Pay attention to your customers, not to your competition

«I emphasize to my people not to pay attention to competitors. Even when I visit the United States, I don’t spend much time visiting other stores because those companies operate by their own philosophies. Many people try to copy something good about competitor’s stores, but if you have your own philosophy from the ground-up, you cannot just pick up a few little ideas here and there. Instead of visiting other convenience store chains, just go back to your basic starting point: see your customers, not your competitors.»

Toshifumi Suzuki, former Chairman and CEO of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd