[Grandpa Saw It!] Part 1: Saizeriya Founder Yasuhiko Shogaki
The other day, in "Grandpa's Grumbles," I wrote an article about Saizeriya.
About 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by the founder, Yasuhiko Shogaki, who is now the Representative Director and Chairman.
At that time, I had the chance to ask him a question, and the answer he gave left a strong impression on me. I would like to introduce Yasuhiko Shogaki.
✅ Do charismatic business leaders share the same scent!?
When I posted the other day based on the book "Charisma: Isao Nakauchi and the 'Post-War' of Daiei" (written by Shinichi Sano, published by Nikkei BP), Sano described the characteristics of the charismatic Nakauchi as follows.
1. Possesses an intense desire for self-actualization.
2. A competitive spirit stronger than anyone else.
3. An extraordinary hard worker.
4. Enthusiastic about learning from others, books, and practice. 5. A confident person with strong self-assertion. 6.
Boundless innovation that is not satisfied with minor achievements or any kind of popular success. 7. Deep commitment to personnel placement and evaluation. 8. A sense of educational responsibility toward employees that goes beyond a mere employment relationship. 9.
Intense anger toward anything that goes against his aesthetic sense as a merchant.
I believe all nine of these points apply to Mr. Shogaki as well.
Mr. Shogaki's lecture began with the question, "What is delicious food to you all?"
"Do you want to eat truffles, foie gras, or marbled Wagyu steak every day?"
"Do you eat rice and miso soup thinking, 'Ah, what a feast'? It's not bad, but you don't think of it as a feast, right? But you don't get tired of eating it every day, do you?"
"This food that you can eat every day without getting tired of it is the standard for delicious food."
"You become bedridden because you eat things that are bad for your body. If you eat things that are good for your body, you can pass away peacefully."
" That is why I want to provide ingredients and dishes that allow people to pass away peacefully. "
"I want all elderly people to come to Saizeriya to eat every day. If they do that, they can pass away peacefully. Right now, Saizeriya is being taken over by high school students, but my dream is to make it a restaurant that is eventually full of elderly people."
✅ How did he arrive at this idea?
When Mr. Shogaki was a university student, he was a student entrepreneur who started a Western-style restaurant on the second floor of a building with a greengrocer on the first floor.
Actually, this Western-style restaurant (the predecessor to Saizeriya) was completely destroyed by fire, but since it became the catalyst for the emergence of Saizeriya, you never know what might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
After the fire, the greengrocer landlord encouraged him, saying, "You're young, so start over," and wanting to try his best once more, Mr. Shogaki set off on a journey to Europe in search of ingredients.
On that trip, he discovered the Saizeriya philosophy that delicious food is something you can eat every day without getting tired of it, and he seems to have thought about opening an Italian restaurant using healthy ingredients like "olive oil," "tomatoes," and "pasta."
That is how he started over on the second floor of the building that was rebuilt after the first Saizeriya store burned down, but Mr. Shogaki's subsequent success was incredible.
It was a rapid advance.
When Saizeriya went public in July 1999 and reached 300 stores the following year,I heard this lecture when the momentum was at its peak, so his words were brimming with confidence.
"The other day, the Nikkei wrote that Saizeriya has poor service, but everyone? What is service to the restaurant industry?"
"Saizeriya has also been allowed to go public. As a public company, we must satisfy not only our customers but also our shareholders. The source of the service that satisfies them is profit. Is there any other restaurant business with a 10% ordinary profit margin?Can a company with poor service achieve such results?"
"Do you all know how part-time workers at popular, trendy restaurantsfeel when they are serving customers?"
"Another customer has arrived during such a busy time. That is what they are thinking while they work. I started my own business when I was a student and worked in this industry, and I worked part-time in customer service myself, so I know it well. Another customer has arrived."
"That is why Saizeriya builds a business model where customers come in at a steady pace and we make a profit."
"If a store becomes popular and is full of customers, we open a store nearby to disperse the customers. That way, it becomes a store where customers come in at a steady pace. We open stores in that way to make things easier for the service staff."
✅ Is it the manager's job to ensure customers come in at a steady pace to make a profit!?
"Do you all know what a commissary is? Should I call it an intermediate processing warehouse for ingredients? The commissary is the source of Saizeriya's profits."
"Where should we locate this commissary that delivers ingredients to the stores?"
"Because we are committed to healthy food and ingredients that allow you to pass away peacefully, we purchase vegetables through direct contracts with farmers."
"When you analyze deliciousness scientifically,we know that salad is best eaten at 4°C.That is why at Saizeriya, from the commissary until it is served to the customer at the restaurant, everything is managed at 4°C. We cook dressed like Eskimos and have the customers eat 4°C salads."
"We lower the price of our best-selling item so it sells even more. That is why Saizeriya recently lowered the price of our most popular doria."
"However, those who do not understand management lower the price of items that do not sell, so sales do not grow and neither do profits."
What do you think of Shogaki's philosophy so far? Intense, right!?
This has become long, so the rest will be in the second part!
Thank you for reading until the end.
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