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Fractional HR for Seoul startups under 50 people

Monthly HR retainer (contracts, onboarding, compliance) for Seoul startups too small for an HR hire, at ₩1.5M a month.

Service business · Seoul, South Korea · Professional services · Checked 2026-10-04 · Full Check

Kill Do not build this as described. The problems are structural, not fixable with effort.

This idea should not be built as described. The main reasons are the unresolved licensing risk under the Certified Labour Attorney Act and a price far above the attorney and software alternatives. Test first with a paid legal opinion on what a non-attorney can sell, then ask founders to sign for a paid pilot.

Why the numbers land here. Scores are low because the main legal risk is unresolved, the price is far above what attorneys charge, and direct rivals already sell this service. Demand and market size are unverified, so the middle scores reflect doubt, not proof.

Red flags

  1. Licensing: offering contracts and compliance without a certified labour attorney may breach Article 27 of the Certified Labour Attorney Act. This is unconfirmed and must be checked before anything else.
  2. The price is far above the market anchor. Attorneys quote about ₩50k to ₩200k a month for advisory work, and the pitch asks for ₩1.5M.
  3. The idea already exists: HR Avengers and 대표님의 인사담당자 sell startup HR outsourcing in Korea.
  4. No evidence that Seoul startups under 50 staff pay this much for HR. Their prices were not visible, and no revenue or survival data for rivals was found.
  5. HR software such as flex and ZUZU covers leave, attendance, payroll and contracts cheaply and is well funded.
  6. Revenue is capped by one person's time. Each client at ₩1.5M needs real hours, so growth means hiring qualified staff at roughly ₩50M a year.

The eight dimensions

Problem severityweight 15%5/10

Small firms do need contracts, onboarding and labour compliance help, and they already ask for it. But they buy it cheaply from labour attorneys and HR software, and nothing shows founders paying ₩1.5M a month.

  • Labour attorney Q&As show small firms already buy monthly HR and labour advice [10][15]
  • Serious Accidents Punishment Act has covered workplaces under 50 staff since 2024, which may add compliance work (title-level source only) [39]
Market size and demandweight 15%4/10

The key number, how many Seoul startups with 5 to 50 staff have no HR person and would pay this price, was not found. Small-business hiring is reportedly stagnant. The founder's demand claim is untested.

Unverified: no source found for this dimension.

Competition and saturationweight 15%3/10

Labour attorneys sell advisory retainers at a fraction of this price. Two Seoul-area firms already sell startup HR outsourcing, and cheap HR software is well funded. The wedge is thin.

  • Attorney advisory quotes of about ₩50k to ₩150k a month by headcount, and ₩200k ex-VAT for 10 to 30 staff [10][15]
  • HR Avengers sells an HR team rental for startups and SMEs [31]
  • 대표님의 인사담당자 claims to build startup HR systems in 2 to 4 weeks and to have served 150+ companies (unverified claim) [30]
  • flex, an HR software company, reportedly raised ₩10bn at a ₩500bn valuation [22]
Timingweight 10%5/10

Safety law reached firms under 50 staff in 2024, and labour law changes continue, which could raise demand for compliance help. Stagnant small-business hiring points the other way.

  • Serious Accidents Punishment Act applies to workplaces under 50 staff (title-level source only) [39]
Feasibilityweight 15%3/10

The work is easy to start but the licence question is serious. Labour-attorney work is restricted to licensed attorneys, and a non-attorney offering contracts and compliance may fall inside that restriction. Not confirmed, and needs a lawyer.

  • Certified Labour Attorney Act Article 27 restricts who may do labour-attorney work [6]
  • A Ministry of Legislation interpretation asks whether a non-attorney can do this work even unpaid (answer not read) [1]
  • A court report concerns HR and labour management done without a labour attorney licence (outcome not read) [5]
Monetization and unit economicsweight 15%3/10

The price is about 5 to 15 times what attorneys quote for advisory work, so the extra value must be clear. A single qualified person could break even at roughly 3 to 4 clients, but only if each client's workload is small.

  • Labour attorney salary guide gives an average of ₩50.22M a year, from about ₩30M for new hires up to ₩100M [11]
  • Attorney payroll add-on of ₩5,000 per employee and similar quotes set the price anchor [10]
  • Break-even of 3 to 4 clients is our own arithmetic, ignoring overhead and tax
Founder fitweight 5%4/10

Nothing in the pitch says whether the founder is a labour attorney, an HR professional or has a startup network in Seoul. Without a licence or a strong network, fit is weak.

Unverified: no source found for this dimension.

Fatal risksweight 10%2/10

One obvious killer: unlicensed practice under the Certified Labour Attorney Act, which could bring complaints or prosecution. Liability for wrong compliance advice, especially on safety law, is a second exposure.

  • A labour attorney association vice-president was reported for a violation of the Act, showing it is enforced and reported [4]
  • Article 27 limits the work to licensed attorneys [6]

Competitors named in the check

Market

Demand

No count of Seoul startups with 5 to 50 staff and no HR person was found, so demand is unverified. Attorney fee Q&As from 2022 and 2025 show small firms ask for HR and labour help, but at ₩100k to ₩300k a month, not ₩1.5M.

Size

Not sizable from the evidence. TAM, SAM and SOM would need the number of Seoul startups with 5 to 50 staff, the share without an HR hire, and the share willing to pay about ₩18M a year. None of these were found. At ₩1.5M a month, 10 clients would be ₩180M a year, which is the scale this model realistically reaches with one or two people.

Trend

Unknown

Costs and money

Start-up cost

$2k to $15k

Monthly running cost

$1.5k

Revenue model

Monthly retainer per client, possibly with a one-off setup fee for building the HR system and contract templates.

USD, our own rough estimates, not researched. Startup range covers a legal opinion on licensing, a basic website, e-signature and HR template tools, and company registration. Monthly covers tools, insurance and accounting for a solo operator, excluding the founder's pay. A hired practitioner would cost roughly ₩50M a year based on attorney salary data [11].

Price point: ₩1.5M a month as pitched. Attorney advisory benchmarks are about ₩50k to ₩200k a month [10][15], so a lower tier or a setup fee model should be tested.
Unit economics: Break-even against a ₩50M salary is roughly 3 to 4 clients, from our own arithmetic that ignores overhead and tax. Acquisition cost and hours per client are unknown. Profit depends on keeping each client under about 20 to 25 hours a month.

Kill criteria

RiskCheap testKill it if
The service is legally restricted to licensed labour attorneysPay for a one-hour consult with a labour attorney or lawyer on which of contracts, onboarding and compliance a non-attorney may sell, and read the Article 27 interpretation.The lawyer says contracts or compliance advice are restricted and no workable structure exists, such as a partner attorney or limited scope.
Startups will not pay ₩1.5M a month when attorneys charge a fractionInterview 20 Seoul founders with 5 to 50 staff and no HR person. Ask what they spend now, then present the offer and ask for a signed letter of intent or paid pilot.Fewer than 3 of 20 will sign a paid pilot at ₩1M or more a month.
Existing startup HR outsourcers already own the segmentAsk HR Avengers and 대표님의 인사담당자 for quotes as a mystery customer, and ask 5 of their customers or founder contacts what they pay and why.Competitors quote at or below half the price with comparable scope, or customers say they are fully satisfied.
Hours per client make the retainer unprofitableList the monthly tasks for 3 pilot clients, track hours for 4 weeks, and compute cost per client.Average time per client exceeds about 25 hours a month, or margin after tax and tools is below 40%.

30-day plan

TaskThe number that says it worked
Week 1Get a paid legal opinion from a labour attorney or lawyer on what a non-attorney may offer, and map the 3 safest service scopes. Request quotes from HR Avengers and 대표님의 인사담당자.Written answer on the licence question and 2 competitor quotes collected
Week 2Interview 20 Seoul startup founders (5 to 50 staff, no HR hire) about current spending, pain and willingness to pay.20 interviews done, at least 6 describe a recent HR problem that cost them time or money
Weeks 3 and 4 are in the owner’s report. Check your own version of this idea to get the full plan.

What would change the verdict

Sources

  1. 민원인 - 공인노무사 아닌 자가 무보수로 공인노무사 직무를 할 수 있는지 여부 (「공인노무사법」 제27조 본문 관련) < 법령해석 < 법제업무정보 : 법제처
  2. 공인노무사법 (제10321호) - 위키문헌, 우리 모두의 도서관
  3. 공인노무사법 (제8780호) - 위키문헌, 우리 모두의 도서관
  4. [단독] 공인노무사회 부회장, 노무사법 위반 피고발
  5. <뉴스 돋보기> 법원, 노무사 자격 없이 '인사·노무 관리 대행' ...
  6. 공인노무사법 제27조(업무의 제한 등) - CaseNote
  7. 공인노무사법 - 위키문헌, 우리 모두의 도서관
  8. 공인노무사법 제2조(직무의 범위) - CaseNote
  9. 노무사의 선 넘은 법률상담, 변호사법 위반입니다
  10. 노무사 자문 수수료 구조가 궁금합니다
  11. 공인노무사 연봉 5,022만원? 신입 3,000만원에서 1억까지 갈리는 이유
  12. Oh My Ghost Clients
  13. 노무사 비용 [2편] - 컨설팅, 자문 및 급여아웃소싱 분야
  14. 광주 노무사
  15. 인사 노무 컨설팅 비용이 궁금합니다.
  16. 2024 Missouri Proposition A
  17. Resignation services
  18. Corporate lawyer
  19. "기업이 살아야 우리도 산다"… 기업 성장 돕는 SaaS 스타트업
  20. 플렉스 - 기업정보
  21. HR SaaS 서비스 비교
  22. 플렉스, 기업가치 ‘5,000억 원’ 평가! 시리즈 B-1 100억 원 투자 유치
  23. 플렉스(flex) vs 아기고래: 올인원 HR SaaS 비교하기 - 아기고래 블로그
  24. 인사관리 플랫폼 가격별 기능 비교 (flex, 워크업, U.STRA) - 테크뷰 블로그
  25. Flex : 사용자 후기, 주요 기능, 가격
  26. 왜 지금 HR SaaS가 중요한가 - HR에서의 SaaS 필요성
  27. 플렉스 HR 후기 — 근태, 급여, 성과, 채용 기능 총정리 2026
  28. 2026 인사 담당자를 위한 HR 솔루션 비교 가이드 ( 규모별 12종 추천 ) - 테크뷰 블로그
  29. 스타트업 인사관리 툴, 채용(ATS) 기능까지 같이 쓸 수 있는 곳은 어디일까
  30. 중소기업 인사컨설팅 전문
  31. 비즈니스 성장에 필요한 HR Solution - HR Avengers
  32. 매장 HR 아웃소싱·인사 업무 위탁
  33. HR플랫폼
  34. 인재 채용대행 전문 서비스, 채용24 - 위펀
  35. 글로벌 HR Tech 및 서비스 회사 Top 20 (1) : Insights
  36. 비즈니스 프로세스 아웃소싱(BPO) - (주)마루HR
  37. 인사 지원 아웃소싱 서비스
  38. 아파트 근로자 5명 미만이면 중대재해법 제외될까? < 정책 < 기사본문 - 한국아파트신문
  39. 「중대재해 처벌 등에 관한 법률」 50인 미만 사업장 적용 및 시사점
  40. 중대재해처벌법 적용대상, 50인 미만 사업장도 해당하나요? :: 아이퀘스트_얼마에요

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