Why an editor who was a complete amateur at management was able to exceed 100 million in sales for three consecutive years

About eight years have passed since I started a company called WORDS. Thankfully, we have seen an increase in both revenue and profit every year since then.

However, I was originally a complete amateur at management.

Although I had successfully become independent as an editor, hiring people, deciding on pricing, and figuring out how to use profits were all difficult.

“I don’t feel like I’m actually managing anything...” I always thought to myself.

Even so, the company has been moving forward little by little. We have five members this year, our sales have grown, and before I knew it, I had reached the point of exceeding 100 million yen in sales for three consecutive years. (Please, no jokes about how it’s only 100 million.)

This is not because I was an excellent manager.

It is because I had a “mentor in management” who would give me advice when I was lost. I believe it is because I received words that I could always return to, no matter what happened.

So, this time, I would like to share some of the “precious teachings” I have received from that mentor.

From hiring to how to accept work, and how to start a new business... looking back, I feel like I have been taught various things about so-called “people, goods, and money”.

Management consultations while walking through Meiji Jingu

The person I always consulted about management was Mr. Abe, the founder of Anagrams.

We met about three years ago, I think...

One time, I went to a dinner party or something similar for acquaintances, and Mr. Abe just happened to be there.

We were already connected on Twitter and knew of each other’s existence, so it was like “Are you the person with the Jushin Thunder Liger icon!?” “Ah!”.

At the time, Mr. Abe was already a manager who had built a company of over 100 people and was generating billions in sales. From my perspective, running a company of that size was an incredible feat.

So when I said, “I’d like to consult with you sometimes...”, he surprisingly said, “Sure.” From then on, he started giving me advice.

Mr. Abe’s company, Anagrams, is located near Kitasando, and there was a path to Meiji Jingu nearby. We would sometimes talk while walking through Meiji Jingu, feeling like, “Since we’re here, let’s talk while we walk.”

(If I were receiving regular consulting, I think it would cost a considerable amount. Mr. Abe, thank you so much!!🙏)

“What if the company stops going well along the way?”

Mr. Abe is originally an expert in performance-based advertising.

I would look at client ad operations myself, make improvements, and drive results. In other words, I was a craftsman who created value with my own skills.

From there, I started a company called Anagrams and gradually built it into a team.

Although our industries and scales were different, I felt something familiar in the path I had taken, and I asked about many things. I remember one day in particular when we were eating yakitori together.

“What should I do if the company stops going well halfway through?”

I asked.

At the time, I was still anxious about hiring people and about the company continuing itself. Is it okay to change the lives of my employees? Is it okay to hold their fate in my hands? That’s why I was frankly curious.

Then, Mr. Abe said that he had once had similar anxieties and had consulted a certain business owner.

And what he was told at that time was, “If that happens, you just have to apologize, haha.” That seems to be what he was told.

If you run a company, unpredictable things will happen. It might even reach a point where it can no longer function. At that time, you can just apologize properly, he said.

It’s a simple phrase, but he said that it really took a load off his own shoulders.

Hearing that episode, I felt quite saved as well. Of course, as long as you hire people, you have responsibility. But there is no need to carry it so excessively that you become unable to move.

I felt like “I can keep going as I am.” somehow.

Skimping on recruitment costs is throwing tens of millions down the drain

At that time, WORDS had finally reached a situation where we had a few employees.

We increased to one, two, three, and just when I thought we had reached four, we went back to three. I think it was a time when we were repeating that.

While harboring worries about whether or not to increase the number of employees, on the other hand, I was also thinking things like “Is there any point in spending so much time and money on recruitment?”

At such times, whenever I met Mr. Abe, he would always tell me, “You should try incredibly hard at recruitment.”

“By skimping on recruitment costs, you might be throwing tens of millions down the drain.” he said.

For example, if you find someone who will become an ace in the future, that person might earn tens of millions a year.

But if you don’t find that person, or don’t make the effort to get them to join, that profit will never exist. So, it’s like “Isn’t that a loss?” kind of talk.

When you hear a story like that, it makes you think again, “I really need to put effort into hiring.”From that point on, I began to take hiring interns and employees much more seriously.

“Pointing things out to others” has high value

When you bring in new members, new challenges arise.

That challenge is pointing things out to people.

As long as you are delegating work, there will be times when you have to say, “Don't you think it would be better to do it this way?” or “That might be a little off.”situations where you have to say things like that will come up.

But I was not good at this.

Pointing things out or giving feedback is hard to do, and if you want to be liked, you don't really want to be too harsh. I think this is human nature.

But when I talked about this, Abe-san said, “Pointing things out to others is rare and valuable precisely because it is costly.”he said.

It is normal to not want to point things out to people if you can help it. Even so, pointing things out is an action that can only be taken if you truly care about the other person.

Pointing things out places a burden on both the person doing it and the person receiving it. That is precisely why, unless both parties can feel that “this is for our mutual benefit,”it rarely works out.

Hearing that, my perspective on receiving feedback changed a little.

They might be disliked for it, but they said it anyway.Thinking of it that way, I came to see feedback as something to be grateful for.

I myself am still not “good” at pointing things out. I sometimes think, wouldn't the other person be happier if I just found their good points?

Even so, instead of avoiding it because it's hard to say, if it's necessary for the other person, I put it into words.I'm still not very good at it, but I've started to be conscious of that.

“What kind of price do you set?” = “What kind of management do you want to do?”

Pricingwas also something I was unsure about.

Until now, we have kept our unit prices relatively high, and in return, we have increased value, increased satisfaction, and worked in a way that involves deep engagement.

But there is also a way to lower unit prices and get involved with more companies. In fact, it seemed like many companies in the world were expanding their services that way. So I sometimes thought, “Maybe that way is better.”

Abe-san's answer was not about whether “higher is better” or “lower is better.” It was, “The issue of pricing is ultimately a question of which mountain you want to climb.”

Of course, “lowering prices to reach more people” is a respectable management style, and “raising prices to provide top-tier service to a limited number of people” is also a respectable management style.

So, there is no answer to that.

However, the decision of 'what price to set' is directly linked to the declaration of intent regarding 'what kind of management we want to do'.

Being told by Mr. Abe, 'In the end, it all comes down to what kind of management you want to do, doesn't it?', made me think again about what would be most satisfying for me and for my company.

I will not accept any work from agencies

In a similar vein, I have also worried about whether I 'should accept work from agencies'.

But apparently, Mr. Abe's company does not accept any subcontracting work from agencies at all. They have been invited many times, but they don't do it.

There seem to be several reasons why it is better not to accept them.

First, because another company is in between, it becomes difficult to build a deep relationship with the client.

Agencies trust us and introduce work to us. However, it is a bit different from a situation where the client trusts us directly and requests our services from the beginning.

From the client's perspective, the one they trust first is the agency, and we start as the 'company that was introduced.' Structurally, there is a difficulty from the start.

Also, relying on agencies for customer acquisition routes is a disadvantage.

In the medium to long term, it doesn't really benefit our company. Even if requests continue from agencies saying things like 'Please do this job again,' our own ability to attract customers doesn't improve at all.

That is why Mr. Abe's company, Anagrams, secured their own customer acquisition routes by running an owned media site. Thanks to that, they say their sales didn't suddenly drop, and their own brand was established.

Turning down work is not being insincere

However, even if I understand that in my head, it is still scary to actually turn down work.

People might say, 'WORDS turns down work,' or 'Mr. Takemura is acting busy and won't take on work.'

I worry that bad rumors might spread.

When I told Mr. Abe about that, the answer I got back was, 'The rumor that you return more than expected is stronger than the rumor that you turn down work.'

It is better to give your all to the work you do accept, and eventually have a reputation spread like, 'They do such good work that they are actually hard to book.'

Therefore, to borrow Mr. Abe's words, 'Turning down work is not being insincere.' That is precisely an important decision for maintaining quality and being sincere to the client.

By setting prices and choosing jobs in this way, and through repeated trial and error, both sales and profits gradually accumulated.

People overestimate the loss of something they already have and underestimate the value of something new they might gain.

Once my consulting editor business started generating revenue, I decided to launch the 'publishing business' I had wanted to do ever since I went independent.

However, I was also afraid.

My current business is going well. But if I add a new business to it, it will take up both time and money. The new business might fail, or it might end up being half-baked.

Thinking about it that way, it feels safer not to do it. But Mr. Abe said something like this.

'People overestimate the loss of something they already have and underestimate the value of something new they might gain.'

'That's just how human psychology works,' I thought.

I tend to think that losing the sales and stability I have now is a 'huge risk.' But I also tend to underestimate what I might have gained by taking on a new challenge. Most people don't call 'not being able to get what you could have had in the future' a 'risk'.

For example, if I don't start the publishing business now, it might be safer in the short term. I can focus on my current business, and there won't be any extra costs.

On the other hand, if I don't start it now, there will be no future where publishing becomes a major pillar of WORDS in 10 years. There will be no work that might have expanded from there, no 1 billion yen (?) in sales that might have been made, nothing.

Thinking about it that way, believing in the potential of 'something' that can be gained in the future and building it is what makes running a company interesting. Knowing that perspective changed how I view management.

In that case, I should just bet on what I want to do. I should start a print publishing business. That's what I started to think.

...And the first thing I wanted to shape into a book was Mr. Abe's words.

Things I had consulted him about every time I hit a wall. The words he gave me each time. Since I had been helped so many times, I thought there must be others who need this just as much as I did.

This absolutely should be made into a book.

I learned later that Mr. Abe had been writing down vast amounts of notes throughout his 16-year career as a manager.

Things he was confused about. His failures. Things people said that made him realize something. The advice I received was also based on the notes Mr. Abe had gradually accumulated while repeating successes and failures.

When I learned that, I was convinced that 'this absolutely should be made into a book.'

That thought finally took shape as Mr. Abe's book, 'Management Notes'.

When you run a company, there are countless moments where you wonder, "Is this the right way?"

But there is no single correct answer.

That is precisely why just having words you can return to when you are lost can be a salvation. I was actually like that myself.

I believe this book will become that kind of presence for many people as well. Whether you have just started a company or are unsure about your next move. I think this is a book that will surely reach those who are struggling alone while trying their best to move forward.

It also includes the episodes and words I wrote in this note, so please be sure to pick up a copy!

Editor: Suzu Nomiya (WORDS Inc.)