Turning Japanese with perfect timing

Tim Williams counts the Terrace Downs resort in Canterbury among his investments. Photo / Supplied

At the age of 38, Tim Williams already has a CV that would make Sir Richard Branson proud.

The serial entrepreneur is an obvious example of how business success is not only about executing a clever idea well, but can sometimes be a matter of landing in the right place, at exactly the right time.

For Williams, who has a background in biotech, that place happened to be Japan in the early 90s.

Sixteen years ago the Kiwi quit his job at an Auckland hospital to visit his brother in Tokyo, and ended up staying. Since then he has helped pioneer internet marketing, has taken two companies public (becoming the first foreigner to do so in Japan), and is now dabbling in a variety of ventures, including trying to turn the beer-swilling Japanese into a nation of wine-lovers.

Talking about his experiences, Williams is constantly forced to cut long stories into short ones. The condensed version is that he and his best friend and business partner in Japan, fellow Kiwi Johnny Hendricksen, were brainstorming business ideas at a barbecue in 1996 when they decided the Japanese just might take to a new thing called the internet.

Even though neither knew anything about computers, they started Japan's first web hosting company. For a while, neither was making enough money to give up his day job, and to supplement their incomes they exported used cars.

"Johnny was working at Canon at the time, and I was doing medical editing. Johnny was taking Customs support calls to his mobile phone in the office and if the phone rang, he had to take a toilet break."

Eventually the hosting business took off, and through friends they were introduced to a fledgling internet advertising company in the United States called ValueClick. The pair ending up launching ValueClick in Japan, and in May 2000 took it public.

"It was quite a crazy ride. It was the first company ever taken public by foreigners in Japan, which sounds a bit freaky, but it's the truth."

After that they further developed the concept of internet marketing with a company called ValueCommerce. These days ValueCommerce distributes around 600 million ads a day on the internet. "About two million people click on one of those ads and about 3 per cent of those people buy something. The average transaction in Japan is approximately 90,000 ($1380). We sit in the middle; we're just like the bus drivers - we clip the ticket."

In July 2006 Williams and Hendricksen sold a major stake in the company to Yahoo Japan, which is bigger than Google in Japan, and floated the rest on the Tokyo stock exchange.

Since then they have established three new businesses: an internet-based photographic services company used by most major photo chains in Japan, Europe and Australia; an online wine company; and the Terrace Downs resort near Christchurch.

Rakuten Photos is a Japanese version of online photo service Shutterfly. It started its life as PhotoPages, which was software created in Albany in Auckland that enables users to restore old photos. Williams and his partner bought the initial software, developed it, and then ended up developing it further in a joint venture with Rakuten, which is Japan's version of Amazon.com.

The company employs 100 staff in India to handle the orders.

The wine project came about after Williams won a blind tasting competition organised by a group of Americans in Tokyo. His ambition is to turn a nation of beer drinkers into wine aficionados, mostly by organising fun social events involving wine. He is also focusing on the business market, and has hired as his CEO Michael Khoo, who previously headed the Japanese branch of Napa Valley wine company Mondavi.

In just six months Williams has been able to secure supplies of around 1000 premium wines from all over the world for his website, iwine.jp. By the end of next year he hopes to expand that to 3000 wines - including 100 from New Zealand.

On average, the Japanese consume about three litres each of wine a year, compared with about 40 or 50 litres each for the French, so he is optimistic there is plenty of potential. "There's a huge interest in wine in Japan and there's a huge opportunity, but people are only just learning about it."

Terrace Downs, he admits, was mostly Hendricksen's idea. Hendricksen's first job in Japan was doorman for the Sheraton at Tokyo Disneyland, and he has always been passionate about the hospitality industry.

Terrace Downs' previous owner was a former Japanese golf professional who was in poor health. He approached the pair several times about buying the business before they agreed.

"Johnny decided he wanted to go back and run it. It's probably not the best time in the world to be doing a tourism play, but we went into it with our eyes fairly wide open and we think medium-term it's got a lot of potential. It's an hour from Christchurch, borders on to a beautiful river, and has great golf, skiing, hunting and fishing.

"It's kind of like a destination resort, but no one knows about it internationally - it's a hidden jewel."

The pair have upgraded the luxury resort, including putting in a rugby field, as well as a spa and gym. Recent guests have included the chairman of the Japan Travel Bureau, and they hope to get one of the teams there during the Rugby World Cup.

For the sake of his young family, Williams plans to return to New Zealand in the next couple of years.

He still owns a house in Devonport and a coastal property at Takatu, near Omaha.

While he is looking for business opportunities in New Zealand - he recently met the inventor of a clever engine - he will continue to keep an interest in his Japanese businesses, and is keen to encourage other Kiwis to give the Japanese market a go.

"There is a lot of doom and gloom in the press about Japan," he acknowledges. "And sure, the automotive industry and consumer electronics have dropped off a cliff. But I think things are finally starting to improve."

E-commerce, in particular, is an area that is relatively easy for foreigners to master in Japan, says Williams. The e-commerce market has been growing at double-digit rates for the past seven years, and is currently worth about US$56 billion ($76 billion).

"If you can actually sort out an e-commerce business, what is very interesting here is that the amount of capital you can raise is completely different. As a private company we raised US$35 million. Sure, times have changed since then but there is still a lot of capital in Japan."