175. Learning from Momofuku Ando: The tenacity and observational skills to create value from rock bottom!

The true joy of reading history is not simply memorizing old dates and events.

What lies there is the drama of the decisions that people who lived in the past made at the crossroads of their lives.

And isn't the management of maintaining a company or store also a accumulation of small daily decisions?

"What kind of inventory should I purchase today?"

"How can I overcome this difficult situation?"

To all the business owners who continue to hold the steering wheel while struggling every day.

This time, I will deliver the story of a man's decision who, from the rock bottom of losing everything, achieved a great invention that dramatically changed the world's food culture.

At 48, at rock bottom, finding the "origin of business" at a black market

The protagonist of the story is Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Food Products.

He is the person who created instant ramen, which is now eaten all over the world, but his life as a business owner was by no means smooth.

The setting is Japan immediately after the war.

It was an era where supplies were overwhelmingly scarce and everyone was desperate to survive the day.

One day, in the freezing cold, Ando witnessed an unbelievable scene at a black market.

It was a long line of people waiting for just one bowl of warm ramen.

Beyond the steam, he saw people's hunger and their peaceful expressions when it was satisfied.

A powerful realization was deeply etched into Ando's heart: "Peace will come only when people have enough to eat."

However, life's trials come suddenly.

At the age of 48, he found himself in the greatest predicament of his life, losing all his assets.

At 48, even in modern times, it is an age that requires courage to start something new.

It was a situation where it would have been no surprise if he had lost everything and felt as though his future had gone dark.

However, what sustained his spirit was the sight of the people he had seen at that black market.

Ando decided to develop a ramen that could be eaten immediately at home if you had hot water.

A year of lonely challenges that began in a small shed in the backyard

The place Ando headed after losing his entire fortune was not a glamorous research laboratory, but his own backyard.

He built a crude shed there and began development all by himself.

He had no special equipment, nor did he have abundant funds.

He spent his days in trial and error, day after day, sparing no time for sleep.

He changed the noodle composition, tested soup flavors, and kept searching for how it could be easily replicated at home.

It was one day, after about a full year of such a lonely battle.

An ordinary, everyday scene suddenly caught the eye of the stuck Ando.

It was the sight of his wife frying tempura in the kitchen.

As he watched the moisture evaporating from the batter with a crackling sound, a shocking inspiration struck him.

If I fry it in oil to remove the moisture, wouldn't long-term storage be possible?

This was the moment of the great discovery that would later be called the flash-frying dehydration method.

By frying the noodles in oil to dry them, they would immediately return to delicious noodles when hot water was poured over them.

From this one man's tenacity and accidental observation, the world's first instant ramen, Chicken Ramen, was born in 1958.

This product became an explosive hit, and it would go on to grow into a massive industry with over 100 billion servings consumed annually around the world today.

Three 'powers of persistence' that business owners should learn from Momofuku Ando

There is so much that leaders of modern small companies and shops can learn from this dramatic episode.

Let's organize the most important points into three key takeaways.

The first is an 'unwavering ambition' that does not use age or adversity as an excuse.

Ando was 48 years old when he lost his entire fortune and decided to develop instant ramen.

What we can learn from this is that to keep a business going for a long time, having a strong foundation—knowing 'why you are doing this business'—rather than focusing on short-term gains or losses, is the greatest weapon for overcoming adversity.

The second is that the answer lies not in a special place, but in 'everyday observation'.

Ando did not make his great discovery through cutting-edge scientific technology.

He struggled in a shed in his backyard, and the final hint came from a very ordinary scene of daily life: 'watching his wife fry tempura'.

What we can learn from this is that excellent ideas and hints for business improvement are not found in expensive data or consulting, but are scattered right in the workplaces and daily lives we see every day.

The third is the perspective of choosing 'long-lasting value' over short-term profit.

If Ando had only sought immediate profit, he would not have been able to continue his lonely development, holed up in a shed for a year.

It was because he believed in the 'future value' that anyone could be made happy just by adding hot water that he was able to open the door to a massive global industry.

How a small restaurant can change the future from today's kitchen

Now, how can we apply Momofuku Ando's decisions and insights to modern small business and restaurant management?

For example, when developing new menus or building a shop, we tend to chase 'what is popular at other stores' or 'what looks good on social media'.

However, what Ando saw at the black market was'the desperate needs of people lining up in the cold for something warm'.

If you are running a restaurant or a small business, how much do you notice the 'small changes' or the 'expressions of what they truly want' from customers in your kitchen or on the floor?

Also, there are great hints to be found in the 'cooking process' itself.

Try broadening your perspective a little when observing the daily routine of prep work and cooking.

Hints for new menu items or ideas to dramatically streamline operations might be hidden in the small efficiencies of your staff, changes in how ingredients are left over, or even in the ingenuity of home cooking.

Just as Ando made a major discovery from his wife's tempura, the seeds of a yet-to-be-seen big hit must be sleeping in your restaurant's kitchen as well.

Don't wait for the right answer; keep stacking up small decisions.

Momofuku Ando, who changed the world, didn't have everything go right from the start either.

He lost his entire fortune at 48, and amidst the uncertainty of the future, he still decided 'this is it' and kept taking small actions.

The right answer in management is not something someone else will teach you.

When facing changes in the times or adversity, don't wait for the right answer; start moving in a small way within your current environment and stack up the insights you gain on the ground.

Isn't that the only way to keep a business going for a long time and with resilience?

The decisions of history are asking you something right now.

So, why don't you try looking at the usual scenery of your shop with a slightly different perspective tomorrow and make one new decision?

Curiosity changes your life!

From here on out, From 100 million yen in debt to a life of playing with AI. ~The journey to side FIRE~
I will continue writing the rest here.
If you are interested in what happens next, please follow me.
And if you have a chance to come to Fukui,
let's talk over a cup of coffee at the High Wave Cafe counter ☕
▶ Italian Cuisine High Wave Cafe Official Website
I'll be waiting for you at the shop.

#Business #Manager #RestaurantManagement #LearningFromHistory #MomofukuAndo #MyWorkStyle #RecentLearning