A casual comment from a bridal planner led to the founding of Gift Pad.Typical gift catalogs which have been widely used in Japan for more than 30 years in wedding events, are bulky and heavy and invited guests felt inconvenience.The business model of replacinga physical catalog with giving unique URLs where receiver can select gift of their choice on the web emerged in response. At first, the bridal planner was requesting possibility ofdeveloping and introducing a system to support typical“Wishing List” widely accepted in the United States, however, based on Sonoda's experience of living in the United States for seven years, he concluded that the practice of the gift recipient requesting "I want this" to create the Wish List would not go well with Japanese culture at that time, so he recommended a web catalog gift instead. The experience of living in a different culture made use of the fact that gifts come in various forms depending on the national character and culture.
Some information about your unique solution or services.
Gift Pad services go beyond the scope of the company name Gift and contribute to solving various issues of companies and local governments.The basic system of delivering a unique URL to the recipient has features unique to Gift Pad.It is also effective as a means of obtaining the tools and information that the user company wants, such as corporate welfare, sales promotion support, point exchange, lottery, and questionnaire collection.Unlike general prepaid cards and social gifts, we can provide an optimized system based on what kind of scene and what companies and local governments want to do.Our greatest strength is that we are constantly developing the core system of Gift Pad while responding to the needs of the market.
The evolution story of the company with the management and interesting incidents.
GiftPad's management team has a wide variety of backgrounds. Sales experience in the real estate industry, former bartender, former member of a major human resources company, SE of a major system company, and CEO Sonoda aspired to become a jazz guitarist while living in the United States, and after returning to Japan, he experienced an English conversation teacher.In addition, the age group was mainly in their 30s, and some of them were in their 20s during the founding period. Based on the experience they have gained in an industry that is far from IT, I feel that this is the reason why we can have broad and honest discussions.Rather than developing a wide range of specific services for To C, communication skills are more important than anything else to solve problems while collaborating with major companies and local governments nationwide. In addition to the uniqueness and superiority of the service, Gift Pad's corporate culture is shaped by the attractiveness of its workers.
Advice to budding entrepreneurs.
As a venture company celebrating 12 years in business, what I can advise entrepreneurs is that it is important to always think about the interests of the other party first. As mentioned earlier, business manners often differ greatly in the same way that national character and culture differ from country to country. However, business cannot be done alone. You cannot continue your business unless you feel that your business model is beneficial not only to those who buy your services and products, but also to your business partners who cooperate with you. The idea that you are strong because you are in a buying position or weak because you are in a position to sell is outdated. What kind of statements and actions are required so that society, including the market, can enjoy the benefits of collaboration is important.Wouldn't it be great if it led to a big leap forward in your own business as a result?
