Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo
Featured Member - Melanie Brock

Interview -July 2006

Melanie Brock - Agenda
Managing Director

Agenda Profile
Established in 2003, formerly ‘Bear Creek Japan’, distributing dry soup products to high-end supermarkets including Daimaru Peacock, Meidi-ya, National Azabu and Nissin World Delicatessen

Re-branded Agenda in 2006 – with a business focus on consulting, importing and distributing products from hand-selected high-end gourmet food and beverage companies from Australia, UK, USA and India

Solely owned and operated by Melanie Brock, who first came to Japan in 1982, returning in 1996 as a translator for the Australian Embassy in Tokyo

It is the only company of its kind in Tokyo, who:
•         have an Australian managing director and owner with a 15 year history living in Japan and an intimate understanding of the Japanese culture and business landscape. This puts Agenda’s suppliers at a significant advantage for marketing, distributing and managing their gourmet brands in Japan.
•         have the full range of services for import and distribution from a small, agile, bilingual team, brand management and a sought after network of high-end clients needed to make trade in Japan successful.
•         are the only company who represent such a large number of niche, gourmet food companies, in June 2006; 25 in total. The majority are from Australia and the majority of those from Melanie’s home state of Western Australia.

Melanie Brock Profile
A proud and successful bilingual business woman, originally from Western Australia, Melanie started by supporting West Australian companies in 2003. She was employed as an interpreter at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, and has lived in Japan for 15 years, giving her the extensive cultural understanding vital to doing business in Japan.

By making trade possible with the Asia market, particularly one as sophisticated as Japan, gives smaller boutique companies the credentials and prestige they may not otherwise be able to boast, further contributing to the perception of Australian companies in Japan.

Agenda’s suppliers are all boutique, high-end food and beverage companies who would most likely be unable to trade with the speed and success that Agenda can offer in such a demanding market place. Agenda makes export and distribution possible in the sophisticated and rigorous Japanese market. Melanie has a keen sense of what the Japanese consumer is looking for and operates with the finesse and sensitivity vital to doing business in Japan for the long term.

1. When did you start your first business? What was it? What lessons did you take away from that experience?
My first business was a small business called  'LobEx’.  We sold frozen Western Australia crayfish to Japanese tourists returning to Japan from holidays in Australia.  We used to have to get up very early (4AM)  and pack the frozen lobsters into small eskies, deliver them to the airport and meet the customers who took them back as 'omiyage' to Japan.  
 
I learnt a lot about the need to be flexible where customers are concerned - late orders, extra requirements, and importance of holding sufficient stock but not too much.  I learnt valuable lessons about 'kuchi komi' style advertising and how hard you had to work to keep people buying your goods/services. 

2. What are some of the challenges you have faced in starting your business and how did you overcome them?
Difficulty accepting some elements of Japanese business, retail/distribution/wholesale world is a very different and traditional world with its own style/vocabulary and modus operandi.    Sometimes counting to 10 and walking around the block are the only ways to cope - learning to accept you can't change everything but chipping away at some things in the hope you can influence some change. 

3. How did you form your business? (Yugen Kaisha, Kabushiki   Kaisha, etc.) How long did the start-up process take?
Ours is a KK - we originally set up as a 1 yen KK under the government’s newly established ’let’s promote business' guidelines.   Often, however, clients would ask whether we were a 'real' KK or a 1 yen KK and this led me to the decision we would need to become a ’real’  KK.  All in all, the process took about 4-6 weeks. 

4. Where do you see your business in 5 years?
I hope that in five years time, the business will have evolved with clearer lines/systems marking the different divisions, namely importation, consulting and translation.   I hope to have the business generating sufficient revenue to justify recruiting more staff, staff dedicated to specific areas and accounts.    

5. Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Why?
I do.  Perhaps because I see myself as being flexible enough to make changes as and when required and having a pile of energy to get things up and running. 

6. What is your definition of an entrepreneur?
Someone who is tenacious, is prepared to work like a navvy, has great vision, can keep people around him/her motivated, fun-loving and has loads of energy.

7. What piece of advice would you give to a person wanting to start his or her own business in Japan?
Be ready for the long-haul. 

8. Can you recommend any resources such as books, websites, or support centers for entrepreneurs in Japan?
This EA-Tokyo website.  I would also recommend that people read as many Japanese publications as possible. 

9. Who are your mentors in business?
I recently met the founder of a company we import product for and he has become somewhat of a mentor.  He has great vision and a refreshing approach. He is very kind and free with his advice. 
My parents have always been in small-business and we grew up knowing the 'customer came first' - even if it meant trips down to the shop in the evening or on Sundays  to get customers something they had forgotten to buy.  My parents worked very hard in an effort to grow the business and were very well-respected in the local community for supporting that very community.

10. What makes you happy?
My boys, my friends, fine white wine from Western Australia and flat whites!