"Layman" Suzuki Toshifumi: How Japanese 7-Eleven successfully counterattacked the US headquarters

△ Toshifumi Suzuki Founder and CEO of 7-Eleven Japan

Editor's note

This issue tells the story of how the founder of Japan's 711 led Japan's 711 to counterattack the US headquarters from a layman.

If you are a layman and do not have deep roots in the company, the difficulties encountered can be imagined, and your actions are likely to be deformed by the influence of others.

This is the situation encountered when Toshifumi Suzuki, the founder of Japan's 711, first obtained the franchise right to the 711 in the United States and founded the Japanese 711. When the negotiations with the United States 711 ended and the store was finally opened, as expected, Suzuki's plan was again met with opposition from within the company, and once again, Suzuki Toshifumi did not listen to everyone's opinions at all, only according to his own. The reason for doing this is because he has heard too many objections along the way, and he has become immune to all kinds of noises...

On May 15, 1974, Tiangong was not beautiful, but it did not affect the interest of the residents of Toyoshu Street, Koto Ward, Tokyo, Japan. On this day, the newly renovated "711 Toyosu store" opened, and they went to see the excitement together. The store, which was originally run by a young man named Kenji Yamamoto, is now the No. 1 store of Japan 711, and although the size and location of his store are not ideal, Toshifumi Suzuki chose him.

Most of the neighbors on this street know Kenji Yamamoto, who recently dropped out of university to take over his late father's business and was recently married. Kenji Yamamoto wanted to be the first to eat crabs because life forced him to do so that the traditional sake brewery was deserted and had no room for development, and his wife and young siblings had to support themselves. When he saw in the newspaper that the Japanese 711 was looking for a franchisee in Tokyo, he quickly called and expressed his willingness to try. After all, it is a young person, full of curiosity about the new business model, if you catch this train, you may be able to turn over. Kenji Yamamoto was right on the gamble. A newspaper advertisement the size of a tofu block and a phone call changed his fate. If he didn't see the ad, he was out of luck, and if he saw it and didn't make that call right away, he might have missed luck.

After understanding the basic situation of Kenji Yamamoto, Toshifumi Suzuki rubbed his hands excitedly, Kenji Yamamoto is the person he is looking for, is the most ideal franchisee of the No. 1 store: self-owned property, location is not bad, has business experience, the most important thing is that the franchisee is not rich and has no other income, the franchisee itself is an operator and an employee, he is willing to block his life in the franchise store. After a thorough inspection, Toshifumi Suzuki believes that Kenji Yamamoto is a person worthy of trust, and promises that if the business fails in three years, the store will be completely returned to Zhao.

After the opening of the No. 1 store, while accumulating operational experience, Toshifumi Suzuki decisively opened the 711 intensive store opening mode. He strictly required the head of store research and development to be located around Store 1 on the site, which must be located in Tokyo's Koto district. He believes that this can kill three birds with one stone: improve the brand effect of 711, improve delivery efficiency, and make promotion and advertising effects arrive faster.

By the next year, the total number of 711 stores in Japan had reached 100, and local consumers affectionately called this year-round chain of convenience stores "late-night supermarkets". Since the average daily turnover is higher than that of ordinary individual stores, more and more small store owners are rushing to join, and 711 convenience stores have begun to replicate in Japanese territory.

At this time, Suzuki Toshifumi has mixed feelings: First, because the Japanese 711 convenience store has finally successfully "landed", it can really do a big job; Second, in order to realize this "daydream", all along, being opposed and snubbed by the people around him has never been insulated from himself, and it is not easy to survive until now.

However, when preparing for the No. 1 store in Japan 711, Suzuki Toshifumi was met with opposition from colleagues: Suzuki Toshifumi chose the first store to be an independent franchise store, and colleagues agreed that the first few stores should be set up as direct stores, and setting No. 1 store as a franchise store is not in line with common sense, which is not conducive to the company's team to accumulate operational experience.

Choosing to be a franchise store from the No. 1 store, Suzuki Toshifumi certainly has his own plans, and the chain store he wants to create must not only be able to coexist with large supermarkets, but also not rob small businessmen of their jobs. Choosing the franchise path can improve production efficiency and is also in line with the business model of the convenience store chain you want to build. If the No. 1 store starts from a franchised store, it can establish the right genes for the maturity of the future business model. After making up his mind, he ignored everyone's opinions, firmly believing that he was the right layman, not to mention that he had the right to have the final say.

The battle over the business model of the No. 1 store is not the first resistance encountered by Toshifumi Suzuki. Since trading this new business of the company, whenever he encounters opposition, it has always been "attacking", not "lewd development, don't wave", or "steady, we can win".

At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, Japan jumped to become the world's second largest economy, and domestic consumer demand skyrocketed. In September 1971, 38-year-old Toshifumi Suzuki participated in negotiations with the shopping arcade as a director of Ito-Yokado due to the obstacle to the development of large supermarkets in Ito-Yokado. Prior to joining Ito-Yokado, Toshifumi Suzuki was a book promotion editor at a publishing house and had never had any retail experience. When he proposed the idea that "small and medium-sized stores can coexist with large supermarkets", industry insiders said that he was "a fool's dream". Toshifumi Suzuki, who does not believe in evil, vows to shut up the other party through performance.

During a business trip to the United States, Suzuki stumbled upon a 711 convenience store in the United States, and after some secret investigation, he suggested to the company to obtain the right to operate 711 in Japan, which was initially met with strong opposition within the company. Everyone thinks that since the rise of large supermarkets, the small shops on the street have had a hard time. Now going against the trend and engaging in small convenience stores is fundamentally contrary to commercial logic. Even external expert consultants hired by the company have a negative opinion. One board member even derided Suzuki as a "daydreamer" about retail.

After the setback, Suzuki continued to sell his ideas, and he proposed that as long as the differentiated management characteristics of small convenience stores were exploited and the operation efficiency of the chain was improved, convenience stores had room to grow. Finally convinced a number of opponents and won the support of the boss.

At the end of 1973, when negotiating a franchise agreement with the American Southern Company, the other party's representative did not let go of the 1% franchise fee. In a hurry, he shot up and said loudly: "Everyone should take a long-term view... It is not difficult to imagine that if Ito-Yokado is burdened with such a high franchise fee, not only will the ideal of developing 711 in Japan not be realized, but even the southern company itself will waste its efforts - the bamboo basket will be empty. He used this somewhat rude "generous statement" to blow up the "bridgehead" of the American Southern company, and finally won the agreement at a reasonable price.

After winning the franchise and becoming the head of a new company set up to run Japan's 711, Toshifumi Suzuki still had no easy time. Since people within the parent company Ito-Yokado were not optimistic about the project, not many people in the parent company were willing to transfer jobs.

In desperation, Suzuki Toshifumi could only "recruit by society", and the personnel who came to apply were mixed and inexperienced, which made Suzuki Toshifumi very troubled. What made him even more speechless was that the 27 operation manuals provided by the American company for training were beginner's introductory versions, with no gold content, and did not mention the core operation content of convenience stores such as marketing and logistics that managers most needed.

The determination has long been full, but the configuration is so crotch-pulling. What to do? The skinny reality almost plunged Suzuki into despair, but he couldn't tell the truth to the eager new employees. Since the road of Guhua Mountain, he realized that he had ridden a tiger, and there were no conditions, and he had to go up to create conditions.

At this time, Toshifumi Suzuki thought of his motivation for recommending to join the American 711: in addition to helping the parent company solve problems, another reason is that he does not think that the poor operation of small and medium-sized retail stores is caused by the rise of large supermarkets, but that their business methods have been completely outdated and eliminated by customers. In other words, only by innovating business models can small and medium-sized retail stores keep pace with the times.

In that case, why not take advantage of the American 711 brand and take the opportunity to step out of the path of Japanese convenience store chains? Toshifumi Suzuki's eyes lit up, and the appearance of a convenience store in the true sense of his mind began to be put into practice. New tricks such as hot Japanese food, intensive site selection, year-round operation, and joint delivery are on display. The Japanese 711 has gone its own way.

In this way, while opening stores in Japan, Toshifumi Suzuki continued to unlock the skills of the convenience store chain and keep it upgraded. The 711 of the American Southern Company was on the verge of bankruptcy due to poor management. In March 1991, Japan's 711 acquired 70% of their stake, and later Suzuki Toshifumi completed the "Japan-U.S. reversal", and 711 became a Japanese brand.

In the workplace, entrepreneurs without relevant experience are regarded as laymen, and it is the norm for opinions to be opposed by many people... And Toshifumi Suzuki, who is a magazine, has proved through a very personal hardcore performance that he can also be a master in the retail industry, and the layman sees the problem from a different perspective than industry experts, and even sees the essence of things better.

Facts will eventually silence those who oppose them, and Suzuki Toshifumi "desensitizes" the voices of opposition and doubt, turning the headwind into a tailwind "game", and providing valuable "experience" for company insiders on how to get rid of the impression of laymen and stand firm and win.