Chapter 15 14. Kazuo Wada: Rising from the Ruins

Entrepreneurs are a profession that transcends ordinary people, so they must always have a big heart and full of confidence.Successful entrepreneurs, even in the dark, will always move forward firmly. This is a mission and responsibility. Kazuo Wada, former president of Japan Yaohan Group. Yaohan Group is a worldwide department store company. In its heyday, it had 400 department stores and supermarkets around the world, with a total of 28,000 employees and annual sales exceeding 500 billion yen. Many of its subsidiaries were listed in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. . When Shanghai Pudong No. 1 Yaohan opened in 1995, it set a Guinness World Record with 1.07 million customers on that day.

In 1997, the financial turmoil triggered by Soros hit Asia, and the Japanese Yaohan Company encountered a business crisis and suddenly declared bankruptcy.But only one year later, Kazuo Wada founded the "Wada Management Company" in Tokyo and embarked on the journey again. Kazuo Wada was born in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan on March 2, 1929. His family made a living by operating vegetables. His mother was the prototype of Ashin, the protagonist of the famous Japanese TV series "Oshin".After graduating from Nihon University, Kazuo Wada inherited Yaohan Company. In half a century, he managed a rural vegetable shop into an international distribution group.In this long entrepreneurial experience, the three failures, including the bankruptcy of Yaohan in Japan, are particularly noticeable: in 1950, Yaohan was still selling vegetables in Atami, and a sudden fire destroyed all the properties of Wada’s family. Wada said, Under the fire, he only grabbed a set of books called "The Truth of Life". In 1971, Yaohan opened its first overseas company in Brazil, but inflation struck Brazil, and Yaohan Brazil closed down. In 1997, the Japanese Yaohan headquarters fell under the Asian financial turmoil.Kazuo Wada's ups and downs and rise made him called "the unyielding man" by the Japanese media.

In 2001 and 2006, Kazuo Wada's two autobiographies, "Phoenix: Kazuo Wada's Self-narrative Past and Present" and "Resurrection: A New Voyage Beginning at the Age of Seventy-seven" were published in China, which became the reflections on his life and other thoughts. best described. Viewpoint: Before the fire, our vegetable store was only 30 square meters. After the fire, we obtained the adjacent land, and the area suddenly reached more than 100 square meters. Later, through government assistance, we bought the surrounding land to As for the mid-fifties, we turned into a supermarket.

Disasters are the same for all, but everyone perceives disasters differently.When Kazuo Wada encountered a fire, when he was looking for new career opportunities, he also found a magic weapon that would affect his career—optimism. background of the crisis In 1950, Kazuo Wada's house was burned to ruins. At that time, Kazuo Wada's Yaohan was just a vegetable shop in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In 1950, a big fire broke out in Atami City. The town was burned down in the fire, and the vegetable shop of Kazuo Wada’s family was not spared. The property accumulated by two generations was reduced to ashes.But it was also this fire that became a good opportunity for Kazuo Wada's vegetable store to expand.Kazuo Wada said: "Before the fire, our vegetable store was only 30 square meters. After the fire, we obtained the land next to it, and the area suddenly reached more than 100 square meters." The rich and the poor are the same. After a fire, everything returned to the starting point, but the caring Wada family believed that reconstruction would become the theme after the disaster, and economic development was just around the corner.Therefore, after they received government aid, they did not use it to subsidize their households, but bought the land around the original shop, because it did not involve compensation for demolition and relocation, and the price was naturally low, thus gaining opportunities for expansion.Later, in the mid-1950s, Kazuo Wada expanded the vegetable store into a supermarket at once.There is no doubt that opportunities lie in danger.

But optimism has been their savior in this turnaround.When the fire broke out, Kazuo Wada was at the scene, and he did not rescue any important items. That night, the five brothers and their parents could only sleep in the hotel, but in such a difficult moment, his father smiled and took the whole family to wash Hot spring, when taking a bath, my father encouraged and said: "Thanks to the fire today, we have the opportunity to experience the hot spring in Atami, otherwise we may not have the opportunity in the future. Fortunately, Kazuo Wada did not move all the luggage out, otherwise we There is no place to sleep.” Moved by his father, the whole family changed their state of mind about the crisis, and then his father encouraged everyone not to think about the fire, but to start working hard now.Kazuo Wada later recalled: "I grew up in a "growth family" with faith. We have always had such a teaching: no matter what kind of difficulties we encounter, we must believe that everything will be fine. Use positive and optimistic The attitude of looking forward to everything and knowing how to be grateful. When the reality comes, everyone can only accept it, and after facing it calmly, the 'past' will truly become the past."

Another story of Yaohan can also show that there are opportunities in crises. At that time, it was still in the early stage of its business, and Yaohan was still slowly accumulating reputation. At this time, a severe typhoon occurred in Atami City, where Yaohan was located.At that time, the typhoon came directly to Atami City, and the houses facing the coast of Atami might be swept away by the big waves.Kazuo Wada was mainly responsible for market procurement at that time. If he did not purchase when the typhoon came, he would face the situation of having nothing to sell the next day.At this time, Kazuo Wada ignored the objections of his relatives and went straight to the foreign market to purchase together with the clerk.Because of the typhoon, vegetable prices plummeted.Kazuo Wada returned with a truck full of reduced-price vegetables.But also because of the typhoon, the return journey was extremely difficult. It usually only takes one hour, but it took seven hours that day.

On the second day, as expected, there was almost nothing to sell in the Atami market. Usually, a radish was 10 yuan (Japanese yen), but after the typhoon, it rose to 150 yuan.At this time, Kazuo Wada's vegetable shop ushered in a big opportunity to make money. This is understandable, but Kazuo Wada thought of a further place. He knew that taking advantage of the fire would face a crisis of reputation loss, so he resolutely decided: still use the usual price. Sales of goods.This moved the customers very much.After that day, Yaohan's turnover, which was originally less than 200,000 yen, rose to more than 300,000 yen in one breath.This honor won by Kazuo Wada not only brought prosperity to Yaohan, but also established the business philosophy of Yaohan.

Opinion: This is a big mistake of mine. If the money is not returned to the bank, maybe Yaohan can still exist. Everyone is in danger at a time of crisis, and sticking to the original values ​​will bring fatal danger to the enterprise.This is Kazuo Wada's legacy after Yaohan went bankrupt.What frustrates him is that he himself lost the last straw, thus pushing Yaohan into the abyss. background of the crisis There are two mistakes that Kazuo Wada will remember all his life. In 1971, Yaohan Group opened its first overseas branch in Brazil.At this time, Brazil’s economy was at its most prosperous. From 1968 to 1974, Brazil’s economic growth rate was as high as 10%, known as the "Brazilian Miracle". Huge success.However, with the advent of the oil crisis in the mid-1970s, Brazil encountered unprecedented inflationary pressure and the currency depreciated rapidly. The loss has even affected the survival of the Japanese headquarters.

At this time, Kazuo Wada was already facing the embarrassment of riding a tiger. At that moment, he realized the "poison of globalization", because in the economic boom, the Brazilian Yaohan has always been set on the head of Kazuo Wada as a role model, but the economic environment has taken a turn for the worse. It has already caused the idol to collapse, and what is worse is that the public estimates that Brazil will take at least 5-10 years to restore its economic vitality.Whether to let the role model collapse, or to persevere and wait, this is a choice before Kazuo Wada.In the end, the hard-working Kazuo Wada chose to close this symbolic first overseas branch.He later recalled: The collapse of Yaohan in Brazil taught me an eternal truth in the pursuit of career success-the method of raising funds.If funds are not sufficient, there will never be an overseas strategy. Six years later, in 1982, Yaohan was listed in Nagoya, Japan. Based on the failure of Yaohan in Brazil, Kazuo Wada spent 24 years opening branches in 16 countries including Singapore, becoming a truly global company.

If the mistakes of the Brazilian Yaohan made Kazuo Wada understand the importance of cash, then the last straw of the Japanese Yaohan will undoubtedly make him unforgettable. In 1997, Kazuo Wada had completely focused his work on China, and entrusted the operation of the Japanese headquarters to his younger brother.But it turned out to be a huge mistake in the end, and Yaohan in Japan faced a huge crisis under the management of its younger brother.Half a year before Yaohan Japan declared bankruptcy, Kazuo Wada rushed back to Japan and personally served as the head of the operation department of Yaohan Japan to implement the company's rescue plan.At that time, he reached an agreement with Daiei, another large supermarket group in Japan, to sell 16 stores to Daiei, and received 32 billion in cash after the sale.But after getting the life-saving money, he credulously believed the bank's promise.At that time, after seeing Kazuo Wada raise funds, the bank promised him that as long as Kazuo Wada returned the money to the bank first, the bank could lend him another loan immediately afterwards, which must be more than 32 billion.On the surface, this is a reasonable suggestion. It is logical to repay the loan when it matures first, and then the bank lends to Yaohan. However, Kazuo Wada did not consider the reason that the wall is overthrown by everyone, and he also ignored the financial crisis. The banking industry itself will also face the risk of capital shortage and possible bankruptcy. Therefore, after repaying 32 billion yen, the bank never fulfilled its promise and refused to lend again.Under such circumstances, Yaohan was at the end of its rope and had no working capital. On September 18, 1997, Kazuo Wada applied to the Japanese court for the "club regeneration law", thus declaring Yaohan Japan bankrupt.

In the subsequent summary, Kazuo Wada sighed: "This is a big mistake of mine. If the money is not returned to the bank, maybe Yaohan can survive." Besides this point, he is also calm Regarding personnel mistakes, he said: When running a business, you must not let go of management just because you are a brother. This is true for any organization.In the cruel business field, warmth is the fatal injury. Viewpoint: After Yaohan went bankrupt, I spent a lot of time reading about great people in the world. I found that all great people and the careers they pursue are never smooth sailing. They also need to experience failures, setbacks, and even resignation.But they never fail in setbacks, but always stand upright again with the indomitable spirit of "wherever they fall, they will get up from there". Only by becoming a spiritual giant can we stand firm in the storm.Kazuo Wada's new venture started at the age of 77 is the ultimate demonstration of this concept. background of the crisis Under the financial crisis, Yaohan went bankrupt, and Kazuo Wada became penniless from a fortune of billions. After 68 years, he returned to the starting point of his life. This encounter is already a legend for anyone, but it is also a legend. A sad saga.For anyone, the so-called "knowing the destiny at fifty, and listening to the ear at sixty", Kazuo Wada, who is almost seventy years old, is undoubtedly coming to the end of his life. Moreover, he lives in a country that cannot tolerate losers. In Japan, as long as many people experience a big failure, they can only live in the corner of society and live a life of discrimination from then on.Therefore, there are often situations in Japan where losers commit suicide or live in exile.To make matters worse, since Japan signed the "Plaza Accord" (an agreement that forced the appreciation of the yen) in 1985, it has entered a long "lost period". It has completely changed from a PUSH-type market (seller-led) to a PULL-type market (consumer-led). It is to choose products according to one's own wishes and consumption ability, and department stores cannot control the market and consumers.Under such circumstances, Kazuo Wada still announced his comeback, completely ignoring the stage of his life.The impetus for his comeback came from his reading of legends of world famous people. In the more than three years after declaring bankruptcy, Kazuo Wada read the works of great historical figures. He said: "During that time, I have been reading "My Father Deng Xiaoping", which gave me a lot of inspiration. He has experienced three major setbacks and failures, the last time was when he was 74 years old, but this strong old man still stood up again, and from his own experience of continuous failure, he came to the conclusion that "a new era must be created" In the next ten years, Mr. Deng Xiaoping led the Chinese people to make China stronger and stronger with his outstanding wisdom and courage.” On Kazuo Wada’s reading list, Chinese leader Mao Zedong and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung also included , the famous Japanese industrialists Kobayashi Kazuo, Seshima Ryu, etc., in the course of these great men, Wada Kazuo summed up his own spiritual motivation, he said: "The common feature of these great men is that although they have gone through the ups and downs of their careers, Frustration, failure, but even in the most frustrated moments, they never gave up their dream of making a comeback one day. They always struggle and look forward to the beautiful moment when they stand up again every day... So, I also Believe that you'll be able to stand up again', while constantly warning yourself: you can't just end your life like this." After summing up his life experience, Kazuo Wada made a vivid metaphor. He compared running a global business to climbing Mount Everest. Everyone knows that mountain climbing is always a process. Once you go up, you will definitely come down again. But if a person wants to climb up the rock, he must not give up lightly because of a fall. One climb can make people familiar with the direction and road ahead, so that they will be able to get there first in the future.Kazuo Wada said: "People often encounter setbacks in their lives. In order to make the next leap, sometimes they feel that the surroundings are dark, as if they have fallen into the abyss. At that time, no matter who you are, you will think: Why am I so desperate I went to catch it, I tried hard, but I still couldn’t do it well. I think it’s because I don’t have confidence in what I’m doing. The fewer failures and setbacks, the better. Even if you encounter failures and setbacks at that time, I hope everyone can Believe that everything will be fine. Besides, some things can only be learned from failure. Many businesses must fail to succeed. If people are in a career that has never been touched before, then Even more will face failure, because in unprecedented circumstances, failure is always taken for granted.” Therefore, one year after the bankruptcy of Yaohan in Japan, Kazuo Wada embarked on the journey of life again. He re-established a small "Wada Management Company" to export his life's business experience to the society. Among all these experiences, the most impressive The one that Hetian is proud of is: "I have lost everything, but no matter how much I go, there is one thing I can't lose anyway, and that is: everything starts from scratch and the belief to stand up again."