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What would you do if someone asked you to take over a family business that was not well managed? According to a survey of SMEs and small business owners, about 2.45 million business owners will be over 70 by 2025. Moreover, about half of them have not decided on a successor. Mr. Ayumu Mitsutera, the representative of Mitsufuji Co., Ltd., decided to take over the family business, which is said to be a declining industry. How did Mitsutera rebuild his family business? HERO X editor-in-chief Yukisato Sugihara, who also inherited the family business as the third generation, listens to the story.

Decision to take over family business

Sugihara: Today I was looking forward to talking with Mitsutera-san, who I have something in common with. I would like to ask you about how you inherited your parent's work, as you became the president with the crisis of the family business on your shoulders. In my case, my father died early, so my mother took over as president. However, the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy hit my family business hard, and I decided to take over the family business without my mother's invitation (laughs). Mitsutera-san, did you originally have a desire to take over the family business?

Mitsutera: No, not at all. For a long time, my family business was said to be a declining industry, so after graduating from university, I wanted to work in the ever-growing IT industry. I decided to work for a large, stable company, so I joined Panasonic. After that, I changed my job to a foreign-affiliated sales company, where I was rewarded for the amount of work I put in to put my skills to the test.

Sugihara: That's how I decided to take over the family business. How did this come about?

Mitsutera: There was only one reason why I decided to take over. because it was So, as a son, I just wanted to make sure that it was really good, so I decided to take over.

AGposs, a silver-plated fiber started by Mr. Mitsutera's father. It is a thread with excellent conductivity, antibacterial properties, deodorant properties, washing durability, elasticity, etc. It is also used for electrodes and shield materials of wearable devices, as well as apparel such as masks and socks.

Sugihara: So did your father agree?

Mitsutera: That's right. I even said that if this doesn't work, we should shut down the company. Our company started out making Nishijin-ori obi sashes, but we stopped making obis and focused on silver-plated products made by my father. That's why I told them to stop doing what other companies can do.

Sugihara: So your father also supported you to some extent. However, from the point of view of people inside the company, I think it was difficult for them to accept the idea of ​​joining a family company from the outside, even though they were heirs to the president. It was the same with me, but from the point of view of people in the company, I'm "a person who came from the outside." How did these internal arrangements go?

Mitsutera: In my case, I joined the company when my father was still president, so it was more difficult to coordinate with our business partners than internal coordination. We started by getting the customer to understand that we were changing the company, but it took two years. During this time, my father and I went around to visit customers and explained how we were going to change things.

Sugihara: What exactly did you mean by changing the company?

Mitsutera: First, we raised the price of our silver-plated thread.

Sugihara: That's bold. Looking at the materials, it says that the price has been increased by about 10 times.Was the customer confused?

Mitsutera: Of course, it was hard. Most of the companies that we used to do business with have disappeared.

Sugihara: Even so, some companies did not stop trading.

Mitsutera: That's right.

Sugihara: But what used to be 10,000 yen will now cost 100,000 yen. Why do you think those who remained continued to do business with us?

Mitsutera: Well, silver-plated thread is a special fiber with various functions, so there was no other product that could be compared. I thought about it together, and I was able to help until the product was completed, so I think that the business partners who put value on it remained.

Sugihara: I think it's too early for Mr. Mittera to complete the preliminary preparations for taking over the company in two years.

Mitsutera: Thank you.

Renewal of “cool management”

Sugihara: Mr. Mitsutera, you have come up with a price revision.

Mitsutera: That's right. It's not easy either. Until then, if you were working as an employee, you could have just looked at sales, but when it comes to running a business, you have to look not only at the money coming in, but also at the money going out.

Sugihara: It's the difference between being hired and hiring.

Mitsutera: Looking at the inflow and outflow of money for a long time, I saw a structure in which withdrawals were steadily increasing in anticipation of receiving money.

Sugihara: There are such things.

Mitsutera: That's why I said, let's try zeroing out the amount of money coming in from our business partners, and calculate exactly how much money will come out. Then I found out that it would sell well.

Sugihara: How did that happen?

Mitsutera: At that time, our company was in a situation where we would undertake a loss according to the customer's budget. The relationships I had with him up until that point were important to me, but I'm not running the company because my father was cool, so I decided to stop doing all of those things and only do things that would generate enough profit from sales. converted.

Sugihara: Well, I understand very well. It's good that we were able to keep the price low as a result of our originality and ingenuity, but if we try to match the customer's convenience, the number of bicycles will increase, and in the end it will only become a unicycle. .

Mitsutera: You're right. However, because work is coming, employees feel busy, but management becomes more difficult. The company itself will be exhausted.

Explosive success or explosive failure, a winning strategy

Measures stress, drowsiness, heat risk, physical condition, etc. just by wearing it, and visualizes the state of the body original wearable device "hamon".

Sugihara: You said that through these reforms, you succeeded in turning the company into the black.

Mitsutera: Yes, thanks to you, we were able to turn a profit in a few years, but there were many things to think about. In recent years, device sensors have begun to attract attention, so I predicted that when the sensor market boomed, major companies would develop similar materials and enter the market. When thinking about management, I think there is only one way.

Sugihara: What does that mean?

Mitsutera: Originally, it was a family business that I had no intention of taking over. Either failure or success, life or death.

Sugihara: I see.

Mitsutera: Our company dreamed of explosive success and chose to rush.

Sugihara: "Dreaming of Explosive Success" is great! smile

The wearable device developed by Mitsufuji can measure physical conditions such as the degree of stress, drowsiness, physical condition, and heat risk from biological information.

Mitsutera: That's right. I think it can be said that it is very easy to handle because it is a thread. Since it was originally developed to make clothes, it is quite durable against washing and dirt, and we are particular about comfort, so we also processed it to give it elasticity. I think that's what makes it different from other silver-plated threads, making it highly versatile and practical.

Sugihara: How is it actually used?

Mitsutera: It is sometimes used in university research institutes that want to capture continuous and accurate raw data, as well as corporate R&D. We have also developed a watch-shaped wearable device that can be worn around the wrist and measured. In conjunction with a smartphone, the information is also easy to see.

Sugihara: Evolution never stops. I feel like I could make something interesting by combining it with something developed by our company. Please let me talk to you again. Thank you for your time today.

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