200th printing commemorative black edition!
“A must-read for business people, a book that has become the bible of business!”

"The God of Business," a book that has served as a great inspiration and guide for the past 10 years not only to those who are starting a business but also to those who are already in business, has been republished in a black edition to commemorate its 200th printing.

"The God of Business" is all about business, told by Takashi Uno, a legend in the Japanese restaurant industry and known as the "God of Business."
Starting out as a coffee shop manager, he turned his staff of over 200 into the owners of an izakaya, revealing the secrets to success that apply to any business.
From how to select a location for your store to the secrets of creating a successful menu, how to increase sales through customer service, and how to efficiently expand your store, this book offers sharp insights and thorough guidance to help you build a strong store that will withstand any recession.

In this book, the author advises that rather than being prepared to fail, we should rush in with the determination to succeed, and that we should think carefully before making a reckless attempt to increase our success rate.
If you have no money and open a store in a remote area, he says, you should create a unique charm that will draw people from far and wide. If you can't cook, you should create a menu that has strong customer service. If you can't create a variety of menus, he says, you should become an owner who leaves a strong impression with one visit.

"What kind of customers should I target when creating a store?" This is a question we usually think about before starting a business, but it's different from the question, "What kind of customers should I target to make business successful?"
Rather than thinking like that, I think it's a matter of considering 'what kind of store do I want to open?' and 'what kind of store can I run for a long time?'
In my case, I always thought about stores that girls would want to go to.
It's not because I thought, 'A store that attracts girls will do well,' but because I thought, 'If it's a store like that, I can run it on my own for a long time.'

…syncopation…

But I don't think I can continue running a $3 store like that.
I'm the type of person who pleases guests with hospitality rather than price.
So I thought it would be nice to have a store where girls come.
I love serving customers, so just thinking about running a business while greeting girls makes me happy and excited.
If you run a store this happily, the store employees and part-time workers will also think, "Isn't the food service industry okay?"
If those employees later become independent and open another enjoyable store, that too will become my asset.
I don't think this is a question of good or bad from the store's perspective, but rather a question of what you want to pursue in your life.
So, when you open a store, don't just think about 'what kind of store will do well?' but also think about 'what kind of store will make me truly happy?'
I think that's the basis for being able to run a business for a long time.
---From "Don't follow trends, create a store that you can enjoy yourself"

The kids who come to our store saying they want to open their own store someday aren't all 'good-looking guys' from the beginning.
There are countless children who are problem students or who are bad at studying at school.
Among them, there are cases where a guy who looks a bit rough around the edges comes for an interview.
But I'm a person who 'doesn't stop anyone from coming', so I accept anyone.
Since you chose our restaurant out of all the other restaurants, I think it was fate.
Since ancient times, izakayas have had a hard time making a restaurant successful if the owner is too sincere.
The qualities that allow you to faithfully perform the duties of a store manager in a chain store with numerous stores are not the same as the qualities that allow you to become a manager who can make a small store prosper.
Of course, you have to be meticulous when running a store within a corporate structure.
Otherwise, the staff won't be able to follow along properly.
But when you run your own store, working flawlessly isn't the only thing that's important.
If you can entertain the customers who come to your store, you can make a profit.
Since you have a meticulous personality, it would be good to always keep the store's image neat and tidy.
But that's something anyone can do, like washing their uniforms every day to keep them crisp and starched, or keeping their hair neatly shaved.

I think it's much more important whether a child can develop the ability to think, 'How can I make my guests happy?'
Of course, if you're running more than two stores, it's going to be tough unless you hire people who can provide solid support.
It would be even more difficult if the owner is someone who believes in 'working at a leisurely pace'.
However, even people with a leisurely pace can expand their store from 5-6 pyeong to around 20 pyeong.
If you run a store of about 20 pyeong well, you can make a pretty good living.
Any izakaya has that kind of goal.
I guess that's the beauty of this business.
On the other hand, what I think is too much is opening a store with a colleague.
Sometimes, I think about going into business with a partner because I don't have enough money, but a store can't run properly unless you become the owner of a country and a castle yourself.
Even minor complaints like, “I clean the bathroom when we meet!” tend to pile up.
So I tell them that if the two of them are going to open a 10-pyeong store, it would be better to open a 5-pyeong store each.
And then you activate it and then you expand the store or open a second branch.
As the saying goes, if you don't do everything yourself, you won't develop the real skills to run a store.
Only when you feel the burden of having to take responsibility for and pay off your debt on your own can you gain the driving force to make your store a success.
---From "You can open a successful store even if you're not good at studying"

This happened the other day when I went to an independent children's store.
That restaurant had boiled pig's feet on the menu.
A customer ordered it, but it seemed like it was hard to eat, so he asked, “Can I have some scissors?”
Then the child just said, “Yes, here you go,” and handed me the scissors.
Was that being kind to the guest? I thought that kind of hospitality was ridiculous.
In times like this, you should say, “Oh, is it too difficult to eat? I’ll cut it for you here.” and cut it for you.
If you just lend them scissors, it'll end with, "This restaurant's pig's feet are so uncomfortable to eat." But if you cut them up and give them to them, it becomes a chance to appeal to the customer by saying, "This is a really friendly restaurant."
Besides, the customer came alone, and the pig's feet were a pretty large portion, with two large pieces.
I thought it might be too much for me to eat all by myself.
In such cases, it is much more polite to say something like, “I think this is too much for one person. Would you like half?” or to suggest a different dish, even if it is not on the menu.
To make a store successful, you need to always think about 'how can we make our customers enjoy their time here more?' and you need to have that kind of greed to appeal to them without missing even the smallest opportunity.
By the way, just to give that kid some credit, when I went back there later, the store had undergone a complete makeover.
You put in a lot of effort based on my advice.
There were also a lot of regular customers.
---From "Only when you have weaknesses can you develop your skills"

I happened to see it while passing through the city.
I noticed that flowers were planted and hung on a bumpy jug instead of a flower pot at the edge of the house's yard.
I was so happy.
I thought it would have a big impact if we put something like this in the store.
In a small shop like ours, a teapot is dozens of times more attractive than an expensive vase found in a fancy restaurant.
The important thing is to act on an idea that strikes you as "this is it!" right away.
If you are satisfied with just putting it in a file in your head, you will be wasting your treasure.
In my case, when an idea comes to mind, I try to test it right away, even if it's the next day.

…syncopation…

To gather ideas, I often go on inspections, looking at information from acquaintances, word-of-mouth, and weekly magazines and comics about good restaurants.
Among the magazine information, if there's something I think is 'this is it', I tear out the page and save it as a scrapbook.
Sometimes it doesn't work out that well when you actually try to follow it, but when it hits the mark, it has such an impact that you can talk about it forever.
The commonality between the stores I choose is that they are all 'stores that are right for me.'
For example, even if I go to Kyoto, I don't go to a kaiseki (high-class Japanese course meal) restaurant.
Don't go to a store that's run by a sloppy old lady, has a poor interior, and is incredibly crowded.
For 300 yen, you get a mountain of fried food and the alcohol is cheap.
It's a restaurant where you can eat for a few thousand yen, even if you only have a few thousand yen.
Whenever I go to a place like that, I am moved by the tremendous energy.
So, if you organize 'why you were moved' again and 'file' it in your head thinking 'how can I apply this to my store', it will lead to business the next day.

---From "An idea is meaningless if it cannot be put into action"