The miraculous story of creating a 3 trillion won company by betting all on 1,000 won.
Special edition of "Managing a Thousand Won" released to celebrate its 100th printing.

Daiso founder and chairman Park Jeong-bu's book "Manage a Thousand Won" has surpassed 100 printings in just over a year since its publication.
This is the result of word-of-mouth last year, with countless readers leaving reviews such as “A must-read business book this year” and “The most moving startup story.”
All proceeds from the book, which was sold for a limited time at Daiso stores, were donated to Seoul National University Children's Hospital, and after its publication, the company also completely reorganized its shares with Daiso Sangyo in Japan, leading to the company's transformation into a 100% domestic company.


Even after publication, Daiso's growth did not stop.
Daiso has 1,500 stores nationwide, with 1 million customers visiting each day, and 420,000 items sold per hour.
With 600 new products released every month, and products priced at 1,000 won being the mainstay, annual sales exceed 3 trillion won, and the company has never had a net loss in 25 years.
It still holds the top spot as the most popular lifestyle shop among those in their 20s and 30s.
This book contains the secrets of Daiso's success, revealed for the first time by the founder and CEO of Asung Daiso, a company that becomes more surprising the more you learn about it.


He revealed in detail the process of how he started as a late-blooming entrepreneur in his 45s and created an overwhelming gap that is unrivaled.
This is a story of ‘creating a mountain out of dust’ with ‘atom-like’ sincerity and persistence, proving the reputation of being a ‘mythical being in the distribution industry.’
As you follow the exciting story, which is like a novel, you will soon learn the golden rules of management regarding product planning, store operation, and quality control.
Have you ever managed a thousand won? Have you ever underestimated the value of a single thousand won note, thinking, "It's just a thousand won." In an age where everyone talks about making a fortune so easily, here's a miraculous story of someone who went all-in on a single thousand won note in their wallet and built a company with sales of 3 trillion won.

That's why, when you're asked to choose between a 1,000 won bill and a Daiso product, you'll choose the Daiso product without any hesitation.
Our value is realized only when customers exclaim, “How can this cost 1,000 won?”
In fact, the Daiso product development team went out onto the street with a new product in one hand and a 1,000 won bill in the other and asked passersby.
Which one would you choose?
If a pedestrian chooses the 1,000 won price, the product is considered to be poor value for money, so we go back to the beginning and start over again.
--- p.109, from “The Most Honest Money in the World, One Thousand Won”

A business cannot exist without profit.
Daiso's initial margin was only 1-2%.
Simply put, you need to sell 1,000 1,000 won coins to make 1 million won in sales, and the margin on that was only about 10,000 to 20,000 won.
But 'high quality, low profit'?
Is this business even feasible? If I were simply chasing profit by following the trends, I wouldn't have started this business.
This business will fail the moment it chases margins.
So how did Daiso generate profits? From the beginning, they approached it differently.
Most companies determine their selling price by adding a reasonable profit margin to the cost of the product, but we do the opposite.
After first deciding on a selling price that would satisfy consumers, we developed the product somehow.
It's like putting an elephant in the refrigerator or Cinderella's sister fitting her foot into Cinderella's shoe.
But I had a firm belief.
If the product is cheap and good, customers will definitely come.
My idea was to make a good product that would be chosen by a million people and make a profit, rather than making a 10% profit for 100,000 people.
Rather than pursuing profit first, the strategy was to generate sales by attracting many customers with cheap and good products.
--- p.122, from “Pursue Satisfaction, Not Margin”

I toured the factory with the manager and discussed how to lower costs.
Unlike other products, I had some confidence in glass.
Because I knew the production process.
In a glass factory, glass materials, including waste glass, are put into a huge electric furnace and melted at high heat. When the glass flows out, it is put into a mold and the product is formed.
The electric furnace is usually about the size of an average office.
Once the quantity of the ordered product is printed, any remaining glass is discarded.
This is so that you can turn off the lights and clean up.
The smaller the order quantity, the more glass there will be left over.
If you are continuously producing about a million units, you can keep the furnace running without having to scoop out the glass or turn the furnace on and off.
It would be difficult to produce in small quantities, but if we changed to a mass production system, we could significantly reduce the cost.
Since it was a company that also did OEM production for Japanese glass manufacturers, the quality was also trustworthy.
“It definitely works.
Factory manager, please give it a try.
“If there is a lot of quantity, it is quite possible.”
After that, I visited the factory several times and persuaded the factory manager.
After much discussion about other ways to reduce costs, we were finally able to secure approval.
--- p.137, from “There is a law that there is a gap”

It is often assumed that uniform price shops will do well in developing countries with low national incomes, but the opposite is true.
Rather, the response is better in countries with a high proportion of middle class, such as the United States or Japan.
This is because consumers in developed countries have a wider range of purchasing experiences, forming a more rational and thrifty consumer culture.
And a society that can use a variety of products for different purposes means that it is an economically and culturally developed society.
Diversity is difficult to achieve in economically challenging times.
If we think about our country just 10 to 20 years ago, we can easily understand.
With just one pair of scissors in the house, I cut paper, fabric, and hair.
Not only did I not think that there were scissors specifically for that purpose, but even if I did know about them, not many people would be able to afford to buy them.
--- p.154, from “Selling Life and Culture”

Actually, there is another reason why I visit the store often.
“There are so many fun things to do at Daiso.”
“Wow, how can something like this cost 1,000 won?”
Every time I hear young customers talking like this, I can't help but smile, even though I have no idea if I'm the president or the neighborhood uncle.
As someone who doesn't enjoy golf or have any other hobbies, hearing stories like this while walking around stores is my only pleasure and hobby.
Hearing these cheers from customers on the spot makes me much happier than hearing that sales and profits have increased.
Maybe that's why I visit the site so often.
--- p.191, from “Problems and solutions are always on the scene”

We sell cheap products, but we don't sell cheap.
This is because consumers feel that even 1,000 won is too expensive if the quality is poor.
There are 1,000 won products, but there is no 1,000 won quality.
The argument that quality can be bad because it's cheap doesn't hold water.
However, manufacturing officials believed that at least one defect was bound to occur during mass production.
“It’s just one out of tens of thousands.
“At this level, the defect rate is quite low.”
This is only the position of the person who makes the product.
Saying things like the defect rate is 0.1% or 0.2% doesn't make sense to customers.
For customers, defects are not a matter of probability.
Even if you sell hundreds of thousands or millions of products in your store, customers only buy one product.
If one item purchased is defective, it is 100% defective for the customer.
It's just a defect, no excuses.
--- p.217, from “There are thousand-won products, but there is no thousand-won quality”

What's the fundamental principle of retail? Naturally, it's attracting customers.
There is no guarantee that a customer who comes once will come back again.
Making customers come back again is the basic and core of store management.
Customers' minds are always changing.
I get bored easily.
If the store and merchandise remain unchanged, why would a customer who visited yesterday return? Perhaps retail is a battle against customer "disgust."
You shouldn't make your customers uncomfortable, but you shouldn't make them sick of it either.
To achieve this, the store must always be vibrant and full of energy.
You have to live and move like a living thing. If you stagnate like a puddle, your customers will know first.
Even if it's the same store, yesterday and today should be different.
It is essential to continuously provide products that provide new enjoyment and value.
Even if it is the same product, the presentation and display must be changed slightly every day.
Sales will change if you change the product mix frequently, or if that doesn't work, just change the location of the products on the shelf.

--- p.196, from “The store is a living, moving creature”