Tadashi Yanai has been named as Japan’s richest man by Forbes in 2019. He is the founder, CEO, president and chairman of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Fast Retailing is the parent company of Unqilo, a worldwide apparel chain.
Yanai’s big ambition for Uniqlo
Being the richest man in Japan is not enough to satiate Yanai’s ambition. He is still pursuing his goal to make Uniqlo on top of the other apparel. Even though it means he has to beat off the current top two, H&M and Inditex (parent of ZARA).
At first, Yamai goal was to open 1000 stores in USA by 2012. It’s just six years after its’ first store in America, located in Soho. The reality might put Yamai down. By 2017, there are only 47 stores opened, after closing down 6 stores. However, Yamai was not disheartened.
Even without 1000 Uniqlo stores in USA, it now has around1800 stores worldwide. More than 900 of them are located outside of Japan. And it’s still growing.
A lower, yet more realistic goal
Yanai altered his focus on achieving his goal raise of revenue by $29 billion dollar for Fast Retailing by 2020, $30 less than his original goal. And the target market is no longer America, but Asia instead, especially China and Thailand.
He did not just dream, he’s doing something to make it comes true. Yanai’s got strategy, innovation and marketing system that might bring him his goal. Uniqlo is not just a usual apparel. It’s cheap, stylish, trendy, with a high quality and even innovative products.
Uniqlo’s R&D team did not just work on analyzing the market, but also the trend coming up for the next season. They also make innovations such as light jacket, sweat absorbing undershirt, pants that lock warmth, and the newest, comfortable jeans. With the massive amount of order per item, Uniqlo can suppress the production cost of each product. Resulting in much cheaper price than other small scaled apparels.
A clear big goal, a strategy to achieve it and a strong mental reflects Yanai in his ambition with Uniqlo. Though it’s not going to be as soon as he hoped, Yanai might very well be able to achieve his goals. He knows the goals, the strategy, and the problem. What more does he need?
