Noritoshi Kanai didn’t plan to become a sushi pioneer.

He came to the United States with a different product, a Japanese biscuit. His export business aimed to bring Japanese food to the United States for homesick transplants and their descendants.

It was a hit untilcompetition came in with imitators and stole his market.

But Kanai learned a lesson:

Sell something unique and avoid a sea of competition.

So, he pivoted to an ‘at the time’ radical strategy. Raw fish.

Kanai had to persuade a Little Tokyo restaurant operator to take the gamble. He pressed his case for six months before winning approval to construct a counter where customers could watch chefs slice cuts of fish.

Shortly after opening the counter, curious eaters started showing up. Kanai saw a future and persisted.

His firm, Mutual Trading, has stayed in business for over 50 years and employed hundreds of people. Want to stick around? Be different.

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