2004年度（2004.4～2005.3）　ワークショップ講演

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Entrepreneurship Workshop （May 20, 2004）

Theme: Plan your own business before 28 years old.

Guest speaker: Mr. Chohachi Ono
Head of Ono Associates , and visiting professor, Otemon Gakuin Unversity

1.　Personal profile
Mr. Chohachi Ono graduated from Doshisha University in 1971. He worked as a management consultant and director at Link Consulting Associates-Japan (LCA-J). While serving as Managing Director (currently Advisor) of Venture Link Co., Ltd. and later as Representative Director of Link Investment Co., Ltd., he played an active role in providing assistance and guidance to small and medium-sized enterprises as a member of committees like the “Social Gathering to Foster Venture Companies in Kansai”, sponsored by METI KANSAI. He is currently working to foster entrepreneurs among students and other young people, as well as to develop a program for supporting ventures.

2.　Summary of speech
(1) Values of one’s profession
As a management consultant, Mr. Ono has met as many as 3,000 executives throughout his career but has found only about 30 of them to be highly ambitious. Being an excellent business manager requires a clear vision of what a company president (business manager) wants to do, concentration on the job one chooses, enhancement of one’s capabilities to perform the job, and the pursuit of the job throughout one’s life as a matter of course - along with a strong sense of awareness of the path chosen. The ability to properly assess and evaluate one’s performance on the job is also important.

(2) Foundation of Venture Link Co., Ltd.
LCA-J established Venture Link as its management consulting arm with the aim of creating excellent companies in collaboration with better business managers and distinguished entrepreneurs - thereby increasing employment, promoting economic revitalization and assisting highly motivated business managers. This idea has been put into practice, for example, in the form of extensive support to franchise chain restaurants such as Saint Marc and Gyu-kaku.

(3) Saint Marc and Gyu-kaku
Management approaches commonly adopted by the two restaurants are: lower labor costs through a part-time employee-centered operation, material costs kept down by way of “multi-store deployment”, and research via a questionnaire that customers are asked to fill out after their orders have been taken (by mobile phone, in the case of Gyu-kaku). Based on the surveys, customer preferences in taste, atmosphere, service and price are constantly researched so that they can be continuously improved upon, thereby increasing the number of satisfied customers that pay return visits, and eventually achieving a higher profitability for the company. Venture Link fulfills a wide range of roles beyond that of management consultant, however. It is directly involved in business as an actual operator: It has its staff assume managerial roles and it continually runs experimental model stores. It also plays a role in venture capital, making the initial investment (to be recovered in about three years) at such outfits; it helps not only a franchiser but also its franchisees go public.

(4) Education for Life Planning
Should any person think of drawing up a business plan by the age of 28 and establishing a company at 30, he/she had better be raised in an environment where a venture spirit is nurtured. As a matter of fact, at the junior and senior high schools that are affiliated with Otemon Gakuin University - which a number of children of company executives attend - the curriculum is designed so that students learn the importance of leading their own lives and striving for their own goals. Students at the university are guided in making a comparative study of different management styles based on part-time work experience in the food-service industry as part of their yearly class activities, thereby preparing a business plan before completing their junior year. The intention here is to have them think about life planning that leads to career planning, while also nurturing the dreams and hopes of self-realization through such exercises.

3. Comments on speech
During his speech, Mr. Ono, quoting Max Weber’s “The Profession and Vocation of Politics,” stated that a successful businessperson has enthusiasm, a sense of responsibility and good judgment regarding his/her job. I believe that all graduate students, including those who already have started a business, those who are planning to start a business and still others who support their attempts, should take Mr. Ono’s message seriously. I also realized that it is truly our mission to build a firm vision for the future and to enhance our capabilities by working toward that vision, thereby contributing to society. After the speech, I felt encouraged and harbored a feeling of hope. Perhaps it was his standing as a management consultant - a supporter of those people who really try and work hard - that influenced my reaction.

Shinji Otani and Chika Morioka
Graduate students in charge of minutes

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