First, let's talk about the franchise business,
The franchise business is a business model that started in the United States and is expanding its circle around the world.
The U.S. is the number one franchise market in the world, and Japan is the number two. As someone who has worked in both countries, I think that the franchise system in the U.S. and Japan is as different as a baseball game,
The franchise system in the U.S. and Japan is as different as baseball and baseball.
Japan is unique. The most important one is the attributes of franchisees.
In most countries other than Japan, most franchisees are individuals. It is common for that individual to develop 10 stores and become a "corporation. The corporation itself then becomes a product (multi-unit franchise), and the corporation itself is often bought and sold.
However, as in Japan, it is rare in the world for a corporation in a completely different industry to join a franchise and grow its business.
This is a rare business scheme in the world, which was created by the company I worked for before (Venture Link).
What I didn't understand at the time, I understand now, having experienced both American and Asian franchises.
Our advantage is that we have been doing just that for 25 years, planning business schemes since the franchisor's inception, hypothesizing, testing, and repeatedly digging until we find a golden opportunity. The confidence and conviction that we have continued to create the core know-how.
We will further develop this unique franchise in Japan and push it out to the world.
Most of the franchises that have entered the world are U.S.-started franchises. McDonald's, Kentucky, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King. In the restaurant industry alone, most of them started in the United States.
Why?
America understands the meaning of "selling knowledge" and its benefits. The "knowledge industry."
There are three industries in which the U.S. dominates the world: 1) finance, 2) information technology (IT), and 3) franchising.
What they all have in common is that they are "knowledge industries.
The U.S. excels in selling knowledge. Japan is not.
Asian public institutions are beginning to realize this. They are beginning to realize the significance of selling their own franchises to the rest of the world. They are beginning to realize this.
I have been involved in the restaurant and franchise business in Japan for nearly 25 years.
I have also been looking overseas for the past five years.
What I think is that there are still elements of growth in Japanese food.
The number of Japanese restaurants in the world has been growing at an accelerated pace over the past few years.
There are 88,700 Japanese and Japanese food restaurants in the world.
However, less than 5% of these stores are actually run by Japanese people.
Why?
The world is looking for Japanese food, but no one is going out into the world, so the locals are developing Japanese food just as they see fit.
That is not a bad thing. It is a good thing that the base of Japanese food is expanding rapidly.
Fusion" Japanese food is one such example.
The number of tourists to Japan has finally exceeded 20 million thanks to the effects of the weak yen and inbound efforts such as visa exemptions.
Although the number of visitors to Japan is still small compared to the rest of the world, the number of visitors to Japan is still increasing.
One of the most popular reasons for coming to Japan from all over the world is always "I want to eat Japanese food!
"I want to eat Japanese food!
This is how tourists eat real Japanese food.
They are fed up with the fake Japanese food they have been eating in their own countries and want to eat "real Japanese food".
Even if they go back to their own country. It is bound to happen.
In addition, JETRO conducted a survey of people around the world and asked them, "What other food do you want to eat besides the food of your own country?
The most popular answer was "Japanese food!
Japanese food!
Not French, Chinese, or Italian food, but Japanese food.
A tailwind!
A tailwind for companies offering authentic Japanese food in Japan!
To ride the escalator up or not?
It is up to the company, up to the president.
Considering the world's needs, Japanese food has the potential to become Japan's largest export industry.
The Japanese food business is such an industrial field!
So,
Japanese Food ✕ Franchise
We will push out these two industries to the world.
That is what we are doing!
Akira Tsuchiya, AssentiaHoldings,Inc.