“Failure is not just a wound.
“There lies the seed of success that will lead to the next level!”

From an ordinary young man with no dreams to the CEO of a 30 trillion won company
A record of successes and failures by Uniqlo Chairman Tadashi Yanai

“It is almost impossible to succeed in a straight line.
The shadow of success is always followed by failure.
The success our company has achieved is straight,
Many people think that this was achieved in a short period of time.
But in reality, it's probably going to be 1 win and 9 losses.
If you try ten times, you will fail nine times.
“It is important to not ignore this failure, but to view it as an asset and utilize it.”

Anyone can see that Uniqlo is a 'successful' company.
Currently, Uniqlo has over 3,600 stores worldwide and is growing rapidly, taking responsibility for the daily clothing of people around the world.
It also has a remarkable history of growing into a company with annual sales of 30 trillion won amidst a global recession and Japan's worst economic downturn.
There are also several hit products that have left a deep impression on the public, such as Fleece, Heattech, and Airism.


However, Tadashi Yanai, founder of Uniqlo, firmly states, "I have experienced countless failures while running the company."
In fact, the history of his failures is long and colorful.
They launched a new brand in the US only to be met with a lukewarm public response, and they also suffered a dismal failure in the UK, closing 16 of their 21 stores.
He ran a company specializing in children's clothing, but closed all of its stores. He also opened his first urban store in a downtown area of ​​Osaka, but it failed and he closed it.
In "1 Win, 9 Losses," Tadashi Yanai describes and evaluates all these failures with a cool-headed gaze.
It is a calm summary of what caused the failure and what needs to be improved.


What we need to pay attention to is what happened next.
Tadashi Yanai learned the path to success through countless failures.
He said, "Failure is more helpful than a half-baked success," and discovered the seeds of success in failure.
In this book, which is like Tadashi Yanai's notebook of wrong answers, we can understand the way to achieve success from a new perspective.

The worry that I had been ruminating on like a habit, ‘What if no one comes…?’ ended up being unfounded.
Local radio stations reported on the crowds that swarmed the store on the first day, and I was forced to make the unprecedented statement in an interview: “I’m sorry, but if you stand in line right now, you might not be able to get in, so please don’t come.”
This is the starting point of Uniqlo.
---From the "Preface"

A company has a limited lifespan from the beginning.
Unless you can continuously sprout new business seeds, it will end when its shelf life expires.
This essence never changes.
---From "Chapter 1: Escaping the Family Business"

Business and management are different.
I thought I was more of a merchant than a manager, so I worked hard to become a manager while preparing for the IPO.
What's the difference between a manager and a merchant? A merchant is someone who enjoys the act of buying and selling.
In that sense, I think almost all small business owners are not managers.
A manager is someone who makes plans with clear goals to grow a company and increase profits.
---From "Chapter 2: Challenges and Trial and Error"

While a fatal failure that leads to a crisis is never a good idea, it is far better to try and fail than to just analyze and procrastinate without actually trying.
The experience of failure becomes an asset through learning effects.

---From "Chapter 2: Challenges and Trial and Error"

To put it extremely, business is practice.
Management is also about practice.
People who think only with their heads or with their knowledge first organize and prioritize all tasks or problems, and stop at analyzing the phenomenon by saying, "This is like this," but they cannot move on to action.
When putting something into practice, you shouldn't just put it into practice.
You have to think while practicing.
Thinking while doing means using your body, and in some cases, it may involve repeating simple tasks.
Of course, it takes time and things often don't go as planned.
If you think only in your head without putting it into practice, there is a risk that it will all end up as empty talk.

---From "Chapter 3: Transition after Rapid Growth"

Looking at Japan's major corporations today, there are very few opportunities for young people to become managers.
Our company has a system in place where even young people with sufficient ability can rise to a position appropriate for their abilities and perform managerial duties.
Examples include President Tamatsuka, Managing Directors Tomae and Morita, Otoma, who became an executive last year, and Lin, the head of the Chinese subsidiary.
These people are all in their 30s or early to mid 40s.
If you give a person with management skills a position that suits them, in most cases they will do well.
---From "Chapter 4 Organizations for Working People"

Being successful means being conservative.
I think that if I maintain the current state, that's enough.
The very idea of ​​success is the very source of mannerism, conservatism, formalism, and complacency.
It can't be good for business.
Business is about thinking carefully about "what can I do to make it work?" when things aren't going so well, so problems often arise when you think you've succeeded.

---From "Chapter 5: The Sprout of the Next Challenge Grown from Failure"

The world seems to see me as a successful person, but I don't think so.
As I said in this book, if you think about it, life is '1 win, 9 losses'.
In terms of winning percentage, it is only 10%.
If you are a professional baseball pitcher, it is certain that you will be cut immediately or sent down to the minor league.
If this can also be called success, I believe that I am where I am today because I have challenged myself without fear of failure.
In baseball, teams with a high stolen base success rate run a lot of bases in an attempt to steal.
If you worry about being out, you can't run.
The more you run, the higher your chance of stealing a base.
The same goes for management.

---From the “Conclusion”