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College student profits from eye for talent
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TOKYO _ College student Miho Kuroda wanted to be an actress. Instead, she now helps others get acting and modeling jobs with her own talent agency, which is raking in 1 million yen, or about $8,725, a month.
After experiencing hard times in getting her PrincipalAgent firm established, the 22-year-old student, a senior in Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics, now has the confidence to continue her work after graduation.
Kuroda shares her office in Shinjuku, Tokyo, with four other entrepreneurs and nonprofit organization heads in their 20s and 30s. Partitions divide the 60-square-meter room into office space for each company.
PrincipalAgent now has the portfolios of more than 100 models available for commercials and promotional events.
She found the office space through a friend, and shares the rent with the other tenants, which include an architect. The companies also share a meeting area.
While the entrepreneurs do not interfere with each other's businesses, working under the same roof provides motivation.
"I get the urge to work harder when I see other people working hard," one said.
Kuroda finds her office "peaceful" since she is the only one running it.
After performing in a musical in her high school days, she dreamed of becoming an actress who could move the hearts of the audience.
Even after entering college, her dream career was not in politics or law, but in acting. Kuroda quickly registered at a talent agency.
When the job offers failed to materialize, she tried to promote herself. She went to networking events, and at one of them received an offer.
"I thought it was easy to get a job," Kuroda said.
In October 2004, Kuroda established a talent agency with 40,000 yen (about $350) in capital. Many of her friends in college were starting their own businesses and nonprofit organizations, making her feel that it was not anything special.
But it did not take long for reality to bite.
Kuroda began meeting people to promote the seven people she had on her books, who were all friends.
She had business cards from more than 500 people, which made her confident because it was by far the most among the student entrepreneurs she knew. But the cards were no guarantee of business success.
"I realized I had the wrong idea. It was just a bunch of business cards," Kuroda said.
Kuroda sometimes earned only about 2,000 yen, or $17, after paying wages to a registered model for a job she had done, and she occasionally accepted job offers without receiving any fees in return.
When one of her recruits handed in her resignation, she felt for the first time the pain of running her business.
"I'm responsible for the lives of women registered with my agency, which is much heavier than my responsibility as a college student," she said.
She asked her friends to introduce her to more people from different industries to hand out more business cards.
Several months later, her hard work began to pay off. Several people she had met started offering jobs in advertising and modeling.
"I did the right thing to meet people when I was going through hard times. The seeds I sowed began to sprout," Kuroda said.
The young entrepreneur gradually came under the spotlight as a college student running her own business.
"I never dreamed of becoming a president. I only started my business because I liked it, and I'm carrying on because I like it," she said.
With the rise in her monthly sales, Kuroda has decided to continue her business after graduation.
"I don't want my hard work to be interrupted by my graduation," she said.
Sometimes Kuroda is asked why she does not take a job herself. But she said it was not on her mind as she enjoyed training her recruits.
Diminutive in size, Kuroda gives nothing away in dignity and desire.
The Yomiuri Shimbun (KRT)
