Founder’s passion and vision for overseas business development : Haruko MINAMI, Advisor

“Why don’t you talk with our Founder & President sooner or later?”

Due to my former experience being an advisor to the founder and president of one SME in Kansai region, my fixed impression towards “president” had been elderly, strict person, who self-made survived in the harsh post-war era.

That’s why I was a bit hesitant to talk to such a pioneering leader, since I still did not have enough confidence to be a right-hand person to him.

However, on the day of the interview, my concern has blown away as soon as I nervously switched on the video screen in order to connect between Sonora Technology in Tokyo and myself in Osaka. The president was completely different from whom I previously imagined.

Not elderly, nor scary figure, but seemed a stylish, nice person who looked like Tetsuya Komuro in his younger days, one of the most famous musicians and music producers in Japan.

The first question asked by the president was,

“How long do you plan on work, Minami-san?”

This question reminded me of a job interview I had when I was a senior in university.

“How long do you plan on work, Minami-san?”

It was the same question I was asked at a final job interview in one of the Japanese traditional companies. At that time, I only targeted to get the position in that company, so I replied,

“I’ll try my best to work here at least five years!”

Then the HR manager smiled and said to me,

“But if you meet a nice guy…(you will probably quit working post marriage.)”

Decades have passed since the old-fashioned way of thinking existed, I was interviewed for the position of adviser, not for employee. And I was pleased that the president tried to figure out my seriousness as professional. So, I replied something like the following,

“I’d love to keep supporting your company till to reach your goal.”

The president then began to talk about the current situation and future of Sonora Technology, choosing his words courteously.

• Sonora Technology is a small company but powerful group of members, with the largest market share in Japan in the niche market for modular acoustic anechoic chambers, accounting for almost 100% of the market.
• Once delivered, acoustic anechoic chambers are used for around a period of 20 years and there is almost no need for maintenance due to breakdowns, etc., so our sales may not be expected to grow any further in the Japanese market.
• On the other hand, as huge business opportunities may be expected overseas due to the increasing demand for anechoic chambers such as VSAC (Vehicle Semi-Anechoic Chamber), our domestically developed know-how should be utilised to achieve overseas expansion.

He then began to tell an episode to prove Sonora’s underlying strength.

• Sonora’s products have an advantage and competitive edge, as about a year ago, after competing with three major global competitors, Sonora successfully secured an order from one of the well-known European consumer electronics manufacturers and delivered an acoustic anechoic chamber to them.

Immediately, I was ashamed of myself for having repeatedly said by the book,
“Could you share your medium-term management plan with me?”

There are some SMEs’ owners trying to confirm whether the coming advisor can realize their own business management plan.

“We want to double our sales. Can you achieve this target?”
“Can you really help us to sell our products?”

However, from the advisor’s perspective, I sometimes want to say back,

“Are your products really required in the market?”

“Have you taken external factors such as exchange rate fluctuations and supply-demand balance into account?”

However, Sonora’s products were already gaining a foothold in expanding into the global field on their own. And they have already felt confident about their future vision.

At the end of the video interview, the president, who until then had rarely made eye contact, looked sharply into the webcam and said with a clear voice,

“Minami-san, we would very much appreciate your cooperation with our overseas business expansion.”

Finally, I have made up my mind to keep running to the goal with Sonora Technology, which is now about to spread its wings to the world.