Takahiro Arimoto, President and CEO of MS-Japan Co., Ltd.

There's no time to think! You won't succeed unless you take action.

President and CEO of MS-Japan Co., Ltd.
Takahiro Arimoto

Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1961. After graduating from university, he worked for Recruit Co., Ltd., and at the age of 28, he founded Japan MS Center Co., Ltd. (now MS-Japan Co., Ltd.) and became its representative director (currently Representative Director and President). In 1995, the company was one of the first in the industry to obtain a license for the recruitment business, leading the industry as the number one agent specializing in administrative departments. The company was listed on the Mothers market in December 2016, and one year later in December 2017, it was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

President Arimoto made a complete turnaround from his days of playing around as a student to discovering the joy of selling products, and has carved out a path in life with his natural sales talent. What he wants to tell today's students is to take action first. Even if you take action and fail, you will gain something, and that will definitely become an asset. We asked him about the secret to living a proactive and bold life.

There's no time to think!
If you don't take action, you won't succeed

When I was a student, I just had fun. I was good at getting things done, so I got most of my credits by my second year. So, I decided to have fun for the remaining two years! So, I surfed in the summer, skied in the winter, played tennis in the spring and fall, and always played mahjong. That was my daily life. I hardly did any job hunting. I only went to one information session, and that was when a friend took me. It was for a certain railway group, and when the HR asked me to "name five listed subsidiaries in our group," I replied, "What does listed mean?" I didn't have that much knowledge, and I had no desire to get a job.

Competing with top salespeople
The birth of a sales genius
　However, in the midst of all this, I ended up getting a job at a sandwich shop. This was a turning point in my life. The first job I was assigned to was running a wagon sale at a department store. In the evenings, I was tasked with selling discounted sandwiches. This was my calling, and I sold out mountains of sandwiches in under 20 minutes. They sold out instantly at every department store, and everyone in the company was talking about how "we have an amazing new employee." Of course it was. After all, my parents owned a store. I was selling things to adults even before I was old enough to understand. My sales skills were second to none.
　So, after discovering the joys of sales, I chose Recruit as my second company. I was struck by the catchphrase, "A job where you can sell to CEOs," and decided to change jobs to learn management know-how from various CEOs. Oh, and by the way, I challenged him to a challenge on the day I joined the company. I asked my boss, "Who is the salesperson with the highest sales in this company?" and then called that salesperson. I said, "From now on, let's have a sales challenge every month." A young guy in his early twenties, I challenged the top salesperson of Japan's number one sales company to a challenge on my first day at work. And I won the challenge. I broke all internal records and became the top salesperson of Japan's number one sales company.
　I really only met with the company president. A young guy in his early twenties, I'd say, "I won't meet with anyone but the president," refusing to accept anyone other than the president, even if they were a department head or executive. After all, I joined Recruit to learn about management from the president. Once I'd made an appointment with the president, I'd have them talk about their dreams. We'd spend about two hours, really, really detailed. Finally, I'd say, "Let's make that dream a reality," and offer them a product. I'd make them clearly visualize a future where that product would make the president's dream a reality. Finally, I'd say, "If you're a manager, make a decision now," and get them to sign. This was enough to knock 20% of the sales off. But there's another secret: I was selling products for 180 million yen that other salesmen were selling for 1,000 million yen. No wonder I was the top seller. The unit price was more than five times higher.

Changing minds around the world
I want to start an educational foundation.
　What do you want to do in the future? Hmm, maybe I'd like to start a foundation. In fact, that's why I went public. I want to create a foundation that will revolutionize the human brain. Apparently, humans only use 10% of their brains, and even Einstein only used 15%. I think this is because of education. I think the overflowing knowledge we're cramming into our brains is killing the potential of the human brain. So, if we could thoroughly train our sensibilities from an early age and increase the number of people who can use 20% of their brains, we could solve global problems like environmental issues, nuclear weapons, and war. Ultimately, I want to start a foundation to create such an educational institution. I want to do this so that my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren can live on this planet in peace. My company is also currently working on a big business utilizing IT and AI, technologies that are yet to be released.

Message to students
　What I want to tell today's students is, "Just take action." Time spent thinking is a waste. If you think too much and get too caught up in it, you won't get anything out of it. Don't become that kind of person. It's okay to fail, and it's okay to end up taking a detour. Just take action. What you gain from it will be an irreplaceable asset.

From the October 31, 2019 issue of the Student Newspaper (by Yoshio Ogawa, a fourth-year student at Keio University)