Everything Japan has to offer
It’s no secret that Japanese economy grows stronger and steadier by the day, powered by their exceptional ability for hard work and focus. Over the years, this country has opened up its economy as a thriving nest for new business to develop and some other established business to grow and expand.
The ever-growing investment and business success in Japan has proven in the past years that its economy is one of the strongest economies around the globe, with a highly conducive environment for both local and international businesses. Entrepreneurs from all over the world come to Japan to seize the countless business opportunities they offer along with the high prospective of maximizing profit and getting a remarkable return on investment.
If you already have a good idea, then you should press the go button and consider moving to Japan or maybe expanding your coverage to this welcoming and receptive market. If you don’t, stay with us in this post because we want to show you everything Japan has to offer.
Reasons for doing business in Japan
Honestly, if someone ever asks me which reasons do I have for doing business in Japan, I would ask them to give me reasons not to! The first and more powerful reason anyone might find convincing is that most major companies such as Apple, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, etc have made Japan their home. These and many more have been enjoying a nice share of the Japanese economy for the past years. Obviously, if Japan was not suitable or profitable for them, they all would have left years ago. Everyone knows these business giants didn’t grow to be what they are by staying in a place that affects their profit.
Essentially, Japan holds all resources and advantages for your business to excel itself. So, tap into your head and ask your brilliant ideas out.
Ease of movements and procedures!
Doing business in Japan is a process so easy and smooth that lots of foreign businesses have decided to choose this country as their location, giving Japan global recognition and respect for the ease with which it’s possible to establish a business and getting it running in the blink of an eye.
Data from recent world bank annual ratings speaks on behalf of the aforesaid and places Japan at number 39 out of a 190 economies list. This means that, in 2018, Japan never drop its position as one of the easiest countries to do business in. In 2017, they even drop to number 13, which is the lowest so far.
It’s not only easy to establish a business in Japan, but also extremely convenient since they’re international leaders regarding innovation and technology. In fact, the Ministry of Technology and Industry states that Japan’s advancements in Research and Development, as well as their well-structured business policies, are the main reasons for them to have such a healthy economy, open to international businesses. They have also implemented a thoughtfully intellectual property right to protect all of your own work and innovation.
Although their western and Asian counterparts are strong competitors, we dare to say that Japan holds its position as a powerful economy leader. Also, once you decide to move to Japan, you won’t even need to establish a customer base since the consumer market is willingly waiting to become your customer base.
Why start a business in Japan?
First, because we can find a number of diverse business opportunities and second because its free-market economy has been placed second in the world’s GDP ranking and is the fourth-largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP). Also, Japan has the most powerful electronic goods industry world-wide and they come third as top automobile manufacturers.
Of course, you will have to face a few challenges when starting a business in Japan, but if you get yourself the right information you need to be prepared, chances are you will find everything rather easy and enter the market stress-free.
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Starting Line
So, you have your winning idea and you are ready to start off the ground in Japan. The first thing you need to is let the relevant authorities know about the plans you are looking to put into action. Some of these authorities are the legal affairs bureau of the ministry of justice, the labor standards inspection office, the Japan pension service, the public employment security office, and the ward office. Once you successfully go through all of this, you can feel assured about your profitable business in Japan.
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Construction Permits
If your business plan includes building up something, then be sure to contact the local authorities and governmental departments in charge to ask for a construction permit.
And do the same for registering property and getting electricity. Japan has a few procedures to follow such as payment of duty and payment of property for those who want to register a property.
About electricity, you need to address the Tokyo Electric Power Company and file a formal application to hire their service. Then you should arrange for a date in which your building will be fully connected. This entire process takes an average of 105 days.
How to choose a business in Japan
No need to say that finding the right business niche in the vast Japanese market is essential for your idea to pay off and be successful. We firmly advice that you consider all of the choices you have before diving into it.
Here are some of the areas in which Japan offers business opportunities: finance, automotive, pharmaceuticals, computing, high-tech and precision goods, for example optical instruments, robotics and hybrid vehicles.
The best part of this all is probably that the government tends to interfere very little in the business market, which will absolutely make you enjoy the experience of establishing and running your business in Japan. Well, as long as you don’t break any rules, and with an experienced and accurate translation service you won’t have to face that issue.
Let’s see some of the businesses you could easily establish in Japan and turn it into a money-making enterprise. Of course, let’s keep in mind that no business can grow and thrive by itself, so you need to put in enough effort and persistency to take your business to the next level.
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Import and Export
As we said before, being as it is a strong, ever-growing economy, Japan has to offer lots and lots of items you could purchase at more than reasonable prices and sell somewhere else. Likewise, after doing some market research, you could bring in articles that would generate buzz in your customer base and make you have remarkable profits. However, from the perspective of a foreign, export is more comfortable and allows to easily consider a certain number of items such as clothes, food, cars, commodities and even machinery.
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Restaurants
There is a population of over 120 million people in Japan and a buzzing market that often never sleeps, so there are always people looking for something to soothe their stomachs. If you do the math, you’ll realize that owning a restaurant in Japan is also a money-spinner. Before even choosing a spot or reaching out to the local authorities, we suggest you conduct a market study of different food outlets such as American burgers and Indian curry. That way you’ll have a well-structured idea about your potential customers and profit. Once you’ve done that, it’s as easy as finding a location and talking to the relevant authorities!
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3D Printing
As we said before, Japan is a high-tech global leader, so pursuing a technology-related idea in their market is actually a winning idea. For example, you could go with a 3D printing business. Diving into this tech world will allow you to become a part of the rapidly growing technology industry. Also, take into account that 3D printing also includes rapid prototyping services such as 3D printing rapid prototyping and 3D printing support services. Anyways, if you think 3D printing is not for you, you can also turn to selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA) and lots and lots more.
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An Animation studio
Sometimes it’s not a brilliant idea what you need to succeed in the Japanese market. Maybe you just need a skill to get your share of this profitable market. For example, a skill related to the animation world. Everyone knows Japan is the mecca of animation arts. So, owning an animation studio in Japan and providing animated media services like video is a profitable business for you to consider if you have what it takes. There are countless enterprises in Japan that reach out to animation studios to enhance their marketing campaigns on social media and other channels. If you are good enough and you give them what they expect, you’ll never have quiet business seasons!
Now, you probably noticed that the very best part of all these ideas is that they are not capital intensive. That means you can start slow and expand over time. However, if what you have in mind about business in Japan are big investments, here are other alternative ideas you may consider as well.
- An Ayurveda Clinic, which is an alternative medical practice clinic
- A Biotech Company
- A Biodegradable Plastic Bag Manufacturing Company
- Biodiesel Production Company
- A Car Assembling Plant
- A Car Customization and Modification Business
- A Security Camera Installation Business
- An ICT Consulting Business
- A Courier Service
- A Data Mining and Analytic Company
- A Medical Waste Management and Recycling Business
The list could go on and on, because there are so many, countless business opportunities in all areas, in information and technology, energy, pharmaceuticals, retail, real estate, agriculture and even jewelry. Now, the rest is up to you. Consider which of these areas you can handle the best and what budget you can dispose of. Then, jump aboard! Japan is waiting for you.
