Profile of Company H

Profile of Company H

【Business】Planning and development of household commodities

【Capital】49 million yen

【Sales】2.2 billion yen

【Number of employees】33

【Establishment】1977 (since 1952)

Inquiries and issues

We aim to sell commodity products in international markets.

We need to train people in charge of international business.

We want to create an internal structure that will allow us to continue our international business.

Paccloa’s Proposals and Support

ormulation of international business plan

F/S conducted in India to confirm distribution, pricing, competition, and other barriers

Conducted individual home visit interior goods needs assessment in India (low-income, middle class, affluent)

Support for business meetings with international companies

Management support to train personnel in charge of international business

Establishment of internal systems necessary for international business

Outcome

Know-how for international sales of commodity products

Developing new international distributors

Realization of sales on international e-commerce platforms

Training of personnel in charge of international business and self-starting of international business

Testimonial from the President

Q1 What was the status of your company’s international expansion at the beginning?

There were no personnel with international business experience, including the management team.

Commodity products are difficult to differentiate from other companies.

We started from a situation where we didn’t know what was right or left, and we didn’t know where we had a competitive advantage.

Q2 Did the advice you received from Paccloa have a positive impact on your international expansion?

Six months after the first exhibition with Ms. Ogawa, we were able to invite staff with international sales experience and establish an international business division.

One year later, we decided to participate in exhibitions in Paris and Chicago.

In addition, inquiries began to come in gradually from our website.

Although it has not yet led to sales, we have steadily built up our hypothesis and verified it, and in the third year of our international challenge, we are beginning to see a path that will lead to sales.

(After this, they received first order in March 2017, one year after joining a new international sales person.)

Q3 What did you think of the sometimes harsh advice?

We received not only conceptual guidance, but also time-based guidance on how to allocate human resources, what we should continue to work on, and how to build an organization.

As a result, we did not end up taking a commemorative exam for a single exhibition, but were able to connect it to the next one, including the failures.

Management has no one to give us “harsh opinions” on certain aspects.

Ms. Ogawa is the only person who gives me a goofy opinion, even though she is from outside the company, on areas that are fundamental to management strategy, such as organization building and long-term investment plans.

I am very grateful to Mr. Ogawa because she helped me understand many issues that I was not aware of on my own, and helped me implement countermeasures.

Q4 Have you consulted with any other experts or consultants regarding international expansion?

Ms. Ogawa do not say anything optimistic.

She doesn’t tell you anything that is needlessly expensive.

She demands thorough preparation in advance.

She looks for ways to implement the project with our internal resources.

She thinks about the project as if it were her own.

Q5 What, if anything, has made a lasting impression on you?

I was told, “The president’s decision is very regrettable.

I had never had someone from outside the company express such a clear opinion about my decision-making, so it was a shock to me.

Subsequently, the problems that Ms. Ogawa pointed out erupted.

Ms. Ogawa pointed out, so we dealt with that as part of the trial and error process.

The failures, including the failures, led to the next hypothesis verification, and here we are today.