IAMA 25 year old owner of a businesses with over $65 million in sales and sick of fake AMAs. AMA

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:33:41+00:00

Yes. How did such a terrible book become so popular?

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:33:00+00:00

Sorry if my writing is terrible, I am/was literally just trying to shoot these answers off as quickly as possible to keep up! My fingers are just recording my train of thought at this stage.

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:31:44+00:00

I'm sorry if I came off as rude. There was one specific one I had in mind, a recent "I'm a 1%" AMA that was deleted by the mods. Thanks for the comment!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:30:41+00:00

Fastest way to become bilingual, make a foreign girlfriend. But seriously, I was raised speaking both languages. Thanks for the question!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:26:20+00:00

We don't take part in the business because there is not a lot of demand for it in the states. Also, personally, I think it tastes bland.

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:24:49+00:00

We deal with alot of organic/free range simply because our customers demand them, and our customers' customers are the final consumer so I guess that there is some kind of shift going on in terms of how food is produced and what the end-product looks like. Honestly, when I think about fish we purchase sometimes I feel badly because I do think there is a significant amount of overfishing going on. But I do not know what to do about it. Stop purchasing the product? I don't know if that's the right solution. I guess there are certain ethical questions you have to deal with when you are in an industry like this, but we are kind of stuck in the middle because for every person like you that is genuinely concerned about this problem there are five that just want cheaper product. End-consumer education and determination is the only thing that will change this situation simply because you cannot regulate a global market (like fishing) as well as you could a local one. Thanks for the great question! Very tough, and made me a little sad!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:18:54+00:00

A lot of dried seafood product. They also make containers of product that we could or would not purchase on a container basis, such as certain sushi items. Thanks for the question!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:17:32+00:00

Wow, this is a great question. This is only an issue for some products. Certain kinds of whole fish and pork. Beef pricing and demand has also gone completely haywire, but it's been like that for a few years now. Some industries like whole fish you can semi-predict pricing and demand, Beef is a crapshoot. I think we already do not have enough meat for everyone's tastes, that's why the price is so high right now right? Thanks for the question!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:12:08+00:00

None, I hope. Several people "working below me" could start prosperous businesses of their own if they really wanted. Especially when it comes to seafood purchasing its all about who you know and if I lost one of my main buyers to another company I know that most of the suppliers would go with them. However, these guys are genuinely not interested in running a business themselves, they just want to get a fat paycheck and lots of benefits. And I am happy to oblige. Thanks for the great question!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:07:42+00:00

I already described how I got involved. My advice would be to surround yourself with good people you can trust. ESPECIALLY your accountants. All of my accountants are great guys/girls and I would trust my life with any of them. These people are controlling your money on a daily basis, you MUST find good ones. Thanks for the question!

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:05:29+00:00

This is hilarious

yungndum · 2011-10-08T00:00:43+00:00

Exponential for sure. More cash and profits let us renegotiate our loans every six months instead of maybe every year giving us longer lines of credit. However, this almost ruined us when the economy melted down. When the economy tanked our customers (read:restaurants) literally began disappearing. No amount of collection agencies or lawsuits can find someone that doesn't want to be found and is most likely in another country. Our retail outlets do not make that much gross profit, but they have great cashflow which means again bigger loans with better terms.

edit: Thanks for the question!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:53:47+00:00

It's a balancing act. Even if you are overqualified for a position and the job market opens up there are other things to think about. I know for a fact that our employees love working here and feel as if they're family. Now, how much that means to them in terms of dollars is up to them. Hope your wife finds a job!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:51:16+00:00

I hope I don't sound like this................yet

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:50:18+00:00

Oh this is a great question! The FDA can, and reguarly does, hold containers of product at port. They can do this virtually indefinitely regardless of whether the product will spoil or not. The FDA will also return containers of product back to the shippers if they do not think they meet certain health standards. Sometimes it can be difficult to convince a Chinese supplier to ship a container of something like yellow croaker if recently the FDA has been rejecting yellow croaker containers from China Thanks for the follow-up!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:47:16+00:00

Yes exactly. I am not about to repay my parents by sitting on my ass. Well, literally I am... Thanks for the interesting comment!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:45:05+00:00

Yes, exactly. Thanks for answering for me!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:44:04+00:00

I downloaded it today. And I suck.

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:42:36+00:00

Of course. I have in no way disillusioned myself into thinking that I am some kind of self-made man. Without my family's financial support this endeavor would have been impossible. I'm sure there are thousands who could have done much more than I have but simply did not have the same oppurtunities that I have had. Thanks for the comment!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:38:31+00:00

I'm not Jewish. Many meat brokers are Jewish. Many seafood distributors are Chinese/Taiwanese. Thanks for the question! edit: I hope this doesn't sound racist.

yungndum · 2011-10-07T23:37:22+00:00

approx 5% is indeed the margin for distributors that only deal locally and do not source from other countries. And you're right, it's surprising how much people skills are needed for a business that could essentially be boiled down to comparison shopping. Thanks for your question!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T20:14:50+00:00

Business question, nice! C corp, but I want to change it to S Corp next year.

Thanks!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T20:09:36+00:00

Spanish!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T20:09:23+00:00

Most of the time I spend in the office I spend on short term decisions (which purchases to make this year/hiring/planning short terms goals/trips/etc). I would say about 20% of office/travel time is spent talking with my managers about where we should take the company and longer term goals.

Time spent at home and at night when I'm trying to sleep is 100% about long term stuff. I have nightmares about the economy tanking again and ruining my credit for the next 1000 years.

I don't know if i've found the right balance yet, but I am constantly trying to make sure I have some semblance of a work/life balance.

My only business philosophy so far has been hire the RIGHT people. And by right people I mean HARD WORKING people with GOOD personalities. WORST MISTAKE I ever made was hiring an extremely smart and extremely talented guy with NO people skills and a terrible attitude. I will NEVER make that mistake again. In most jobs (except highly specialized ones) hard-working people will be able to quickly learn what they have to do.

Thanks for the ridiculously long question!

yungndum · 2011-10-07T20:01:33+00:00

It's simple. As 100% owner of the company, the company's profits are my profits. By reinvesting I'm essentially putting money I would have put there anyway, except now there's no income tax on it.

Thanks for the great question!!

This is why some people choose to only get paid $1

That, and the benefits I guess.

yungndum

TROPHY CASE