Robot Home Co., Ltd. CEO, Furuki Taisaki

Work is an extension of what you love. Turn what you enjoy into a job.

CEO of robot home Inc. 　Furugi Osaki(Great old work)

■ Profile
Born in 1979 in Kagoshima Prefecture. At the age of 21, he devised a sales method using the internet to attract customers at a real estate company in Fukuoka, which was not as popular at the time as it is today. After building up a track record in property sales and purchases, from launching an apartment management website, he founded Investors Co., Ltd. (now Robot Home) in 2006, establishing a novel and unique business model called "apartment management via an app." He has launched various businesses using technology to solve social problems in the real estate industry.

Robot Home is at the forefront of the real estate industry, with the mission of "changing homes and changing the world with technology." The company's founder, Taisaku Furuki, has achieved numerous goals and brought a breath of fresh air to the real estate industry. We spoke to Furuki about his path to founding the company and his thoughts on his work.

■ The desire to "change my weak self" was the starting point for starting a business

My parents ran a civil engineering business in Kagoshima, and I had a comfortable life as a child. However, my father passed away when I was in my third year of junior high school, and my living environment changed dramatically. I then went on to high school, but after being suspended twice it was confirmed that I would have to repeat the year, so I dropped out and worked part-time from the age of 16 to 20. I was the type of person who got excited easily but lost interest quickly, so I tried many part-time jobs.
When I turned around 20, I started to see my classmates around me starting their job hunts and securing job offers from top companies. My friends around me, who had never talked about their futures up until then, suddenly started talking about their future paths, and I felt a sense of crisis about my own future.
Also, I was the type of person who would quit anything I started soon after, so I began to want to change that weak part of me. That's when I remembered my father, who was the president of a civil engineering company. Watching my father as a child, I felt that the world of management was a tough one. So, to change that weak part of me, I thought that I should aim to become a manager just like my father. This feeling was the starting point for starting my own business.
When I thought about what I could do to beat others, even though I only had a junior high school education, I came up with the idea of ​​a "sales job." And to make a huge difference in sales, I wanted to sell things worth a lot of money. So I decided to go into real estate sales.

■ I want to account for half of the 50 billion yen in sales

I joined Sanwa Estate when I was 20 years old. I wanted to join as a salesperson, but since I only had a junior high school education, I started out as a cleaner. However, they had Wednesdays off every week, so I asked if I could work only on Wednesdays, and that's how I got started.
After much trial and error, Sanwa Estate succeeded in receiving its first order for the construction of an apartment building. This led to him finally starting work as a salesman. He was then transferred to the new apartment construction division, and while working there, he thought, "Maybe we can increase sales by attracting customers via the Internet," so he started internet advertising. By the time he was 25, he had achieved such success that his division generated 25 billion yen of the company's 50 billion yen in sales.
Gradually, I gained confidence, and with the desire to "expand this company from top to bottom," I offered various opinions to the company from a managerial perspective. However, doing so often led to conflicts with my superiors. Even when I offered my opinions, I was unable to get budget approval, and decision-making was slow, so I finally thought, "Wouldn't it be quicker if I started my own company?" and decided to go independent.

■ I really enjoy this job

After our founding in 2006, we opened branches in Tokyo and Nagoya three years later and continued to expand steadily. However, the company nearly went bankrupt during the Lehman Shock in 2008. The main reason for this was the early repayment of borrowed funds. As I had a sales background, I realized that I was weak in finance, accounting, and other areas of cash flow. So I studied finance and accounting thoroughly and wondered if I could create an asset-light business model that did not hold inventory.
Although we decided to do it, our sales remained at 2 billion yen for the three years up to 2009, with almost no growth. It was difficult to spread the new business model and to explain it to customers. So, we created a system to make operations easier over the next three years. Thanks to this system, sales reached 10 billion yen in 2013 and we went public in 2015.
Even after going public, we continued to actively invest in technology, such as developing smart home technology using IoT and building a real estate management platform. This has enabled us to evolve from a simple real estate business into a company that uses technology to create the future of housing. We were able to achieve these goals because we enjoyed setting and achieving them.
Our future goal is to achieve sales of 1000 billion yen. Furthermore, we would like to promote automation and efficiency in rental housing using IoT and AI, and set a new standard in the real estate industry.
My driving force is the fact that I just love this job. In fact, I'm very good at creating floor plans for rental housing. When I thought about why I'm good at it, I realized that it's because my parents were in the civil engineering business and I've always loved floor plans. That's why I'm interested in rental housing and never get bored of looking at room plans.
If I were to work with someone, I would like to work with someone who also enjoys their job. Since I have many opportunities to interact with owners, someone who enjoys interacting with people might be good. You don't need to be an expert on real estate at all. I would be happy to work with people who enjoy this job.

■Message to university students

I want all students to do what they love and have fun every day. I myself have been doing what I love, and my current job is an extension of that. I think that's the best way to find a job. That's why I want all university students to make it a priority to pursue what they love to the fullest.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on October 28, 2024 by Maruyama Mitomo, a second-year student at International Christian University

Yusuke Suzuki, fourth-year student at Hosei University; Mirei Murakami, first-year student at Waseda University; and Mitomo Maruyama, second-year student at International Christian University.