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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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 Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:39 am Post subject: Gyudon war and the new JPN mentality of business |
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Gyudon war and the new JPN mentality of business.
It the past few years the gyudon wars has really taken off. Guydons used to cost almost 500yen for a bowl. Now the prices have collapsed to 250yen of so for a reg bowl. McDonald's is also jumping into this mess.With their Big Macs and 1/4 pounders going for 200yen.
This is good for us consumers, but it is terrible for business. I know that the gyudon companies loose money each time they sell an under-priced bowl. Prolly same goes for McD's.
Now as for us. I work at a kids eikaiwa. Near the station that one of my schools is, there are several other eikaiwas. Shane's is offering a native course, where it is only a native speaker who is a teacher, and it is 6000yen a month, for 4 50min classes. Now that is friggin cheap. It seems like this race to the bottom is becoming the norm with the econ being what it is.
Are all the companies just trying to see who will b the last to be bankrupt, or what? Selling things consistantly for a loss is not what I call a good business plan. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:41 am Post subject: |
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| Depends on how low they are paying their teachers, too. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:59 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| Depends on how low they are paying their teachers, too. |
True, but that is also part of the race to the bottom. Who can hit the floor last wins. That includes paying employees as well as prices. |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: Gyudon war and the new JPN mentality of business |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
It seems like this race to the bottom is becoming the norm with the econ being what it is.
Are all the companies just trying to see who will b the last to be bankrupt, or what? Selling things consistantly for a loss is not what I call a good business plan. |
Sometimes it is though because if you have more capital you can undercut the opposition until they go out of business trying to compete. Of course NOVA tried this and smacked the bottom out of lesson fees and salaries but they went bankrupt before the opposition.  |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:21 pm Post subject: Re: Gyudon war and the new JPN mentality of business |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
It seems like this race to the bottom is becoming the norm with the econ being what it is.
Are all the companies just trying to see who will b the last to be bankrupt, or what? Selling things consistantly for a loss is not what I call a good business plan. |
Sometimes it is though because if you have more capital you can undercut the opposition until they go out of business trying to compete. Of course NOVA tried this and smacked the bottom out of lesson fees and salaries but they went bankrupt before the opposition. |
That's what I was saying, but it sounds like a Russian Rullette way to run things. How much longer can Yoshinoya and the likes take a loss on every sale they make? |
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Mr_Monkey
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 661
Location: Kyuuuuuushuuuuuuu
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:00 am Post subject: |
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Do they make a loss on the product?
If it's a loss-leader, they can afford to.
McDonald's make their money on fries and drinks - 30p for 20% more of 5p is a massive markup.
Perhaps the McELT comparison doesn't hold here. |
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kotoko
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:24 am Post subject: |
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| But isn't it the Japanese mentality to be more interested in the more expensive product? If you gave them 2 tvs, exactly the same, one being 5 man and the second being 7 man, they'd instantly want the 7 man one more, believing it was of better quality? |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:24 am Post subject: |
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| kotoko wrote: |
| But isn't it the Japanese mentality to be more interested in the more expensive product? If you gave them 2 tvs, exactly the same, one being 5 man and the second being 7 man, they'd instantly want the 7 man one more, believing it was of better quality? |
That's a sweeping generalization most Japanese I know love going to the sales when the two tvs are half-price. Presumably they wouldn't do such sales if making them cheaper suddenly made them way less desirable.  |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| Mr_Monkey wrote: |
Do they make a loss on the product?
If it's a loss-leader, they can afford to.
McDonald's make their money on fries and drinks - 30p for 20% more of 5p is a massive markup.
Perhaps the McELT comparison doesn't hold here. |
McDs makes a ton on fries and drinks, but also usually doesn't lose money on it's burgers.
While Yoshinoya and the crew really don't sell anything besides bowls. I mean they almost don't even sell drinks.
While Eikaiwas and the ALT co only have one product. Not sure how you can sell your only product for a loss. Even if you can make it up wih new students fees, as that helped kick Nova in the @$$. |
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kotoko
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
That's a sweeping generalization most Japanese I know love going to the sales when the two tvs are half-price. Presumably they wouldn't do such sales if making them cheaper suddenly made them way less desirable. |
The tv was just an example..
In the international centre in Nagoya there is a board for people wanting to do private lessons. When I was a fresh faced college student on my year in Japan, I put up a notice there too. Thinking that since I'd not graduated yet, and that I was only looking for some experience, I set my price at 2000 for an hour. I sat down to study at a nearby table and watched people go past my advert. As people were walking past they were saying "wow, her lessons are so cheap, she must be a really bad teacher."
While that was before I knew the ropes of English teaching, I think it still stands that a lot of Japanese people would pay a little bit more for something that has a well known name (40% of the world's designer goods are bought by Japanese people) or by a company they trust (how many non-Japanese cars do you see on the roads? If you go to America you certainly see a good mix.)
With the gyuudon stuff, the restaurants are already well known. People have their favorites and if they are selling their wares at a cheaper price then it's like getting a discount. If Shane's (a well known school) is giving cheap lessons it might bring down the price of other schools but I'd expect that new, cheap schools without a reputation would fail in such an environment. Japanese customers aren't willing to take a risk on newcomers, however cheap (BoEs and the government are slightly different, however).
I know my arguement isn't so well structured but perhaps you can get my meaning... ? |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:03 am Post subject: |
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| kotoko wrote: |
| I know my arguement isn't so well structured but perhaps you can get my meaning... ? |
No problem!  Actually I think it isn't just Japanese though. I you saw a TV made by Sharp for 6 man and then saw a TV made by Flimbo for 4 man which would you buy? many would choose the Sharp TV because it has a more trustable name.  |
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