Any success stories starting a small business in The countryside?

[Mike Cash]

I hope you do really well with your business. I am always very much in favor of western foreigners stepping away from the standard expected gaijin jobs and trying to get along here on the same basis as our hosts, whether it be entrepreneur or wage slave.

 

[Glenski]

Do you want this to be a serious thread about the topic you started, or not?

 

[Tsuchi1]

I hope you do really well with your business. I am always very much in favor of western foreigners stepping away from the standard expected gaijin jobs and trying to get along here on the same basis as our hosts, whether it be entrepreneur or wage slave.

I'm not really in it for the money but more the can I do it?
I made my money when I was in my late teens early 20s so know what it's like to struggle.
I would say I'm an entrepreneur but I am not adverse to jumping in and giving it a go because I think what I have has a chance.
There is a bigger picture behind what I'm doing and I want it to benefit others who are in a similar position or similar way of thinking. If you think you have the motivation and drive to better yourself, please contact me in PM or just ask me what I'm about.
I like your comment , I hope for myself and others in a similar situation that I can help them change the way they live here through want I want to assist them with and the so called "reality" of living in Japan long term dictates, which is the so called predicated occupations, including restraints.
Cheers

---------- Post added at 22:58 ---------- Previous post was at 22:54 ----------

Do you want this to be a serious thread about the topic you started, or not?

That's what I had in mind but your attitude is very regimented and no allowance for errors.
So you treat me like that, I'll take the p¥&s.

 

[Mike Cash]

I believe we think alike. I wanted to see if I could manage to live in Japan even though I'm a foreigner instead of just because I'm a foreigner. It's a whole different country.

 

[Tsuchi1]

I believe we think alike. I wanted to see if I could manage to live in Japan even though I'm a foreigner instead of just because I'm a foreigner. It's a whole different country.

First lived here because I wanted to, left because I had to to my sanity.(2002) came back 2009 because I had to. (Baby)
Want to go back to Sydney ( won't happen) so I make what I can of my life here.
Not going to kid myself thinking I will have heaps of Japanese friends blah blah. Am happy with connecting with Gaijin in Japan and open minded Japanese. I don't want to live in a fake world but I will respect Japan even if it disadvantages them in the process. It is their country after all, they call the shots, right?

 

[Mike Cash]

That's where we part a bit, I'm afraid. I'm here willingly and the only time I go out of my way to mingle with my fellow gaijins is at the annual JREF Meet during Golden Week. There aren't really any around me that I have anything in common with anyway. I'm a 47 year old married man with two kids in high school and I really have nothing in common with a bunch of single 22 year old F.O.B. eikaiwa teachers.

 

[Tsuchi1]

That's where we part a bit, I'm afraid. I'm here willingly and the only time I go out of my way to mingle with my fellow gaijins is at the annual JREF Meet during Golden Week. There aren't really any around me that I have anything in common with anyway. I'm a 47 year old married man with two kids in high school and I really have nothing in common with a bunch of single 22 year old F.O.B. eikaiwa teachers.

I wouldn't say I'm here reluctantly just the teaching gig here isn't healthy in the long term so it isn't ideal doing something you don't enjoy day in day out.

I'm also a relaxed easygoing person but find Japanese uptight, especially in my presence so the wife and I have a group of married couples with kids. Usually father is non Japanese and mother Japanese.
The average age would be 36, and yes I can really deal with the revolving door of graduates in Japan either.

Been here a long time now, kids are still young, both under 3 they get a lot of love from the wife's family here so I'm happy to be here for them. They wouldn't get the same if we lived in OZ or NZ.
I am grateful for this.

Anyway, it's Saturday and I have a few cleaning jobs to do so I had better get to it.

 

[Glenski]

That's what I had in mind but your attitude is very regimented and no allowance for errors.
So you treat me like that, I'll take the p¥&s.

"Regimented"? I comment that you're posting in the wrong section for a reason: if some people look in the correct section, they will not find your questions and not be able to give you the answers you seek.

I asked about a silly diversion just to know if you are serious about keeping your own thread on track. I could have joined in and shown you even more humor than you could imagine, but I chose to respect your initial query, especially since darned few have chimed in to help you out. I didn't want to contribute to taking the thread off-topic. Is that all that bad?

Forgive me, but I don't know what "I'll take the p¥&s" means.

="Mike Cash" I'm here willingly and the only time I go out of my way to mingle with my fellow gaijins is at the annual JREF Meet during Golden Week. There aren't really any around me that I have anything in common with anyway. I'm a 47 year old married man with two kids in high school and I really have nothing in common with a bunch of single 22 year old F.O.B. eikaiwa teachers.

I'm a little older than Mike, married with a kid younger than his, and I have little exposure to fellow foreigners, too, but that's mostly not choice. I live in the boonies. As for having anything/nothing in common with the 22-year-olds, about all I have in common is the profession (teaching English), and it isn't that strong a connection because I haven't done eikaiwa in over a decade, and I was actually serious about the teaching, unlike most eikaiwa instructors I've known. Regardless, I can't imagine having all that much in common with anyone that much younger than me anyway. Huge generation gap.

(F.O.B.???)

There are probably quite a few success stories of foreigners here. Mike is one of them, obviously, and a very good one. I've been here 14 years and am quite happy and secure, so I suppose I'm another, although I don't own my own business. I know some people who have pottery shops or river rafting ventures here in Hokkaido . One guy also has a service to make announcements about job openings and personal ads. Some people do part-time wedding officiating. Some own their own schools to teach English (usually to kiddies). One guy I know sells used cars. The stories are out there. Without looking back on your OP, could I ask you to take a moment to post here (in this fragmented, somewhat tangented thread) just what it is you are seeking from foreigners here?

 

[Mike Cash]

F.O.B. = "Fresh off the boat" (or these days, "Boeing")

The prospect of facing three decades of pretending to teach English to people pretending to learn it didn't appeal to me. I never could have stayed here if I had to be stuck in that godawful flimflam racket.

 

[Tsuchi1]

"Regimented"? I comment that you're posting in the wrong section for a reason: if some people look in the correct section, they will not find your questions and not be able to give you the answers you seek.

I asked about a silly diversion just to know if you are serious about keeping your own thread on track. I could have joined in and shown you even more humor than you could imagine, but I chose to respect your initial query, especially since darned few have chimed in to help you out. I didn't want to contribute to taking the thread off-topic. Is that all that bad?

Forgive me, but I don't know what "I'll take the p\&s" means.

I'm a little older than Mike, married with a kid younger than his, and I have little exposure to fellow foreigners, too, but that's mostly not choice. I live in the boonies. As for having anything/nothing in common with the 22-year-olds, about all I have in common is the profession (teaching English), and it isn't that strong a connection because I haven't done eikaiwa in over a decade, and I was actually serious about the teaching, unlike most eikaiwa instructors I've known. Regardless, I can't imagine having all that much in common with anyone that much younger than me anyway. Huge generation gap.

(F.O.B.???)

There are probably quite a few success stories of foreigners here. Mike is one of them, obviously, and a very good one. I've been here 14 years and am quite happy and secure, so I suppose I'm another, although I don't own my own business. I know some people who have pottery shops or river rafting ventures here in Hokkaido. One guy also has a service to make announcements about job openings and personal ads. Some people do part-time wedding officiating. Some own their own schools to teach English (usually to kiddies). One guy I know sells used cars. The stories are out there. Without looking back on your OP, could I ask you to take a moment to post here (in this fragmented, somewhat tangented thread) just what it is you are seeking from foreigners here?

I am more or less looking for others experiences both successes and not so successful with starting a small business.
Things they did, things they would do differently.

I am doing well enough but want to increase my customer base so I can do it full time. Then employ someone so I can start to grow the business prefecture by prefecture.

So if anyone has some advice or something to share I would appreciate it.

 

[Glenski]

What are you doing for advertising now?
What AREN'T you doing?

That would seem to be a given no-brainer step one to attracting a customer base.

Try this. Starting a Business Archives - GaijinPot InJapan

 

[Tsuchi1]

What are you doing for advertising now?
What AREN'T you doing?

That would seem to be a given no-brainer step one to attracting a customer base.

Try this. Starting a Business ﾂｫ GaijinPot In Japan Blogs

I advertise in a local monthly advertising 3-4 page delivered to 80 thousand households type. I included a phot of me and my wife in it,thinking I want to be upfront with customers about who I am. I think that was a mistake and I won't put a photo of me in the next one.
Flyers that I have made that I disribute myself.
I want to try and do a PR style editorial, get the local newspaper that is distributed here and get them to see me in action, I can give them a rundown on the advantages of using my system vs traditional methods. Maybe the gaijin factor could add a spin to it, gaining interest.

My target is business rather that residential, I feel it's easier to please that target and look after their needs.
Saying that, at this stage I don't turn anyone down.

 

[Mike Cash]

I'm curious how you avoid using the municipal water supply and whether you squeegee afterwards. Do none of the (potential) customers ever want the inside of their windows cleaned?

 

[Tsuchi1]

---

I'm curious how you avoid using the municipal water supply and whether you squeegee afterwards. Do none of the (potential) customers ever want the inside of their windows cleaned?

We have a dam on our property with a director tap for outside use.
If needed I filter that water and take it to the job.
I don't really need to take it because the water around here has (total disolved solids)TDS reading of about 50-60 so I just hook my filter tank onto the customers hose and it comes out as TDS of 0, pure water.
I'm lucky here that the water pressure here is enought to get to the second floor with now problems.
On higher jobs I use a pump. Unless I go somewhere that has a really high TDS reading I don't need to bring my own water. Japan is lucky compared to other countries in that respect. The outside is washed then rinsed using pure water and left to dry. If the widow has been clean properly there will not be any spots.

Inside of windows are done with squeegee, I can use a system for inside but traditional is better here.

 

[Davey]

I have 2 Dutch friends that started their own businesses here in Japan and both of them are doing pretty good.

One started a Dutch waffle shop here in Kobe and he is selling waffles to Isetan, Hankyu dep. and various cafe's and hotels and of course his own shop. ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｯﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｼﾃ｣ﾆ停?｢ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｫﾃ｣ﾆ陳湘｣窶堋ｦﾃ｣窶堋ｹ ﾃ｣窶堋ｹﾃ｣ﾆ塚?｣ﾆ陳ｭﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｼﾃ｣ﾆ停?氾｣ﾆ陳ｯﾃ｣ﾆ陳・ﾆ停?｢ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｫ

Another friend is helping Dutch companies to get their products into the Japanese market by making contacts and doing marketing research for them. (Uw partner voor export naar Japan Dutch).

I am sure there are many other that started their own companies. There is a small company in Osaka that offers sharing space for those that want to start their own company but don7t have enough money to get their own office, might be nice to look into this as well: GLOCS

 

[Tsuchi1]

I have 2 Dutch friends that started their own businesses here in Japan and both of them are doing pretty good.

One started a Dutch waffle shop here in Kobe and he is selling waffles to Isetan, Hankyu dep. and various cafe's and hotels and of course his own shop. ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｯﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｼﾃ｣ﾆ停?｢ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｫﾃ｣ﾆ陳湘｣窶堋ｦﾃ｣窶堋ｹ ﾃ｣窶堋ｹﾃ｣ﾆ塚?｣ﾆ陳ｭﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｼﾃ｣ﾆ停?氾｣ﾆ陳ｯﾃ｣ﾆ陳・ﾆ停?｢ﾃ｣ﾆ陳ｫ

Another friend is helping Dutch companies to get their products into the Japanese market by making contacts and doing marketing research for them. (Uw partner voor export naar Japan Dutch).

I am sure there are many other that started their own companies. There is a small company in Osaka that offers sharing space for those that want to start their own company but don7t have enough money to get their own office, might be nice to look into this as well: GLOCS

Thanks for these, quite close to me too, I'm not into consultancy and feel uncomfortable in a suited environment so I have
Chosen to be the best window washer out there

 

[khamsulv]

Just joined this site because it seems to be better than others that I have tried to participate in.
Anyway I'm trying to start my own business here in Hyogo and am interested in hearing anyone's experiences, both failures or successes.
I'm in Japan do the long term and see myself losing my sanity if I have to continue on the edutainment industry here.
What have others done to save themselves from the soul destroying that eikaiwa is?

Heh I imagine it would be quite hard to start a business in the countryside. The cities are more favourable.

 

[Glenski]

Depends on the business. Pottery, river rafting, woodcrafts, glass blowing, camping, etc. are not exactly things one associates with urban dwelling. And, some other businesses can work equally well in urban/rural settings (selling used cars, e.g.).