Saturday December 11, 2010
Up Close and Personal with Tadashi Yanai
By EUGENE MAHALINGAM
eugenicz@thestar.com.my
IT was a warm Wednesday morning as this writer was escorted up the elevator to meet Tokyo-based Fast Retailing Co's chairman and chief executive officer Tadashi Yanai, at his hotel suite in Kuala Lumpur. Tadashi, who heads Japan's largest clothes retailer, is also the country's richest man with a net worth of US$9.2bil, according to Forbes.
An intimidating bodyguard stood at the entrance to Tadashi's suite. Inside, the man himself was surrounded by an ensemble comprising public liaisons, media correspondents and more bodyguards.
Tadashi greeted me with the traditional Japanese bow and the entire interview was aided by a translator.
When I was around 17 or 18 years old, I told myself that I didn't want to work my entire life. I was not interested in business at all, said the soft spoken gentleman.
Tadashi was in Malaysia last month to officiate the opening of the first Uniqlo store here. Uniqlo is one of the fashion brands under Fast Retailing.
The globe-trotter
Tadashi was born in 1949, the same year his father founded Men's Shop Ogori Shoji in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, selling men's clothes.
As a young man between the late 1960s and early 1970s, Tadashi had the opportunity to travel the world, gaining valuable insights from observing the way international brands operated.
Though he wasn't interested in the retail clothing business (at least not then), Tadashi was born into it and couldn't help but be fascinated by the industry and how different it was in the various parts of the world.
For me, travelling the world and seeing how the various businesses operated was indeed a precious experience, Tadashi said, adding that among the more famous stores that he visited were American clothing and accessories retailer, Gap and prominent British retailer, Marks & Spencer.
I studied how the business worked and how it succeeded. The idea was to bring these experiences back to Japan and make it a success here, and then replicate it in other parts of the world.
Building an empire
With that, gone was the never wanting to work for a living attitude as it was only natural to take over his father's business.
Tadashi took over the helm of his father's business in 1984 and opened the first Uniqlo store that year in Hiroshima City titled Unique Clothing Warehouse, specialising in casual clothing.
The chain grew rapidly and in 1991, Tadashi changed the name of the company from Ogori Shoji to Fast Retailing. By 1994, there were more than 100 retail stores in Japan.
The turning point came in 1998 when Uniqlo pushed fleece wear for 1,900 yen, selling two million units. The fleece boom continued and in 1999, Uniqlo sold over eight million outfits.
By 2002, the first overseas Uniqlo outlet was opened in China along with four outlets in London.
The brand's popularity continued and it opened its first stores in the United States, Hong Kong and South Korea by 2005.
To date, there are more than 700 Japan-based Uniqlo stores and a fast growing collection of overseas offerings.
The Look West policy
According to various reports, Tadashi has set an ambitious target to open 1,000 stores in China by 2020. The reports have quoted him as saying that China has transformed itself from a developing country to the world's largest growth centre.
But apparently, that's only just half the total target, according to Tadashi.
I want to open 1,000 stores within the Asean region in the next 10 years. So, by 2020, we would have a total of 2,000 stores both in Asean and China.
Asean has great growth potential, even more than China. Comparatively, it's one whole region versus one country, meaning that the (Asean) population is significantly larger (than that of China's) and will offer better (growth) opportunities.
Tadashi said the growth potential for Asean had only just begun ... could be as big as China some day.
Tadashi is highly optimistic of Malaysia's outlook. He has visited Malaysia numerous times between 1960s and early 1970s.
I actually visited Malaysia some 40 years ago. I went to Singapore and then travelled here by bus, Tadashi recalled.
Back then, there was jungle everywhere. But today, there are many skyscrapers everywhere! The country is so well developed. It's exciting to see how much the country has grown.
Tadashi said he had seen similar positive growth in other Asean countries, hence his policy to look to this part of the region for business opportunities.
He summed up the company's strategy moving forward by paraphrasing an old business philosophy of Malaysia's former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Many years ago, Dr Mahathir propagated the Look East Policy, encouraging Malaysia to learn from more advanced economies such as Japan for inspiration.
However, Japan's economy has not been doing too well recently while Asean markets have been booming. That's why I say that for Fast Retailing, we now have to adopt a Look West Policy,' because economies in that part of the region, on our west, are doing better than us, Tadashi enthused.
But the ultimate goal for Fast Retailing, said Tadashi, was to have a store everywhere in the world.
The dream is to be able to provide truly great clothing around the globe. To do that, we need to be in every part of the world.
Never about the money
Tadashi humbly said he never imagined that he would one day join the ranks of the wealthiest. But making money was never the biggest part of the plan, he admitted.
I never pursued wealth. It just came naturally. To me, it has always been about the business, managing it, growing it and benefiting society.
I believe that if you pursue wealth, you will always be chasing it, said Tadashi, who takes his inspiration from the founders of well-known Japanese conglomerates such as Panasonic and Honda.
Tadashi added that a person pursuing success should not be afraid of taking risks and making mistakes.
If you want to succeed, you have to experience failures. To me, the worst people in the world are those that neither succeed nor fail. These people don't do anything and accomplish nothing.
The second worst types are those that continuously fail. They never learn from their mistakes and never succeed, he said.
Tadashi added that in a rapidly-changing global environment, failure was one of the costs of success.
The world is constantly changing. To succeed in this environment, you need to make mistakes, fail, learn from them and move on.
In light of the changing global marketplace, taking risks was vital, said Tadashi.
I have always been a risk-taker. But I only take them (risks) as long as the company doesn't go bankrupt. You need to constantly evaluate the situation. If you don't take risks, you will never profit.
Tadashi said trust and credibility are important traits in growing a successful business.
Also, for him it's basically his way or the highway at the office.
I consider myself a strict boss at the office. I think it is necessary if you need to do what's right. A lot of managers out there say a lot of things but they never do it.
If I say something, whether at the office or in public, it will be executed and I will do it. That's what sets me apart from others.
Work and play
According to Tadashi, from Mondays to Fridays it's strictly business, while the weekends are reserved for his second biggest passion golf. And his favourite pastime? Work, he said.
I know that to a lot of people, work is work and play is play. But to me, my work is my playground. I find it fun and enjoying. To be able to do something where you can contribute to society is an enjoyment, said Tadashi.
Still, when time does afford him the luxury to relax, Tadashi likes to read a good book and listens to jazz music.
I like reading books on business management by people that actually run their own businesses, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment