Yukio Hayakawa, President and CEO of Joycal Japan Co., Ltd.

Responding to changing needs in today's changing times.

President and CEO of Joycal Japan Co., Ltd.　Yukio Hayakawa(Yukio Hayakawa)

■ Profile
Date of birth: August 5, 1966. Zodiac sign: Hinoeuma
Blood type: O type
Motto: Those without dreams have no ideals, those without ideals have no plans, those without plans have no action, and those without action have no success.
Hobbies: Golf, road biking (I'm willing to try any sport)
Since the company's founding in December 2005, he has served as Founder and COO, driving store development and support from the ground up, and assumed his current position in October 2021.

Joycal Japan Co., Ltd. has adopted the slogan "Changing the way you drive a car. Changing the times. Joycal" until 2025, and is aiming to "make car life more fun and convenient," a goal it set at the time of its founding. In order to realize even more driving suggestions, the company has set a goal of further promoting "DX," and as a transformation company, it maintains a company-wide sense of curiosity and is always taking on new challenges. We spoke to them about what strategies they will adopt in the future in an era when change is also required in the automotive industry.

■ During my student days, I had a strong desire to start a business

During my university days, I was involved in a variety of activities at Jintec, a group venture company of Pasona Group Inc. (then called Temporary Center). There were many students of the same age as me at Jintec, and those who had been involved in companies since their student days were extremely motivated for their work, which was a great inspiration for me. Since I was a child, I had a strong attachment to things and money, so I wanted to start my own business while I was a student. The inspiration I received from those around me during my student days only strengthened this desire. I believe that my experiences as a student have had a major impact on who I am today.

■ Not B to C, but B to B to C

In 1991, I founded an advertising agency, drawing on the experience I had gained since my university days. I received orders from many companies, including Dentsu and Hakuhodo, and was able to grow the agency's annual sales to 1 billion yen. However, there were limits to a flow-type system, which would reset the next month no matter how hard you tried, and with the collapse of the IT bubble, which caused the Nikkei average stock price to fall below 10 yen, the company went bankrupt in 2002. I was interested in shifting from a flow-type business model to a stock-type business model, so I began looking for a new business.
The strength of the advertising industry is that it allows you to gain a lot of experience in achieving results for a variety of companies. While receiving advertising funds from clients, you can devote that time to your own personal growth. As a result, I was able to acquire a wide range of knowledge, literacy, and skills. Wanting to turn this into a stock-based business, I founded Joycal Japan Co., Ltd. in 2005 together with current Chairman Nakamura and current Vice President Iwaki, who has been with me since our student days and has repeatedly started businesses with me.
Meeting Nakamura was the catalyst for us to enter the automotive business. At the time, he was working in the automotive business, and I felt that combining his car business with my skills in advertising, marketing, and systems development would create a new chemical reaction.
We are often asked, "What differentiates us from our competitors?", but the truth is that we don't have many competitors. This is because our company does not manufacture cars itself; we specialize in selling and repairing them. When we say we sell cars, we don't sell them directly, but through our affiliated dealers. In other words, it's a B2B2C model, not a B2C model, so we're more of a management consulting business than a car sales business.

■Continually learning and growing is the way to win the competition

In a normal company, employees work with their superiors, and for better or worse, their growth depends on them. And sadly, you can't choose your superiors. But our company is fundamentally different. Employees usually work with the presidents and store managers of our franchised stores. And not only do we work together, we sometimes provide guidance to the presidents and store managers. This inevitably means we have to learn.
Employees are under pressure to provide sales guidance to the top executives of each company, so they study hard. Most of the learning they receive before entering the workforce is given to them. However, that alone is not enough to win the competition with those around you. That is why you must always have a proactive attitude towards learning. When I was starting out, I didn't choose my work, I just took on any job and learned. What changes when you do this is that the awareness of each and every staff member changes dramatically.
We also pay attention to creating an environment. One of these is our internal Happy Holidays program. This program provides money for people who go out on their days off with other company employees. As part of our internal communication efforts, we created it with consideration for "psychological safety," which was revealed in a survey called "Project Aristotle" conducted by Google in 2012. We would like to continue to create an environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up and want to spend time together on their days off.
What sets us apart from other companies is our in-house sales support system, used by 580 stores nationwide, and our wide variety of payment methods. Some people prefer to pay by credit card, others by cash, and still others prefer to earn airline miles. There are also various loan options, such as semi-annual payments or payments at the time of the first vehicle inspection. As values ​​become more diverse, we aim to meet our customers' needs with our motto, "Changing the way you drive. Changing the times. Joycal."

■Message to university students

Students, please be beasts. I know it may be hard to understand what you mean when you suddenly say "beast," but I believe that people with a hungry spirit like a beast will always achieve success. That's why I want to work with people who are beasts, and I want to be a beast myself. And please have a sense of ownership. Kindness, the ability to listen to those in need and think from the perspective of the people who will actually use the product, will become extremely important in society.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on October 13, 2023 by Chuo University third-year student Renpo Maeda