March 1969: Graduated from School of Engineering, Tokyo Denki University
April 1969: Joined Kato Denki Shokai (currently K’s Holdings Corporation)
March 1982: President and Representative Director (current)
June 2006: Chairperson and Representative Director (current)
Areas of Expertise
By adhering to a policy that we refer to as “Gambaranai keiei,” meaning that we grow not by overextending ourselves but by only doing the right thing, we have ensured our stable growth.
When unreasonable targets are set, to boost sales and profits, and customers are urged to buy expensive or profitable products, sales and profits may indeed get a boost, but only temporarily. Over the long-term, customers will not come back to a company that forces on them products they do not really want. When this happens the company can no longer expect to grow sales.
So, it is important to ensure that we can grow steadily without allowing this to happen to customers, by responding to their needs and providing products that solve problems they may face, so that they return to our stores.
Experience
When I joined the company in 1969, total sales were about ¥100 million. They doubled after three years of 25% growth, and burgeoned 1000-fold over 30 years. This was the result of our belief in achieving growth without overdoing it.
Sales in the year ended March 1999 passed ¥100 billion. Thereafter, as a result of management policies that quadrupled the growth of sales over 10 years, at an annual rate of 15%, and also of M&A and other acquisitions, we posted sales of ¥570 billion in 2009, ahead of expectations.
Our management policy now is to aim for a doubling of sales over a seven-year period, with a growth rate of 10% in the years after March 2010. Over 64 straight years of revenue growth, K’s Denki has continued to steadily build up earnings.
However, in the years ended March 31, 2012 and 2013, we posted decline in revenues for two consecutive years, due chiefly to the winding down of the eco-points system and the end of analog broadcasting.
In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, we did surpass the previous year's results but in March 31, 2015, we went back to decline in revenue due to the reaction after the consumption tax hike. This is a result of not having taken unreasonable measures to boost revenue and done what we could. We do expect to keep on growing in the years ahead.
