■Business Overview
The business of Just Planning ＜4287＞ is divided into 5 business segments: ASP business, system solution business, logistics solution business, solar power generation business, and others. Looking at the composition ratio by business segment for the 2024/1 fiscal year, the ASP business accounts for 80% or more of the total in terms of sales, the ASP business is 49.6% and the logistics solution business accounts for 80% or more of the total, but in terms of segment profit (gross profit), the ASP business alone accounts for the majority of 74.2%, and the ASP business is the company's profit pillar. The details of each business are as follows.
1. ASP business
The ASP business develops and provides a service “leave to the net” (service started in 1999) that allows the use of business software necessary for operating stores such as sales, orders/purchases, and attendance management via the internet. The main customers are small to medium scale restaurant companies that develop chains on a scale of 20 to 50 stores, and by introducing “Leave it to the Net,” it is possible to quickly collect, manage, and analyze store management conditions at low cost. It is a stock type business model where monthly usage fees from contract stores account for the majority of sales, and profitability is high, making it the company's main business.
Although the monthly usage fee for “Leave It Up to Net” changes depending on the service used, it is at an average level of 12,000 yen per store (about 30,000 yen for providing full service). The fee setting is slightly higher considering that many competitors offer it at a rate level of around 10,000 yen per month, but this is due to the fact that the company provides services free of charge even for customization support where additional charges would be incurred if other companies were other companies (however, a separate fee is required for drastic specification changes).
The number of contracted stores is 6,083 stores (248 contract companies, including the logistics management system “Logi Logi”) as of the end of the 2024/1 fiscal year. Since the number of restaurant chain stores in Japan is approximately 50,900 stores as of the end of March 2023 (Japan Franchise Chain Association survey), the industry market share is at the level of about 11%, but it is estimated that it holds a market share slightly exceeding this if it is limited to small and medium-sized restaurant chains with 50 stores or less, which is the main target.
As competitors, there are 5 to 6 companies of the same size, such as Alphax Food Systems (3814), Gulf Net Co., Ltd., and Aspit Co., Ltd. Of these, when viewed in comparison with Alphax Food System, the number of contracted stores at the end of fiscal year 2023 increased by the company, while Alphax Food System declined due to the closure of existing customers. Meanwhile, in terms of sales, both companies saw an increase in sales. As for the Alphax Food System, it seems that this is because the customer unit price has risen due to a round of monthly fee discounts. Note, as an ASP service for restaurant companies, Infomart (2492) also provides an order acceptance service, and some services overlap. However, since Infomart mainly provides services on the seller side (for food wholesalers), good relationships have been built, such as performing system cooperation with each other when Infomart and customers overlap.
The company also provides value-added services other than “Leave It to the Net” in order to aim for vertical expansion in the restaurant industry. Of these, “leave it to touch” (service started in 2012 under the name “POSITEV”, renamed to the current name in 2014) is a service in which a dedicated terminal (handy terminal) used when receiving orders from customers visiting restaurants is replaced with a general-purpose terminal such as an iPad or iPod touch. The initial introduction cost can be drastically reduced to about one-third by using a general-purpose terminal, and since generally popular terminals are used, the proficiency level of employees is also fast, the period and costs for training can be reduced, and maintenance costs can be reduced as advantages.
In addition, the same business includes a mobile order and payment application “iGo” for the takeout business, which was transferred from the business partner Sun Electronics ＜6736＞ in 2020/8. In addition to being able to pre-reserve and pay for products (payment is also possible at stores) with smartphone applications, LINE mini apps, web browsers, etc., sales promotion support functions and CRM (customer management) functions such as push notifications to receive unique discount coupons and advantageous information are also provided as options. In addition to a fee structure* that combines a fixed monthly fee and a pay-as-you-go fee, initial introduction costs are recorded as sales. The number of contracted stores at the end of the 2024/1 fiscal year is 905, and the number of contract companies is 56, and although it is still small at about 10% of the sales structure ratio of the ASP business, they are working to expand customers by promoting an alliance strategy.
*The monthly fee is 3,000 yen for individual stores, 5,000 yen for the web plan and 8,000 yen for the app plan for chain stores. The pay-as-you-go fee (sales fee) is uniformly 3% depending on the distribution value.
2. System solution business
The system solution business mainly sells and setup/maintenance services for various terminal devices, such as POS systems and ordering systems, which are introduced to the stores of service contract companies such as “Leave it to Net.” Even when a new contract such as “Leave it to Me” is made, if a terminal device such as a POS system is already installed in the store, there is no need to replace it, so the linkage with the ASP business is low. Also, since terminal equipment is purchased and sold, profit margins are relatively low, making it a complementary position to the ASP business.
3. Logistics solution business
The logistics solutions business is a business of Success Way Co., Ltd. (investment ratio 100.0%), which became a subsidiary in 2005, and mainly provides logistics solutions, merchandising solutions, headquarters business agency services, etc. for restaurant companies. Currently, labor-intensive logistics business agency services account for the majority of sales, so profit margins are low, but they are focusing on expanding sales of the new Logilogi system developed by the company and revamped in 2022, and the number of contract stores at the end of 2024/1 is 840 stores, and the number of contract companies is 17.
4. Solar power generation business
The photovoltaic power generation business is being developed by the subsidiary JP Power Co., Ltd. (investment ratio 100.0%). It operates a total of 1.7 MWh (in operation since 2015/2) power plants at 2 locations in Tochigi prefecture and 1.1 MWh (in operation since 2016/2) in Miyagi prefecture, and sells electricity to electric power companies. Electricity sales prices are fixed for 20 years from the start of electricity sales by the FIT system, so for the time being, an increase in profit margins is expected along with a decrease in amortization burdens, making it a stable source of profit.
5. Other businesses
We operate restaurants with our subsidiary JP Power as a place for employee training to learn store management know-how and test marketing for new systems. The number of stores at the end of the 2024/1 fiscal year has not changed since the end of the previous fiscal year, and there is a total of 4 stores: 2 izakayas, 1 golf bar, and 1 teishoku restaurant (business type changed from bento and delicatessen stores).
(Author: FISCO Visiting Analyst Joe Sato)