Courage to Change: Achieving Significant Growth in a Shrinking Market

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit and learn from a company specializing in Samue, a type of traditional Japanese work clothing which has been gaining attention in the industry. In the past, like many other Japanese garment businesses, they relied on subcontractors for manufacturing and sold their products to traditional kimono stores. However, over the past 40 years, the kimono market has undergone significant changes. According to Yano Research Institute, the market plummeted from its peak of 1.8 trillion yen in 1981 to less than 200 billion yen in 2020.

Faced with this drastic market change, the samue company, experiencing a decline in their wholesale clients, was forced to venture into the retail market. Retail required manufacturing tailored to detailed customer specifications. However, their three subcontractors found these changes to be too cumbersome and refused to adapt. As a result, the company was pushed to establish its own manufacturing facility.

Selling samue under their own brand and expanding their market overseas, the company now enjoys a steady increase in sales. Eventually, all their subcontractors went out of business.

From this visit, I was reminded of the importance of having the ‘courage to change’ in challenging situations. While the decision to change was a result of adversity, in a modern society where many companies and individuals prefer to maintain the status quo, the company’s choice was particularly striking. It was their execution of ‘courage to change’ that allowed them to seize significant opportunities in a shrinking market. This experience reinforced the importance of not settling for the current state but continually evolving.