Today, food has become fashion, even a means of amusement, and as fancy restaurants crop up all around, there's not a day that goes by when their fresh style or taste is not covered by the mass media. All too often, however, neither the cuisine nor the customer service lives up to the external appearance.
I began helping my parents at the restaurant they managed in a shopping arcade in Tenma, Osaka, from the time I was very young, and I watched them work hard from early in the morning until late at night. The restaurant was like a second school that taught me first-hand both the arduousness and excitement of running a business. Another lesson I learned from that experience is that delicious food is not created by the chef alone. I learned the importance of achieving a balance between the environment, the atmosphere, and the service, as well as the food.
Meals should be served in the way that they will be best appreciated. Serve warm foods warm. And always express gratitude, even if with only a few words. The most valuable lesson I learned was just how happy you can make a customer and how well you can understand their feelings simply by taking these two simple approaches. There is nothing more important than being able to, like a mother who is devoted to making a meal for her family, feel the customer's joy as one's own, put one's whole heart into one's work, and thereby inspire that customer.
Thus far, my life has been devoted to the restaurant business. I have established new enterprises and also experienced many failures. When those occurred, I was assisted by many different people, and I am grateful for those detours because they made me who I am today. Now, by developing our franchise business, I have become acquainted with many restaurant owners, and have had opportunities to hear about many different approaches to restaurant management. As a result, I am reflecting back on the origins of this business, and am relearning new lessons.
Given my past experience, I realize that there are still many owners who are facing management problems. I would like to share with them the know-how I have gained from both my successes and my failures, lead them to success through franchising, and share the joy of restaurant ownership with them.
I also feel a sense of responsibility to do this. Our company is fortunate to have a thick trunk in the form of our cafeteria-style "shokudo" and we are proud to be number one in Japan in terms of our business development capabilities, which have allowed us to foster the creation of many successful offshoots. To provide the everyday foods that promote mental and physical health and foods that offer balanced nutrition that can be impartially incorporated safely and securely into everyday life, we are creating a vision for our business nationwide and are working to become Japan's leading "eatery enterprise" in the mass-appeal dining category. |
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