OWNER & OPERATOR
4N PRODUCTIONS
Costa Mesa & Los Angeles CA
April 1997 - February 2014
As the owner and operator of 4N Productions, I gained a tremendous amount of experience and achieved things I never dreamed possible when we began the company. At the age of nineteen I was performing real-world business activities and learning how to be a professional, on the job. The personal and professional growth that I developed throughout my seventeen years with the company cannot be quantified easily. Together with my business partner Mr. Masashi Ochi, we accomplished many great things and had some amazing experiences along the way. Below is a timeline account of the development and growth of 4N Productions, and my role in that process.
INTRODUCTION
How It All Started
Just as I was graduating from FIDM, I was contacted by a good friend of mine from high school (Mr. Masashi Ochi). He was a Japanese exchange student and he had an idea for a clothing company he wanted to start. He had traveled back and forth from Japan and Southern California for several years, and noticed that there was a growing popularity of American surf style clothing in Japan. Most of these brands originated and operated out of Orange County, CA. He knew I was went to a fashion design college, and asked if I would be interested in partnering with him on this new company. After hearing his ideas, and weighing my options, I decided to take a chanced, and bet on myself. We began with the idea that we would both design and produce our own line of T-shirts, as well as export products from local companies to Japan. I named the company 4N Productions. The name “4N” was meant to sound like the word "foreign". Our initial project investment was in a brick and mortar retail store in Matsuyama Japan called Beach Cruisers. This store gave us a face in Japan and opened the door for our business to grow.
4N CLOTHING
Turning My Passion Into a Career
As long as I can remember, I have been drawing. Over the years I expanded my abilities, and developed my skills. I utilized these skills to design a full line of graphic t-shirts for my clothing company called 4N Clothing. After creating several t-shirt designs, I managed all of the aspects of the production of the shirts. We then sold these shirts in our retail store, as well as used them for promotional purposes in Japan.
I painted this sign on the side of our store. This sign was 10 feet tall, and 20 feet wide!
This picture was taken during the construction of the store interior.
I designed the logo for the store.
We sold Volcom Clothing in the store.
Beach Cruisers was the only store in Japan selling BZ Bodyboards.
Walling surfboards were exclusively available at Beach Cruisers.
We sold Aleeda Wetsuits at our store.
Beach Cruisers was the first store in Japan to sell Roial.
BEACH CRUISERS
Matsuyama, Japan
1999
Opening a surf shop in Japan was a dream come true for me. It took a lot of coordination and hard work to manage all of the aspects required to open a retail store, half way around the world. This store was the gateway to our future successes in Japan and provided me with a wealth of experience that I have utilized throughout my professional career. Beach Cruisers was a small, but unique surf shop that had a distinctly California feel to it. We sold men’s and women’s clothing, wetsuits, surfboards, skateboards, bodyboards, and accessories for all of the above. We focused on selling cool and undiscovered brands from the Southern California area. Among these brands was a clothing company called Roial Cloth Development. This brand would later help pave the way to future growth and success for 4N Productions. Over time, as we expanded our business practices, we eventually sold the store to the brother of my business partner to focus on new ventures.
ROIAL INTL. CLOTHING
Negotiations For Exclusive Japanese Distribution
Shortly after opening our retail store, we began searching for opportunities to expand the business. Through our involvement in a growing network of industry professionals in Japan, we were able to find a company out of Tokyo (Jamgle Jam LLC) that was interested in distributing one of the brands we were selling in our store. The name of that brand was Roial Intl. Cloth Development and it was an up and coming surf style clothing brand out of Huntington Beach California. The brand was started by two local professional surfers, and had a unique and edgy style. I took it upon myself to ensure that this business venture would happen, and that 4N could profit from this partnership. My business partner and I met the interested investors in Tokyo, and together we developed a plan for the distribution of Roial in Japan. I then presented this plan to the owners of Roial, and began the negotiations for the exclusive distribution agreement between Roial Clothing, and Jamgle Jam Distributions for all of Japan. This process was to be one of the most challenging task of my career. Through arduous negotiations and countless meetings, the contract was eventually signed, and the partnership between Roial, Jamgle Jam, and 4N had been solidified. This revenue and experience helped to expand our business enterprises and opened up future business opportunities for us.
ROIAL RETAIL STORE DEVELOPMENT
Tokyo, Japan
2001
Shortly after the signing of the exclusive distribution agreement, we began the development of the Roial Cloth Development flagship store in Shibuya Tokyo. Opening the store was a monumental undertaking, and I played a vital role in the process. All of the fixtures for this store were custom designed and produced in Long Beach, CA, and shipped to the store in Tokyo. I handled all of the shipping logistics for this delivery, and the fixtures arrived on time and in good condition. I was hands-on in the set-up of the store’s development, from design to installation. We worked day and night to put to store together, in time for its grand opening on April 1st, 2001. When it was completed, what we created was a modern boutique-style surf shop, in the heart of Tokyo’s hottest fashion district. It gave a new image to what was considered typical surf fashion, and gave the brand an identity it could use for expanded distribution throughout Japan.
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4N CO. LTD TRADING COMPANY
Tokushima, Japan
2001
After the success of the Roial flagship retail store, my partner and I were looking for new potential business opportunities. We were able to make contact with a potential angel investor (Mr. Yasuhito Okumura) from Tokushima, who was impressed with our youthful and innovative business spirit. He wanted to invest in a trading company, specializing in American-made goods. He asked us to find some potential products to import and distribute in Japan. After doing our research, we found a product niche that had huge growth potential, and have very little market penetration. It was the indoor gardening market. More specifically the Hydroponic gardening market. The investor was impressed with our presentation and offered us an investment to establish the trading company known as 4N Co.,Ltd. We began by opening our office headquarters and distribution warehouse in Tokushima. From there we hired a small staff, and began to process of developing our standard operating procedures, and expanding our product lines. Below is an account of the brands we distributed throughout Japan.
DIAMOND GARDEN SUPPLY
Hydroponic Gardening in Japan
Many Japanese cities are highly populated and compact. There is very little room for gardens in most urban homes. Hydroponic gardening allows people the opportunity to grow an unlimited variety of plants, in a much smaller, cleaner, and water efficient way. It is for that reason why we took to opportunity becoming the first company to bring hydroponic gardening products to the Japanese retail consumer. I began by negotiating the exclusive Japanese distribution and branding rights for Diamond Garden Supply. Additionally, we worked with a plant nutrient manufacturer (Nutrient Technologies) to develop a proprietary hydroponic plant nutrient line of products called “Utopia” nutrients. In order to legally import and sell these nutrients, we had to work with the Japanese government and their rigorous testing facilities in order to register the products for legal import into Japan. I was responsible for providing all of the required data and documentation for the completion of each registration. We were able to successfully register all seven of our proprietary liquid hydroponic plant nutrients. After registering our nutrients, and establishing a complete product line, we began the sales and distribution process. We secured accounts with several small retailers, as well as a large corporate hardware store called Tokyu Hands.
As we continued to expand our hydroponic product distribution, we were simultaneously searching for additional products to import from America to Japan. Below are more products and brands we added to our distribution portfolio.
WALLIN SURFBOARDS
Getting Back to Our Roots
Adding Wallin Surfboards to our products distribution portfolio was an easy decision. We had been selling their surfboards from the opening of Beach Cruisers, and I had a good working relationship with the company. I worked closely with the owner of Wallin to ensure our orders were completed and delivered accurately, and undamaged. In adding Wallin Surfboards to our distribution lines, we kept to our roots, and gave ourselves an additional revenue stream.
Expanding Our Portfolio
NORTHERN LIGHTS CANDLES
As we continued to look for potential products to offer, I discovered a high quality candle company out of Wellsville New York, called Northern Lights Candles. I reached out to the owner of the company and obtained exclusive Japanese distribution rights for their products. I worked closely with our sales reps to ensure our orders were accurate and on time. I then worked with freight forwarders to ensure the products were shipped from New York to Japan, on time, and at the best possible price. I negotiated discount pricing, and maintained line of communication between Northern Lights Candles, our freight forwarders, and my partners in Japan. We continued to import and distribute Northern Lights Candles for more than fifteen years.
If you would like to learn more about Northern Lights Candles, please click the button below to visit their website
MARKETING & PROMOTIONS
A major aspect of my work with 4N Productions was marketing and promotions. Due to the fact that we offered a wide variety of products, we utilized several different types of media and promotional outlets. Below are a few examples of some of my marketing and promotional efforts from my time with 4N Productions.
Wallin Surfboards – We implemented a mostly grass-roots marketing approach for Wallin surfboards. We featured Wallin in the largest surfing magazine in Japan called Surfstyle Magazine, for the annual surfing catalog. Our boards were also featured in Surfing World Magazine, aand Nissan used our boards in their advertising. We worked closely with local shops, sponsored local surfers. We built a solid customer base for Wallin Surfboards in the Shikoku and Kansai regions of Japan.
Diamond Garden Supply – Hydroponic gardening was unfamiliar to the Japanese market. In order to introduce it to the market, we wanted to reach a wide variety of demographics. We exhibited at large garden industry trade shows such as the East Asian Horticultural Fair in Fukuoka, and the Tokyo Garden Show at Tokyo’s Big Site Convention center. I designed our trade show booth to look like a greenhouse, and I had it custom built in Santa Barbara, and shipped it to Japan. I also assisted in the design and production of product flyers that we distributed at trade shows and at our retail outlets. In addition to our mainstream advertising efforts, we also focused on attracting a younger demographic to Hydroponics. We advertised at local club events, and sponsored several singers and rappers from the Kansai area of Japan. Through these affiliations, we were able to rapidly establish our Diamond Brand products into the market.
Below are a few examples of our marketing efforts for 4N Productions
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DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Graphic Design
Market Research
Retail Development
Product Sourcing
Vendor Relations
Purchasing
Shipping & Receiving
Quality Control
Contract Negotiations
Accounting
Marketing & Promotion
Project Management
IN THE END
I officially closed 4N Productions in February of 2014. After nearly Seventeen years of business, we had come to a point of stagnation. My partners in Japan were unable to build upon the successes we enjoyed in the early years of our business. The economic downturn of 2008 in the United States had a dramatic effect on the Japanese economy as well, and it became increasingly difficult to expand our market share and grow sales. Eventually my Japanese partners and I decided to shut down the company and move on independently.
Although closing 4N Productions was a huge decision for me professionally, it was even more significant to me personally. My entire identity revolved around the company and my dealings with Japan. However, I had been prepared for that eventuality and had planned accordingly. I was already working on other side businesses (Hydrostar Hydroponics), and was actually working another full time job (Northwestern Inc.) for the final few years of 4N Productions.
I look back on my experience with 4N Productions extremely fondly. At an age when most people are still living with their parents and sitting in classrooms, I was working on international business deals, and learning in a real world environment. I met, and worked with so many wonderful people, and I accomplished more than I could have imagined when we started. I know that the experience I gained by starting my own company is something that cannot be learned in a classroom, and has molded me into the professional that I am today.