Updates regarding FREA’s progress towards foreigner business support in Japan!
As followers of our blog may recall, FREA recently shared information regarding the current “Foreign Entrepreneurs Business Plan Competition [2018]” being hosted by Tokyo Star Bank. Read on for our ongoing actions towards assisting foreigner entrepreneurs in Japan!
1. FREA’s Recent Entry Into Bilingual Business Support
2. Our Efforts Thus Far In Supporting Foreign Businesses & Entrepreneurs
3. How We Hope To Make An Impact
1. FREA’s Recent Entry Into Bilingual Business Support
As of this Spring, FREA has begun to actively expand our efforts towards providing comprehensive support for foreigner entrepreneurs and business owners in Japan. Currently our pilot program is underway, and we are in the initial phases of providing support to a small pool of foreign businesses while also placing a heavy emphasis on collecting as much feedback as possible. Ultimately, we hope to perfect our service offerings to be able to smoothly assist entrepreneurs and business owners in their transition from being based completely outside of Japan into establishing a presence in our domestic market.
After learning of and sharing the Tokyo Star Bank competition, we were left wondering if the chance for interested applicants to enter could perhaps be made even more accessible. Since the competition allows for an unaffiliated representative to assist with preparing the required Japanese components, we felt that it would be an opportune way to begin directly lending our support to a few aspiring entrepreneurs within Japan.
2. Our Efforts Thus Far In Supporting Foreign Businesses & Entrepreneurs
We have been conducting interviews with multiple non-Japanese business owners and student entrepreneurs located in Japan in order to best understand the full scope of their needs and specific wishes when it comes to business support services. Through connecting with these foreign business owners, we have heard a number of disheartening first-hand accounts of the difficulties associated with successfully processing all of the different legal matters that come with establishing a company within Japan. A frequent grievance has been the lack of a centralized, comprehensive source of clear information, with foreigner entrepreneurs often citing anywhere from multiple months to multiple years to successfully complete company registration and business/immigration documents. Of course, once the initial company has been established ongoing difficulties associated with limited Japanese language ability and/or access to the greater industry network, among other things, may also pose barriers. Although the list of potential obstacles is quite daunting, we are determined to bring together effective methods of solution to each issue over time.
Currently, FREA has elected to back several foreigner entrepreneurs in the Tokyo area for participation in the Tokyo Star Bank competition, with hopes that this event may help to kickstart one or multiple business plans intended for execution in Japan. We have met with each entrepreneur in person to discuss the contents of their business plans in detail and worked together on assembling the application components. As the contest entries must be submitted entirely in Japanese, our staff first translated the detailed entry form questionnaire into English for completion with the entrants and are now in the process of preparing Japanese language versions for submission.
3. How We Hope To Make An Impact
Though there exist a variety of business support services and legal specialists offering assistance to foreigner entrepreneurs aspiring to enter the Japanese market, there has yet to be a truly streamlined and finely tuned process available. For example, many immigration lawyers may have limited English ability, making it somewhat difficult to coordinate applications. In other situations, existing business services provide guidance for business registration but may not offer any advice towards the ongoing process of running the business (such as tax requirements) or be lacking in insight on how to most effectively apply for the Investor Visa.
At FREA, we hope to combine our strong existing background in foreigner-specialized bilingual services and apply them full-force towards the underserved pool of foreign business owners seeking to enter the Japan market. Rather than simply process documents into Japanese, we aim to understand the core workings of each of our clients’ prospective business plans in detail and thus be able to both offer specific feedback and actively advocate for them within the Japanese business sphere. Entrepreneurs we interviewed expressed a strong desire overall for customizable and especially industry-specific support for their businesses.
One of the components of the Tokyo Star Bank contest is a pitching presentation to the judging panel (to be conducted in Japanese, of course). One of the entrants we are assisting has voiced an interest in delivering the pitch on their own, and should they pass the initial stages of the competition additional coaching and practice support has been agreed upon.
With the initial submission deadline rapidly approaching, FREA staff are working to their fullest to complete all preparations in time for the Tokyo Star Bank’s “Foreign Entrepreneurs Business Plan Competition [2018].” We are hopeful that through these efforts we may begin to make an impact on the ongoing influx of foreign entrepreneurs seeking to enter the Japan market!