Innovation Inc. President and CEO Naoto Tomita

Meeting highly sensitive people will help you grow | Take the initiative to meet people who are active in society

President and CEO of Innovation Inc.　Naoto Tomita　(Naoto Tomida)

■ Profile

Originally from Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. As his family ran an electrical construction company, he went on to study electrical engineering at Yokohama National University's Faculty of Engineering. After graduating, he joined Recruit to gain some real-world experience before taking over his father's company. After gaining experience in new business development sales, he founded Innovation in 2000, where he currently works. He provides internet marketing support services to corporations, aiming to create a new style of corporate sales. In December 2016, the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Section.

Company details:Corporate site / Recruit
SNS:Twitter / Facebook

■The condition for employment is "a company that I can quit in three years" with the assumption that I will take over the family business.

As the eldest son of an electrician, I always thought it was natural that I would take over the family business. I grew up in an environment where it was normal to help out with household chores during summer, winter, and spring breaks, even as a student, in preparation for the future.

Taking over the family business was the obvious choice for me.

I also wanted to study electrical engineering at university. I wanted to get away from my parents, so I chose a national university that would be less of a burden on my family's finances and decided to go to Yokohama National University.

Although the university was above my ability, I studied hard, dreaming only of enjoying a glamorous campus life in Tokyo. After successfully passing the entrance exam, I felt a sense of relief. Without giving much thought to my future, it was time to start job hunting.

The only thing I was passionate about during my time as a student was my activities in a tour club. I mainly planned ski bus tours for students, and we held events with corporate sponsorship, which gave me the opportunity to experience what it was like to work for a venture company.

I started job hunting because I thought it would be a good idea to gain some work experience before taking over the family business. At the time, it was an unprecedented seller's market, right before the bubble economy. Since I was in a science department, I could have gotten into anywhere with a professor's recommendation, so I thought Sony or IBM would be good because they both seemed cool.

However, in my case, it was a "three-year limited employment." When I honestly explained this to alumni during visits, they all responded with, "It's a waste to quit after three years. With values ​​like that, you shouldn't come to us." Thinking about it now, there's no way a large company would hire a student who quits after three years.

It was a world where it was common for people to continue working until retirement age, especially in research fields where people with science backgrounds were assigned. Sensing this trend, I began to think, for better or worse, that "if I'm going to quit after three years, maybe it's not right for me to go to a major company."

I had been thinking, "I'll go back to my parents' house in three years and take over the family business," but the company I ultimately chose was Recruit, a company that someone with a science background would never have chosen at the time.

"I can't join a company where you're expected to work until retirement age," I thought, "In that case, I should look at other industries," and I started looking at industries that liberal arts students tend to go into, such as trading companies and finance. It was along this path that I came across Recruit.

At the time, there was no internet, but Recruit had entered the communications and computer business and was growing with new business models, and I felt that they had an entrepreneurial spirit that was unique. Rather than focusing on the industry or the type of work, it was an aggressive company with many young employees who were growing rapidly and trying new things. What was even more attractive was that they had just started hiring technical staff, and they told me, "You can quit after three years."

I had been thinking, "I'll go back home in three years and take over the family business," so I decided to join Recruit, which met my condition of being able to quit after three years. However, I ended up working there for 10 years, and on top of that, instead of taking over my father's family business, I ended up embarking on a path I never imagined would be: starting my own business from scratch.

■ Preconceptions can be overturned. I discovered the joy of new sales, which I had always hated.

I was hired as an engineer by Recruit, but my first assignment was in sales. At the time, I had a terrible image of sales: cold calls, quotas, graph-based number battles, and being disliked by others.

Furthermore, shortly after joining the company, a "business card acquisition campaign" was started, where employees were asked to make cold calls and get as many business cards as possible. I thought it was the least suitable for me, and in fact, I was by far the worst in terms of the number of business cards I managed to acquire. It was so difficult that I was semi-depressed before Golden Week.

Perhaps they couldn't bear to see me with poor grades and a semi-depressed state, but I was ordered to transfer after the Golden Week holidays. I was transferred to the HR department, where I was responsible for recruiting science students. I was certainly relieved, but this transfer also opened my eyes to the joy of new sales, something I had thought I would never do again.

The mission given to me was to recruit five people from top universities in the Kanto region. However, this was in an era before the Internet. Through trial and error, I used every means possible to convey the appeal of Recruit.

With a list of students in hand, I made endless phone calls to their homes, visited universities and approached students directly, and worked hard, eventually meeting my quota of five recruits. It was a job that I found very rewarding. At the same time, I realized, "Isn't this the same as sales?"

This made me realize that I had only had preconceived notions about the job of sales.

I didn't really understand the job of sales, and based on a vague image I had decided that I didn't like it or that it wasn't for me, but I truly realized that you can't know if it's a job that suits you or that interests you until you try it.

I would also like to tell everyone who is about to enter society not to judge things based on preconceived notions. I learned that you should always try your best at everything you do. I hope you will do your best, believing that if you put your all into the task at hand, a path will surely open up.

■ In his late 20s, meeting an entrepreneur led him to become a manager

I hated sales and was half-depressed, but when I was transferred to the Human Resources Department, I discovered the joy of new business development sales, and I decided to return to my original sales department of my own volition.

Some people may think that new business sales are difficult, but new business development sales is a socially meaningful job in which you are at the front line and solve problems that customers are not yet aware of.

Without new sales, not only would products and services not sell, but customer problems would not be solved, so it is a very rewarding job that creates an opportunity for customers to become aware of problems.

I became completely captivated by the appeal of sales, and although I had intended to quit after three years and take over the family business, I ended up staying in sales at Recruit for 10 years.

At first, I worked hard with the goal of becoming number one. I was determined that "If I don't become number one here, things won't go well when I go back home. I will definitely become number one, gain confidence, and then take over the family business."

Gradually, I became a figure within my department that received numerous awards, was promoted, and gained a lot of confidence. While my work was becoming more and more interesting, I struggled to find the right timing to take over the family business.

At that time, I found myself constantly weighing the pros and cons of continuing to work at Recruit or taking over the family business, which would lead to my personal growth?

The turning point for me was meeting a young entrepreneur in his late twenties. Meeting entrepreneurs of my generation who were far ahead of me made me consider starting my own business as a new career. Recruit was a comfortable company blessed with talented people, money, and services, and I was paid a decent salary, so I began to feel that I had reached my limit and thought, "If I stay in this environment forever, I won't be able to grow much in the future."

Another factor that led to starting my own business was that the family business was not doing well, and the role that I would have to take over someday was no longer there.

I no longer felt the need to take over the family business, and I had a strong desire to grow further, so I decided to leave Recruit. At that point, I hadn't actually decided what kind of business I wanted to start, but I looked back on my career so far and asked myself, "What are my strengths?", and decided to start a business in B2B marketing.

While working at Recruit, I always felt that there was something unfair about receiving a salary as a company employee. I was only achieving results by riding on the rails of a company, business, or organization created by other people. I felt that such a sweet world couldn't continue...

Looking back now, I grew up in an environment where my relatives and I were running businesses from a young age, so I feel that it was natural for me to pursue a life as a business owner rather than as an employee.

■Go and see various industries and occupations without preconceived notions

In order to find an industry or job that suits you, you need to visit as many different companies as possible.

You will gain a lot of insights just by talking to people in human resources, as well as working adults in various industries. As you interact with many people, you will gradually begin to see what you like and what you're good at, so I hope you will take the time to reflect on yourself and pursue what it is that you're truly interested in.

Just as I was attracted to a job in sales, which I only had a negative image of, it is common for the job to be completely different from what you imagined. I would like people to look around at as many industries and job types as possible rather than narrowing down their choices at the beginning of their job search.

The most important thing is to carefully check the company's vision and mission. Ask, "What does this mean specifically?" and make sure they explain it to you in detail. If you feel that you've listened carefully, cherish that feeling. Once you've chosen the company that you think is right for you, it's time to leave it to luck.

Even if you think, "Sales is the only thing I don't want to do," you may end up being assigned to sales, and the department you're assigned to is decided by the human resources department. There's nothing you can do about this.

All you can do is try your best at the job you are given, and trust that doing so will definitely lead to your next career move.

■When applying for a job at a venture company, be sure to meet with the president and confirm the details.

I think it's very important to be able to empathize with the company's mission and vision.

Even if you end up being assigned to a position you didn't want, as long as you're not mistaken, you can wait for the next opportunity. Even if you try to do your best at the job in front of you, it will be difficult to do so if you are not convinced of the company's vision and mission.

In the case of large companies, it is difficult to speak directly with the president, but in the case of venture companies, we strongly recommend meeting the president and listening to what he has to say in person.

In my personal opinion, you can meet the president of a company with up to around 500 employees.

Meeting with the CEO in person can often help you determine whether a company is right for you. In the case of a venture company, be sure to judge the company's true nature from the president's words and personality.

■What will be needed in the future are people who can adapt to change and who have their own generators.

We live in an age of extremely rapid change, so I believe that what will be needed in the future are people who can adapt to change. Specifically, people who are consciously on the lookout for change.

Furthermore, many companies will soon be short of resources, and it will be difficult to provide careful support and care to new employees. This means that there will be a demand for people who have their own generators, which can generate their own electricity without needing to charge it. I believe that people who can think for themselves and act on their own initiative, no matter what happens, will ultimately be "people who can adapt to change."

To achieve this, you can create opportunities to meet and talk with people who are active in society.

I myself was inspired when I attended a gathering of entrepreneurs in my late twenties, and it made me want to aim higher and grow. It's important to actively seek out highly sensitive people. Conversely, if you surround yourself with absent-minded people, you'll remain absent-minded no matter how much time passes.

Nowadays, with the use of social media, it's easy to approach people you want to meet. Meet people who are aiming high and keep an open mind to learn.

People grow and develop when influenced by others. Meet many highly sensitive people who are active in the world and let them influence you in a positive way. It's also a good idea to ask them, "What are you doing to grow as a person?"

■The hurdles to starting a business are not as high as you might think! Don't be afraid to aim to start a business.

Currently, apart from my main job, I am also involved in activities (Shizuoka Innovation Base) to support entrepreneurs in Shizuoka Prefecture, where I was born and raised. This is because I want to pass on to the younger generation the many things I have learned from my seniors who have gone before me.

Finally, I would like to say to all young people who have the ambition to achieve what they want to do with their own efforts, to change Japanese society, and to not be on the employed side that starting a business is one of those paths.

I would like many young people to consider starting a business as an option, because starting a business gives birth to new industries, which in turn create new jobs and lead to economic development.

If you're thinking about starting a business, feel free to come and talk to us. Just as I got a job with the condition that I could quit after three years, we welcome you to use our company as a stepping stone to starting your own business. Please be aware that there are companies out there that want to support entrepreneurship.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on June 1, 2022 by Sakura Saeki, a first-year student at Hosei University