks in, and the operations chapters cover sales targets, staff, benchmarking, and a real burger shop's complete survival plan.
Formats and details
Paperback
- ISBN
- 979-11-23021-30-0
- Pages
- 336
- Trim
- 6 × 9 in
- US price
- $21.99
- Publication date
Kindle ebook
- ISBN
- None (Amazon assigns an ASIN)
- US price
- $9.99
Edition
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Doseodam
- Translated from
- 《장사는 전략이다 RED》 (Doseodam, 2023), a fully revised edition of 《장사는 전략이다》 (2016)
- Korean ISBN
- 979-11-981849-0-0
Frequently asked questions
What is Business Is Strategy about?
Business Is Strategy is Eugene Kim's field manual for owners of restaurants, cafés, and small shops. It is organized as seven strategies, each a set of short, self-contained lessons, and it argues that real differentiation comes from what a business refuses to do.
Who wrote Business Is Strategy?
Business Is Strategy was written by Eugene Kim (김유진), Korean restaurant business consultant and founder of KYJ Academy. His books have sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, and more than 4,800 founders and owners have trained at KYJ Academy.
Who is Business Is Strategy for?
Owners and would-be owners of restaurants, cafés, and small shops who want a plan for surviving, not just a recipe and a location.
Do the Korean examples apply outside Korea?
The examples come from South Korea, and the principles work anywhere customers have a choice. KICK! boxes throughout sum up what to do next.
Is this book a translation?
Yes. Business Is Strategy is the English edition of 《장사는 전략이다 RED》 (Doseodam, 2023), a fully revised edition of 《장사는 전략이다》 (2016). The Korean edition's ISBN is 979-11-981849-0-0. The English edition is published by Doseodam.
What formats are available, and what do they cost?
Business Is Strategy is available as a Kindle ebook (US $9.99) and as a 336-page paperback (US $21.99, ISBN 979-11-23021-30-0). The paperback publication date is November 30, 2026.
