■ Growth strategy 1. Business environment Considering the business environment surrounding the "AIAI Three Education Zones" developed by the AIAI group <6557>, AIAI NURSERY in the field of licensed nursery schools is expected to experience a large shift in nursery policies from 2024, as the organization responsible for child and family services was established in April 2023 with the aim of improving the quality of early childhood education and care, and as a response to the "unprecedented decline in the number of children" in Japan. However, despite the encouragement from the government, the saturated market feeling cannot be ignored due to the declining birth rate and the significant reduction in the number of newly opened nursery schools, taking into account factors such as the resolution of the waiting list problem in the industry. We also believe that the elimination of small-scale operating companies, considering the shortage of childcare workers, is a possibility to consider. On the other hand, the number of children with developmental disabilities is increasing even in the declining birth rate, and the demand for facilities for disabled children (child development support, medical child development support, after-school day services, visit support for nursery facilities, etc.) is rapidly increasing. Considering this situation, we believe that, not only is the business environment for AIAI PLUS and AIAI VISIT positive, the business environment for the "AIAI Three Education Zones", which provides integrated child care, therapeutic care, and education, is also favorable. 2. AIAI Group Mid-term Management Plan 2023-2025 The company formulated the AIAI Group Mid-term Management Plan 2023-2025 in May 2023, which incorporated a reconsideration of the position of the tech field, the construction of new business models such as nursery school visit support (AIAI VISIT) and early childhood education programs. The target figures are listed as sales of 12-13 billion yen and operating profit of 300-500 million yen in the final fiscal year ending March 2026, and cumulative investment of 680 million yen over three years. In the first term of the plan, ending in March 2024, sales and operating profit exceeded the final year target value, and the total number of children, the total number of visits to nursery facilities, and the total number of internal license holders all exceeded the plan. The growth strategy is progressing smoothly, and there is no major change in the basic strategy of maximizing group synergy through the "AIAI Three Education Zones". Regarding AIAI NURSERY, considering the situation in which the speed of opening licensed nursery schools is slowing down throughout the industry due to the resolution of the waiting list problem, the company will slow down the speed of opening new facilities with the maturity of the market in mind. However, in addition to continuing to expand into regions with high needs and high investment efficiency, the company will promote efforts to reorganize the industry. On the other hand, due to the growing demand for facilities for disabled children, AIAI PLUS will be developed as a pillar of growth after AIAI NURSERY, and the expansion of AIAI VISIT will be fully implemented in the Tokyo metropolitan area as a new business model. Regarding the expansion of AIAI VISIT, securing specialized visiting support personnel is an important point, so we will strengthen our approach from a variety of channels and promote the excavation of potential qualified persons. 7. Corporate-related initiatives In terms of financial and capital aspects, the company will continue to improve its self-capital and aim to support the stable growth of its business from a financial perspective. In terms of human capital, we will promote the creation of a work environment in which all employees at the facilities and offices can work comfortably and foster human resources. In AIAI NURSERY and AIAI PLUS, we will increase the options for work styles based on the preferences and stages of life of the employees working in the facilities, and establish a workplace environment where work and family can be balanced.
1. Growth Strategy
All of Succeed's business is in the middle of Japan's national policy of supporting education, making it a timely growth business. Therefore, it is considered that sustainable growth can be achieved in the medium to long term by actively promoting the corporate mission of "solving the social issues of education and welfare and creating a better future," even if there are short-term fluctuations. The company is promoting growth strategies such as (1) accelerating the opening of individual tutoring classrooms, (2) increasing the number of online home tutors, and (3) expanding human resources services for schools and municipalities, taking advantage of the strengths of inter-personnel sharing between businesses, an in-house marketing team, and precise matching. The policy is to acquire a unique position in education-related services by expanding the deployment area of individual tutoring classrooms and home tutors, participating actively in public-civil cooperative projects in human resources services, while reviewing advertising strategies and internal systems for face-to-face home tutor services. In addition, in cases where synergies are expected in order to achieve growth, M&A will also be actively considered. In such cases, it is expected that there will be a strong synergy in the area of human resources business, such as introducing interns and supporting job hunting for new graduates, utilizing the company's human resources database.
Achieving balanced growth according to each business strategy
2. Mid-term growth image for each business
By steadily implementing such growth strategies, it is expected that both education services and human resources services will continue to grow in a well-balanced manner in response to social needs in the medium to long term.
In both education and welfare human resources support, it is expected that participation in public-civil cooperative projects will increase annual commissioned work by 20%. The policy is to aim for stable growth by increasing commissioned work numbers, reducing fluctuations in revenue due to order acceptance or rejection. This will be achieved by moving forward with bidder registration that allows participation in projects throughout the country, strengthening the acquisition of bidding information, expanding the number of bidders and proposals and enhancing the reputation through accumulation of commissioned works, leading to referrals to other municipalities. In addition, the policy is to strengthen cooperation with other companies that do not have human resources resources but are able to accept commissioned work, and aim to accumulate participation records in public-civil cooperative projects, indirectly.
In the individual tutoring classroom business, the policy is to actively open new stores in areas where the number of children in the Tokyo metropolitan area, particularly Kanagawa Prefecture, is increasing based on the dominant strategy. Therefore, the company is adding more personnel responsible for store development, advancing networks with real estate companies and partnerships with developers, and strengthening the ability to analyze new area surveys and sales forecasts. In addition to these efforts, leveraging the increased name recognition resulting from being listed, the company plans to accelerate store openings toward its immediate goal of 100 stores in the fiscal year ending March 2024. As for after-school childcare, where demand is increasing, the policy is to expand the company's own PENTASkids along with human resources services. The online home tutor service is a business model in which all three parties, the company, parents, and home tutors, benefit from its convenience, and long-term growth is expected due to strong demand. Therefore, the plan is to balance market share between face-to-face and online strategies for the time being while improving advertising strategies and internal systems for face-to-face tutors, aim to gain market share, and then strengthen both online and face-to-face services nationwide. It seems that overseas expansion is also being considered for the online service.
(Author: FISCO guest analyst Nobumitsu Miyata)