It has been two years since I founded SOPHOLA.
As I mentioned in my blog a few times in the past, the mid-term business plan with clear goals and growth strategy
has enabled me to move forward without getting lost since then.

Our fiscal year ends in March, so it’s a bit further ahead to see the exact second year’s report.
Yet, we already see the following:
(1) Sales: 100% of target, more than 300% YoY;
(2) Ordinary profit: 80% of target, more than 200% YoY.
Moreover, we have some noteworthy achievements as below.
(1) Launched JME (new service) service and expanded AdScale overseas (expanded sales channels)
(2) Longtail UX, a second pillar of revenue solution, was introduced to industry-leading clients
(3) Top50 Tech Companies Award at Intercon Dubai 2019
I can’t forget these wonderful achievements especially because when they were made with the accumulation of my teammates at SOPHOLA.

However, honestly, there were some challenges that we face as CEO in the second year. The biggest one is people management. For those who decide to leave the company for any reason or those who struggle to work well, “How can I make them more happy?”, “How can we improve the internal communication/advising, creating the atmosphere of the company, disseminating the mission vision, career advice, etc? ”These not-easy-to-be-answered questions are going around in my head. I’m also reviewing the evaluation system and benefits, but in the next quarter I want to find my own answers to these questions.

The next big challenge is “lead generation”. Almost half a year has passed since organic lead generation (≒ individual human networks) was almost used up and continuous lead creation became difficult. Of course I could see this happening, so I took various actions on Q4, but it didn’t work out for various reasons. In the next quarter, we will take multiple countermeasures to ensure a constant lead generation. (Although we have already prepared a lot)

It’s almost 2 years old as CEO and 5 months as a parent. Lol
There are still tons of things to learn.
Anyway, there is only improvement, only progress for me.
I promise that we will make the mission and vision of SOPHOLA a reality and give back not only to our colleagues but also to those involved. Thank you for your continued support!

Masaki “Mark” Iino
Founder & CEO
SOPHOLA, Inc