I love the story of Fujifilm, or as it was known at its inception, Fuji Photo Film. Not only is it an incredible story of how David overcame Goliath, but also how they’ve been able to pivot, commit to the pivot, while still embracing their history.
A Quick History
While Fujifilm started in 1934, they didn’t start producing film for the amateur market until the 1950s. At one point, Kodak sold more film in six weeks than Fujifilm sold in an entire year, and they were always chasing. Kodak had a market share in the US of 90%!
It’s funny how often I think back to Warren Buffet’s rule that he will never invest in a company that is guilty of his ABC – Arrogance, Bureaucracy, and Complacency. The 1984 Olympics in LA was a pivotal moment in Fujifilm’s history and an example of how true Warren Buffet’s rule was, and still is today. While Kodak was at their absolute peak, they turned down an offer from the Olympic organisers to be a sponsor; arrogance and complacency. Fujifilm jumped at the opportunity, and the result was that Fujifilm gained 50,000 distributors. Almost overnight, Fujifilm went from a complete underdog to a rival to Kodak.
Kodak actually developed a digital camera in 1975, but they shelved the project, fearing that it would cannibalise their business. In all fairness, it was also probably pretty difficult to see digital imaging overcoming film in 1975. But their continued arrogance meant that they wouldn’t release their first digital camera until 1995, whereas Fujifilm embraced the technology and released the FUJIX DS-1P in 1988, the first consumer digital camera available in the market.
Unfortunately, it was too costly to manufacture and too expensive for consumers, and by 2001, film still made up about two-thirds of Fujifilm’s business. While they didn’t stop producing digital cameras, their focus remained on analogue. In 2003, sales of film dropped precipitously by one-third in less than a year, dropping by about an additional 30% per year. By 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy.
Fujifilm’s response was first to slash 5,000 jobs and cut production down. But they embraced the technology and expertise that they’d been nurturing over the decades and utilised it to diversify into other markets. Their research and development into film amassed them a library of over 20,000 chemical compounds. They realised that the technology they’d developed had other applications.
In 2006, the same year that they slashed 5,000 jobs, they also invested in a $400 million research facility focused completely on developing new business ventures. From this research facility, Fujifilm diversified into pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, skincare, televisions, data storage devices, and hardware for printing.
Today, film for photography accounts for less than 1% of the company’s profits. But Fujifilm continues to support photo film, dedicated to protecting the photography culture. Their CEO, Shigetaka Komori, announced that no matter how small it gets, Fujifilm would continue to keep the culture alive, protect it, and cultivate it. He said that no matter what, they will not get rid of photography.
A wonderful story about how dedicated they are to protecting this culture is in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake (The Great Tohoku Earthquake). Twenty-two thousand people were confirmed dead or missing, and entire villages were wiped out by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that followed. Of course, people went back afterwards to look for precious items; safes, money, documents, etc. But something that people ended up really focusing on was old photographs. Realising this, Fujifilm sent 1,500 volunteers to find, clean, and restore photos. Millions of photos were restored because of this effort.
What Can We Learn as Small Business Owners?
We’ve already talked about the dangers of Arrogance, Bureaucracy, and Complacency. But Fujifilm’s story also teaches us a number of things.
We Don’t Just Grow, We Also Learn
Fujifilm amassed a library of about 20,000 chemical compounds that they developed for photo film. They were able to use this research towards diversifying their business. On a very small level, every single thing that we do, every single day, adds to our own libraries. It might not be in the form of chemical compounds, but in experience and wisdom, and if we can take from these learnings, we can apply this knowledge and experience to what we do in the future.
As an example, I used to visit suppliers and factories regularly to source products. I would see firsthand how factories did quality control. I was able to learn from this and apply it to how our team works on projects to ensure clients that their projects are taken care of.
Learn To Pivot
In the great and wise meme-ified words of Ross Gellar, “PIVOT!!!”. The world changes around us. I was told many years ago that it is highly unlikely that the business we started 20 years ago will still be the same business we operate 20 years later. We must adapt, not only to new technologies but also to the market.
Courage and Bravery
Like I said in a previous article, it’s scary to start something new or venture into the unknown. Whether it’s a pivot in our business model or developing your brand, not only do we need to be brave in initiating the change, but we also need the courage and conviction to see it through to its logical end.
There will be many people that will disagree, and there will be plenty of naysayers. But as business owners, we also need to have the conviction to continue. As Mr. Komori says, “Management isn’t a democracy.” As business owners, we need to fully embrace our vision for our teams to buy into. We can ask for opinions, we can seek guidance, and we should definitely lean on the insights of others, but we cannot lead by committee. A general on a battlefield certainly has advisors that they lean on to help towards making a decision, but it falls on the general to make the decision. This means that it is not only on us to make decisions, but it is on us to take ownership of those decisions.
Embrace Our Brand
The reason I love the story about what Fujifilm did in the aftermath of The Great Tohoku Earthquake is that this wasn’t an act of virtue washing. The Fujifilm team embraced their brand, their core values, and assisted in something that they believed in. To Fujifilm, photography survives as monuments of reality. Pictures represent the moments of someone’s life. It was a gap in the support for survivors of the earthquake that Fujifilm was uniquely qualified to fill. If you’re interested in reading more about the Photo Rescue Project, you can read all about it here: Photo Rescue Project | Fujifilm Global.
It’s a lesson to us as small businesses to lean into our brand and embrace our core values. Seth Godin has been saying in recent years that marketing is now about “People like us do things like this.” And that’s exactly what Fujifilm did.
These are just a few ways that I’ve found that we, as small businesses, can learn and apply from Fujifilm’s illustrious history.
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