World's oldest company from 578 AD shares secret of survival

Many companies started in the world but not all could survive in the competitive market. However, many businesses are still thriving since their inception decades ago. One such company is Kongo Gumi Co., Ltd. a Japanese construction company. It was purportedly founded in 578 A.D which would make it the world's oldest company. It has revealed its secret of survival in the market -- Find a niche and don't let go.

Kongo Gumi was the world's oldest continuously operating company until it became a subsidiary of Takamatsu Construction Group in 2006 due to increased competition from major construction companies. Kongo Gumi traditionally specialized in traditional architecture. It mainly works on the design, construction, restoration, and repair of shrines, temples, castles, and cultural heritage buildings. Even as a subsidiary, it still does things the old-fashioned way. Its speciality is the restoration of Buddhist temples and other historic buildings. It is headquartered in Osaka and was a family-owned construction company for over 1,400 years. It was one of the first construction companies in Japan to use concrete with wood to build temples.

Workers in the company could train for as long as 10 years. During this time, they were sometimes set against one another, competing to see which craftsperson demonstrated the most skill working with the timber and clay traditionally used to build temples.

READ | Meet woman who worked for 22 years in US, moved to India to build her own firm, funded over 100 startups