The International Business Organization chapter of Sacramento State and international business professor Kenichiro Chinen invited students and several club organizations to an entrepreneurship presentation given by Mikuni CEO Derek Fong on Tuesday.

The room was filled with members of the Entrepreneurship Association, the Japan Club, the American Marketing Association, the International Business Organization, the International Investment Society, students from Chinen’s classes, and other curious students who saw fliers that promoted free sushi at the event.

Damara Miller, promotions officer for the International Business Organization, said that Fong came to speak on campus in order to provide insight on successful entrepreneurship techniques and to give advice to business students. To help promote the event, the International Business Organization secured the services of the Mikuni Sushi Bus.

“They got to be doing something right if they got a sushi bus,” said Brandon Lim, a senior business major and a member of the International Investment Society.

The Sushi Bus is a mobile party platform with a kitchen in the back where a chef can prepare meals. It also features a complete entertainment center with two flat screen TVs. Fong explained that the sushi bus was just one of the ideas that helped expand Mikuni through innovation and brand recognition.

“It was just one of those ideas where you never know,” he said. “You just don’t stop thinking.”

Fong emphasized innovation as one of the hallmarks for successful entrepreneurship. He also stressed the importance of hard work, attention to detail and the importance of continuing education throughout one’s life. He said it was important for students and his employees to be well-rounded in their skills and abilities. He also favors Sac State students for their worldly education and good work ethic.

The presentation was preceded by an awards ceremony to recognize the efforts of several groups of professor Chinen’s students that participated in a semester-long project in collaboration with Mikuni. The project led to the idea of an eMenu to facilitate better service and customer interaction. The project was born from another done last semester by students who analyzed the Mikuni business model and gave recommendations to improve upon it. Those recommendations were used in the development of the eMenu and Fong said that some of the ideas that were presented will actually be used and implemented.

The purpose of the eMenu is to provide an interactive and intuitive way for customers to order their food through a faster and more accurate service. One of the key features it pushed was the idea of breaking down and illustrating what exactly is in some of the more complex sushi rolls. This would help remove the stigma of eating raw food from new or less-adventuresome customers.

Fong met Chinen two years ago when one of Chinen’s students, who was interning at Mikuni’s, arranged to have Fong speak to one of Chinen’s classes. The two kept in touch since then and eventually began talking about how to get Chinen’s class involved with the community and sparked the idea for these projects.

Chinen said that he only provided the groundwork for his students to work on. “I just set the guidelines and let them develop the detail,” he said.

After receiving accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the projects took off in earnest and evolved into what was presented at the meeting.

Chinen’s guidelines for his project groups mirrored what Fong said was essential to entrepreneurship. He put innovation first and foremost, saying that “manufacturing capability is not enough to be successful.” He also embraced good leadership skills, saying that there needs to be good management to recognize and implement innovative ideas and creativity. Above all, he encouraged interdisciplinary activities to enhance his students’ business skills and savvy and to create well-rounded people.

Although he would not reveal any details as of yet, he said that he has plans for next semester for his students to work with mechanical engineers. Last year, he said his students were involved in a joint project with the department of ethnic studies.

Fong said he comes back often to speak to business students at Sac State because he believes it’s important not only to offer his experiences as a business leader to the community, but also because he feels that the students provide good insight and information about demographics and how to appeal to a new generation of consumers.

“I think it’s a real-world business school,” he said.

Justin Tejada can be reached at [email protected]