Enterpreneur Gary Kolman always loved Japan: the people, the culture, the opportunities. Over the last 25 years, Kolman has made more than 60 trips to Japan. With each one, he strengthened and deepened his relationships.
At the same time, Kolman observed a daring spirit of entrepreneurship among the leaders of buying groups called Communications Businesses, or Cbs. "One of these men actually got a private pilot's license," says Kolman. "You just don't find that in Japan." These unusual leaders head privately held networks that sell a wide variety of products and services via motivated direct-sales distributors.
Today, the gregarious 56-year-old Kolman has forged a partnership that combines "American creativity with Japanese tenacity, logic, and long-range vision," he says.
As a fan of network marketing, Kolman knew that 52 percent of all goods and services in Japan are marketed or sold through some form of networking organization. Kolman also realized that the complexity of Japanese law regulating distribution - something that tended to scare off others - could be an opportunity; he promptly hired a top Japanese law firm to give him an edge. And, he knew there existed in Japan a potential demand for high-quality U.S.-made products for skin, hair, and nutrition - but only if they were fine-tuned for the tastes and needs of Asian consumers. Finally, Kolman knew that previous deals - from network marketing to real estate - had left many Japanese distrustful of American entrepreneurs. Kolman's relationships were long-standing. "I knew I could build a partnership on trust," he said.
One close friend was Nobuyuki Sakuma. Other key players included the leaders of large networks such as Takuya Kuriyama, Masaharu Kuroda, and Seiichi Yoshinaga, who had created an organization with a downline of 170,000 individuals. Together they formed a buying group call Han-No-Kai ("The Flower Club"), which is on track for having 50,000 distributors by next April - the first anniversary of the business.
Today, Kolman's company, Pinnacle International, inventories products at its facility in Orem, Utah, then ships orders to residences across Japan. Launched in April with 7 products, Pinnacle now has a line of 57. "We're the largest Airborne Express customer in Utah shipping to Japan," says Kolman.
Recently, Kolman visited Tokyo to present awards to some 120 Hana-No-Kai distributors who had achieved the level of Star Executive.
Pinnacle is developing a much wider range of products, from leather goods to cologne. "Whatever they want, we'll get for them, but it must be quality," says Kolman.
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