As use of the Internet spread rapidly from the late 1900s to the early 2000s, we were searching for ways to develop businesses that would allow us to capitalize on this technology. To this end, I participated in study groups conducted by management personnel who shared this objective, while paying close attention to developments abroad. At the time, our company was in the publishing business, but we felt that if the Internet continued its proliferation, print media would no longer be the mainstream method of information distribution. Above all, we sensed tremendous potential in the Internet as a new means of information transmission. In such an era, there was a period when some entrepreneurs who bet on their potential developed their businesses and became successful, with some even taking their enterprises public. This was the mid-2000s. At the time, I saw the promise of the Internet and was anxious to leverage it, but I had my face pressed up against the proverbial glass, watching the entrepreneurs of my generation dive in first, with my fingers crossed.

While I was still considering a business I could launch in my area of expertise, technology continued its interminable march forward and the Internet has now evolved into a tool that anyone can easily use. Buoyed by this trend, our initiatives, whose users are mainly middle-aged and older people, gradually began to gain traction, and our business progressed. And in 2015 we succeeded in taking the company public, albeit a decade or so later than the aforementioned entrepreneurs. After the opening to the public, we found it easier to attract human resources, and our social credibility increased as well. Furthermore, based on the insights gained from this experience, the company is taking on its next challenge, advocating “end-of-life infrastructure.”

Now, I have shared here the path my company has taken, but that is not the theme of this message. I wanted instead to tell you how I realized that there are times in life when we need to stand pat and bide our time, and times when we need to seize an opportunity. When I look back, it’s clear now that the mid-2000s was not yet my timing. Concerning biding our time, we often are in a hurry to do something, but it seems to me that there is no point in being impatient. I sometimes wonder I may have taken the wrong direction, and I try to change it, but that’s not right either. It is simply that the timing is not right. If you stay the course and move steadily forward under the prevailing conditions, your timing will eventually come. The important thing is to be persistent and wait until that time arrives. (It’s likely, by the way, that those of you who play mahjongg or golf are likely intimately familiar with this feeling.)

Returning to our business, the opportunity came in the challenge of business matching in the area of memorial services, such as graves and funerals—a business we’d been conducting prior to the company listing. We then revised the definition of our business and updated the challenge we’d been tackling for several years to “end-of-life infrastructure.” But it just isn’t the right time yet. And because of the experience we’ve gained, we understand that there’s no need to rush. I think the important thing is to avoid myopia because a big challenge requires a considerable time frame. At this point in my life, it’s much easier for me to navigate these situations, although I am occasionally bombarded with stories that appear attractive or might reap some short-term benefit at the time—but are in fact not substantial. Instead of attempting to manufacture the ideal timing and conditions, we have learned that these things occur naturally.

The central theme of this message was “biding time and seizing an opportunity.” When I conduct job interviews, for instance, I often feel that they may have changed their jobs when the timing was not right. Of course, there are times when it is necessary to modify the environment, but I often think that it is important to wait carefully for the next opportunity. I can’t really say that with authority or conviction, though, in the case of someone else’s business.

Hirotaka Shimizu
Chairman and CEO
Kamakura Shinsho, Ltd.