Yuji Iishi, President and CEO of NATTYSWANKY Holdings Co., Ltd.　

2024.05.11

It was a huge hit, realizing the idea of "I wish there was an izakaya like this!"

President and CEO of NATTYSWANKY Holdings Co., Ltd.　Yuji Iishi　(Iseki Yuji)

■ Profile

Born in Tokyo in 1974. Worked in IT-related jobs from 1995. Left the company to go independent and founded Natty Swanky Ltd. (now Natty Swanky Holdings Co., Ltd.) in November 2001. Opened "Dandadan Meat Juice Gyoza" in 2011, where he continues to operate to this day. Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers in 2019.

Dandadan, a gyoza izakaya restaurant with meat-based gyoza, was founded by NATTY SWANKY in 2011. With the motto of being an izakaya restaurant that has long been loved by locals, it has now expanded to 136 stores. But how did such a popular restaurant come to be founded? We take a closer look at the appeal of NATTY SWANKY, who not only puts effort into the popularity of his restaurants, but also into developing his own staff.

■Meeting my entrepreneurial partner

I studied business administration in college, but quit after just three months. The frequent class cancellations were disheartening, especially since I was paying half of my tuition myself. Just as I reached my destination after a steep climb from the station, I saw a notice of class cancellation on the bulletin board. It seemed ridiculous that a class that cost about 5000 yen per class would be canceled due to the professor's personal reasons. Not only did I not want to waste my tuition, but I also couldn't accept the excitement surrounding the class cancellations. After dropping out of college, I worked part-time for about two years. I left home to avoid relying on my parents, and my days were filled with part-time work. I had a variety of experiences, including working at a fish processing plant, a pickle shop, and a snack bar at the National Stadium. I loved working. Looking back, I never once found my job boring. It was around this time that I met Tanaka, with whom I would later found a company. I had a favorite ramen shop that I frequented five times a week, and he worked there. He was so young yet so brilliant, I was amazed that he could remember all the orders verbally for 30 people. After we bumped into each other at another location, we went out for drinks together and started talking about our futures. At the time, I was working for a company that made network systems for schools, and we were both thinking about starting our own businesses, so I think we got along well on that point as well. After starting our businesses together, Tanaka ended up running a ramen shop and I ran a dining bar.

■I want to open an izakaya that mainly serves gyoza.

The main reason I created "Dandadan Meat Juice Gyoza" was because I loved gyoza. At the time, I was the owner and manager of a dining bar, and I would often ask my customers, "Do you like gyoza?" Not a single person ever said, "I don't like gyoza." Despite this, I realized that most gyoza-eating opportunities were at ramen shops or at home, and there were no restaurants that focused on gyoza. It was the kind of restaurant I wanted, and I thought it would be well-received in terms of customer demand. I've always been the type of person who, whenever I went to a restaurant, I would notice things like the taste, presentation, and interior, and wonder, "Why aren't they doing it this way?" Perhaps observing others and thinking about what I would do differently led to my ideal restaurant. However, running a ramen shop and dining bar was a mundane business, and things didn't go well. But without growth, I couldn't raise salaries or protect my employees. So, in the 10th year since our founding, we decided to put everything into opening our third store, "Dandadan Meat Juice Gyoza."

■ Cherish the customers who come to your store

"Dandadan Meat Juice Gyoza" has grown to 136 locations, and the reason for that is undoubtedly the deliciousness of its gyoza. You never get tired of them, no matter how many times you eat them. Tanaka originally ran a ramen shop, so he had the know-how to make gyoza. Focusing solely on gyoza, the current gyoza was born after much trial and error. Of course, there were challenges when we first opened. We opened our first store on January 19, 2011, but the Great East Japan Earthquake struck shortly thereafter, and Tokyo experienced supply shortages and rolling power outages. Even with supermarkets and convenience stores closed, we kept our store open no matter what, so as not to disappoint our customers who made the effort to come and eat at our restaurant. We used various ingenious methods, such as providing candles and headlamps for extra light, cooking rice just before the rolling power outages, and lining polystyrene containers with aluminum foil to keep them warm. Since supermarkets were short of supplies at the time, our customers were very grateful. Furthermore, in March 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak hit, sales fell to one-third of the previous year due to the impact of self-restraint measures, but the company was fortunate to have an employee with experience working for a major delivery company, and was able to respond by promoting delivery. Nothing makes them happier than seeing their customers happy, so the fact that they are always thinking about their customers may be one of the reasons for their success.

■The deciding factor for restaurants is "people"

In the restaurant industry, talent determines the future. Good food is a given, but the atmosphere, location, and pricing also play a role in the evaluation. And finally, it's the people. Low ratings on Google and other sites aren't due to the quality of the food, but mostly to dissatisfaction with the customer service. Unlike fast food restaurants, izakayas have many points of contact with customers, so customer service is even more important. Essentially, the restaurant industry is like a downward spiral from start to finish, with less than 10% of establishments lasting for 10 years. Poor customer service can ruin everything, even if the food is delicious. Customers won't want to come back. That's why we place such importance on communication with our customers. For example, to create more time for our customers, we focused on streamlining invisible processes like ordering. This means reducing behind-the-scenes work and increasing the time we spend interacting with them. And even now, we continue to make improvements, such as reducing the time it takes to fry gyoza to just a few seconds. It's our constant desire to please our customers that allows us to innovate until we arrive at the optimal solution.

■Message to university students

I think it's good to have a variety of people in a company. However, people who expect too much from others will not be able to find their work enjoyable or interesting wherever they go. If you don't expect too much from others, you will be able to think independently. I feel that if you think that not everything will go the way you want it to, you will be able to take everything as your own personal matter, and you will be able to absorb and grow more quickly. I hope that everyone will aim to be "someone who can think independently."

Interview with Sophia University sophomore, Himari Shirasaka, published November 6, 2024 on Student Newspaper Online