63: Wolfgang Bierer, CEO & Founder, ENDEAVOR SBC

Wolfgang Bierer takes us through his journey of leading various
companies in multiple fields including consulting, fashion and
retail. Mr. Bierer first came to Japan on a youth exchange
program under the German government. He landed an internship with
Hitachi at their software development centre on a six-month
contract initially, and later joined them as a full-time staff.
He recalls being the “only gaijin living in a male dormitory” and
experiencing the raw Japanese working culture “the hard way.”
Already in his 20s, Mr. Bierer worked with clients in the US and
India on development projects, and quickly became unit manager
for his development team. Mr. Bierer then went into consulting
and returned to Germany for four years, becoming more
knowledgeable in management consulting. Mr. Bierer then returned
to Japan with his family to start his own consulting firm,
Endeavor SBC, which celebrated its 17th year in business in
April. Mr. Bierer additionally leads 12 other companies including
1-Stop-Solution.com, Mephisto Japan, Bree Japan and Seeburger
Japan, mainly in the fashion and retail industry.


 


One of Mr. Bierer’s first work through Endeavor was with Adidas
from his old contacts where he learned much about the business
processes within the fashion and sports industry as well as
utilizing SAP. Overtime Mr. Bierer built a business model that
minimized companies from buying inventory to reduce warehouse
costs and improve their profitability. This business model has
become a template for Mr. Bierer’s other retail companies.
Additionally, the company brands managed by Mr. Bierer are sold
by one buyer at Mitsukoshi Isetan, instead of each brand having
multiple staff representing them.


 


For his other companies, although Mr. Bierer has a core team of
managers that take care of the daily operations of each
organization, he himself keeps in close contact with his staff
and clients by holding meetings and selling at the retail stores.
When stepping into a new company, Mr. Bierer takes a process
approach by carefully listening and consulting the team and
looking at the cost drivers to analyze how costs could be
reduced. Once he is set on a certain direction for that company,
Mr. Bierer uses his knowledge and connections to work towards a
set goal with his team. Mr. Bierer explains: “I think overall in
Japan…you need to try to get in the inner circle of your Japanese
team. Like…you need to maybe make a fool out of you at the
karaoke evening, or you need to be approachable and understand
the details. And I think there are many leaders in the ivory
tower [who] don't really know what is [operationally] going on.”


 


By closely communicating with his staff, Mr. Bierer has been able
to build trust with his team. He also adds that by paying his
staff consistently including full timers and temporary staff even
during tough times like COVID, has further developed this trust.
Mr. Bierer also gives incentives by giving out company products
or unexpected rewards from time to time and has received positive
feedback from his team. Mr. Bierer credits the multiple revenue
streams he has from his various companies that secures his staff
and his own lifestyle, as well as his core management team which
allow him to work efficiently between various companies.


 


On advice to new incoming foreign leaders, Mr. Bierer recommends
having a good translator to be able to communicate with the
Japanese team. He also explains that Japanese staff may need more
guidance on their work and leaders need to understand that each
team works differently. Thirdly, Mr. Bierer advises to “be
approachable and not sit on your highchair or somewhere
overlooking [the team]. You need to gain the trust of the people
and show that you actually care.”