[Self-Introduction] The story of how I gave up on 1 billion yen in annual sales, stayed small, and found happiness

April 2010.
I started my own business right after graduating from university.

My goal when I started the business was, "1 billion yen in annual sales! 100 employees!"

Companies are meant to be grown, and sales should always be increasing.
The senior business owners around me were also very passionate people aiming for IPOs, so I believed without question that a company is something that should be made big.

However, at one point, I realized that my happiness did not lie in expansion.
Of course, there are people whose mission is to expand and who feel genuinely fulfilled doing so.
But that was not the case for me.

Why did I end up aiming for 1 billion yen in annual sales?

A certain experience from my childhood had an influence on that.

What is a formative experience?

Are you familiar with the term "formative experience"?

In fact, this formative experience was the reason I ended up aiming for 1 billion yen in annual sales.

I will share my formative experience below.

(Obayashi's formative experience) I have to be a good boy...!

When I was about five years old, I contracted Kawasaki disease.
Kawasaki disease is a condition caused by inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body.

It is a disease that is common mainly in infants and young children, and it is said to occur at a rate of 3 out of every 1,000 people.
The number of cases is increasing year by year, and the specific cause is still unknown.

The scary thing about this disease is that even though you are a child, it can cause a heart attack and potentially lead to death.
The blood vessels become damaged and clogged.

In my case, my mother noticed it early, so I was able to receive treatment quickly, and it was not life-threatening. (I am truly grateful to my mother.)

However, hospitalization was necessary.
This hospitalization was truly painful.

My throat hurt so much that I couldn't eat anything.
I even tried to run away from the hospital because I hated the IV drips.

My mother wasn't always by my side while I was hospitalized.
There were times we couldn't see each other because she had to go home to get my things or because of the hospital's visiting hours.

I felt so lonely.
I wanted to see my mom; I wanted her to be by my side.

This is something I heard from my grandmother later on,but apparently, in the middle of the night, I would drag my IV stand along and walk to the hospital's public phone to call home. she said.

Even now, I remember the dark, greenish hallways of that hospital.
That is how lonely I was back then, and I think that memory was deeply etched into me.

Because of this experience, as a child, I came to think this way:

• I ended up like this because I'm a bad child for getting sick.

• I need to be a better child. If I'm a good child, I can stay by my mother's side.

From an adult's perspective, that's an illogical and confusing way of thinking, isn't it?
But for my younger self, even if it was a strange fixation, it was the truth.

The beginning of a life spent "trying to be a better child."

That was when my "life of trying to be a better child" began.

• I handled both club activities and studies with ease, excelling in both academics and athletics.

• My grades were good, so I got into university through a designated school recommendation and passed the entrance process.

• I never worked for a company and started my own business right after graduating from university.

• In an industry where it's said that over 90% of businesses fail within 10 years, I've somehow made it to my 14th year.

On the surface, I was a very good child.
However, somewhere in my heart, I was convinced that "if I'm not a good child, I won't be loved."
I was a child who only cared about being evaluated.

In the end, my initial goal of 1 billion in annual sales and 100 employees was just the result of the "good child" I had envisioned.

For the first few years after starting my business, I didn't realize this fixation and kept running at full speed without looking aside.
However, through a psychological counseling session I happened to take, I was able to realize this root experience.

As a result, I was able to drop out of the race to be a "good child."
And I was able to choose to "stay a small company" with full conviction in my heart.

I realized that happiness isn't waiting for you at the end of being a 'good child'.

What I finally realized after becoming a parent

I myself am now blessed with three sons.

I only realized this after becoming a parent, but for a parent, if their child is smiling and spending their days well, that alone is enough to be happy.

Test scores, whether they are good at both academics and sports, or what kind of job they have—none of that matters.
I just love my children.

After becoming a parent myself, I finally grasped this feeling.

In other words, my father and mother never wanted me to be a 'good child' at all.
They just wanted me to spend my days with a smile, and that was enough.

With this realization, I was able to let go of the idea of becoming a large company and decided to 'stay small'.

By the way, my wife felt the same way.
When I was exhausted from my goals and consulted with her.

My wife said, 'If you're doing what you love and smiling, Kosuke, that's all the happiness I need.' she told me.

At these words, tears welled up in my eyes.

Ah, I finally realized that I was the only one worrying about numbers and the size of the company (laughs).

In the end, I was just aiming for expansion to satisfy my own ego.
I am truly glad I realized this at that moment.

He who knows he has enough is rich.

Thinking back now, I don't even know why I was aiming for the number 1 billion.
Even if you asked me what I would want to do if I earned 1 billion now, nothing comes to mind. Haha.

In the end, it was nothing more than a tool to prove I was a 'good child', that's all.
(Even though there was no need to prove such a thing.)

And since human desire has no end, even if I had achieved 1 billion, it surely would have been endless, with me thinking, 'It's still not enough, more, more!'

There is a saying, 'He who knows he has enough is rich,' and it is exactly true.

Knowing your own size and finding happiness there.
This is different from 'giving up' in a negative sense.

The word 'akirameru' (to give up) originally comes from Buddhism and meant 'to clarify'.
It is not about 'giving up,' but about 'clarifying'.

By clarifying my own size, I was able to let go of the goal of becoming a large company and decided to stay small.

My company now has five members, including myself.
Most of them work from home.

I am fine with this scale.
No, I prefer this scale.

Right now, I am truly happy to be able to exist as this small company.

Let go and your hands will be full.

There is a Zen phrase that says, 'Let go and your hands will be full.'

It means something like 'If you let go, you will realize that you are already fulfilled,' and that was exactly my experience.

I thought that if I kept increasing sales and getting more money, I could become a better person and be happier.

I thought that, but once I let that go, I realized I had enough money and time, and I was able to appreciate having my family more than ever before.

It was truly a case of 'let go and your hands will be full.'

Summary

After these twists and turns, I gave up on 1 billion in annual sales and became able to stay as a small company.

This story is not intended to deny the philosophy of expansion.

There must be people whose mission is to expand and who feel genuine joy in that.
I hope those people will aim for expansion.
I am sure happiness awaits them there.

However, that was not the case for me.
It is not a question of 'good or bad,' but of 'does it fit or not?'

In my case, the current size of my company is just right.

Just as everyone has different physiques, personalities, and values, companies are also diverse.
There is always a size that fits that company.

That is precisely why I want you to view 'giving up' in a positive light as well.

And by giving up (letting go of) what you might be clinging to right now, I want you to grow and live in a way that is true to yourself.

It is with that wish that I have written this note.

I sincerely hope that you can let go of your attachments, feel lighter, and spend every day filled with peace of mind and freedom.

Click here for a book review, summary, and thoughts on 'Stay Small'

By the way, I also explain the book 'Stay Small,' which is my professional bible, in detail on my blog.

If you are interested, please take a look at the link below.

>> Book Review of 'Stay Small' | What is the Strategy for Small Business Success?

Below is my brief profile ↓

[Name]
Kosuke Obayashi

[Work]
Representative of Million Value Co., Ltd.
Web Marketing Consultant for Professionals

I support website creation and web marketing for professional firms (tax accountants, administrative scriveners, social insurance labor consultants, lawyers, and judicial scriveners).

[Related Sites]
Service Introduction Site (Website creation and web marketing support for professionals)
Textbook for Professional Web Marketing (Blog explaining marketing for professionals)
Click here for my YouTube channel

[Hobbies]
・Strength training: Continued since high school. As of writing this article, I have been doing it for 20 years.
・Reading: About 150 books a year. Mainly business books, but recently I have also come to like Zen and Buddhist ways of thinking.
・Disney: During my university days, I worked as a cast member at a pizza restaurant called Captain Hook's Galley in Disneyland.

[Birthday]
May 9, 1987

[Background]
March 2006: Graduated from Chiba Prefectural Tokatsu High School
March 2010: Graduated from Waseda University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
April 2010: Started my own business after graduating from university

[Family Structure: As of writing this article]
・Wife: 3 years older
・Eldest son: 2nd grade in elementary school (loves soccer and Pokémon cards)
・Second son: Senior in kindergarten (loves Super Sentai series)
・Third son: 2 years old (loves gorillas)

[Dreams/Wish List]
・To publish a book and convey 'how to apply Zen thinking to business.'
・To keep walking hand-in-hand with my wife 5 and 10 years from now.