Finding Your First Clients in Japan: Event Summary and Insights

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On Friday, March 20, 2020, I presented the latest version of Finding Your First Clients in Japan, a seminar designed to help designers, coders, writers, and other service providers launch sole proprietorships or small businesses in their fields.

Occurring during the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, organizing this seminar presented the unique challenge of shifting what was intended to be an in-person networking event to a live, virtual format. Thankfully Asama Toyozawa of Blink Smart Workspace and Saga Partner LIFE.14 stepped up to deliver an online event with exceptional production values.

This article is a summary of the key takeaways from the event and is divided into two main sections.

  • Lay the Groundwork: Long-term activities that will prepare you to work for yourself in Japan

  • Take Action: Tips that you can put into practice immediately, regardless of your station in life

Lay the Groundwork

This first set of tips requires a significant amount of time to apply and are best considered months, if not years, before you start working for yourself. They are ideal for recent graduates and those who are gainfully employed but still have yet to nail down a business model.

Before You Work for Yourself, Excel at Working for Others

It’s easy to fall into the trap of viewing your current job as simply a way to earn income. Instead, flip your perspective and look at it as the best form of education possible: one that you get paid for. Be mindful in your work. Listen and document feedback that you receive from coworkers and clients. Observe what the organization you work for does well and where it falls short. How can you improve upon these shortcomings? Get to know internal and external clients, find out what their pain points are, and come up with superior ways to solve them.

“The challenge lies in knowing your market and yourself well enough to see the truth.”
-Seth Godin, Linchpin

In doing the above, your future business model will be revealed and you’ll have chances to validate it without risk to your livelihood. In fact, if you excel at what you do, you’ll find that your former employers may become your first clients.

Start Building the Network You’ll Need Tomorrow, Today

When you’re fresh out of college or contentedly working full-time, it’s easy to brush off the need to network. Resist the siren song of complacency and carve out regular time in your schedule to build your network, online and offline, in and out of your industry. A diverse, well-developed network will reveal your first clients when the time comes for you to step out on your own. Learn more about building your network in this blog post.

Learn Japanese

Language learning is yet another dedicated practice that is easy to sideline. It’s difficult to invest so much time and mental energy into something that can’t be immediately monetized. Regardless, if you plan on committing to doing business in the Japanese market, knowing the language, at least at a conversational level is essential. Clients shouldn’t have to do extra work to work with you. Being able to communicate with them in Japanese, at least for your initial pitch, lowers huge barriers and can be a competitive advantage when you are being vetted against other non-Japanese entrepreneurs.

Take Action

The next set of tips can be deployed immediately, whether or not you’ve had the opportunity to meticulously plan the launch of your business. That being said, if you’ve applied the advice above, the two strategies below will be much easier to apply.

Convert Part-Time Job Opportunities into Client/Vendor Contracts

Once you’ve decided to work for yourself, search for part-time work in your desired field. Upon discovering a suitable opportunity, contact the hiring manager and float the idea of converting the position to contract work. This is usually a win-win scenario that’s more affordable for your new client and more flexible for you.

Don’t Hesitate to Work with Intermediaries

Conventional wisdom dictates cutting out the middleman, but freshly minted sole proprietors and small businesses should consider doing the opposite–especially in Japan. Large, traditional companies are unlikely to work with new, unknown brands. However, they do work with established small and medium-sized companies. And those companies may be willing to work with you.

Of course, this comes at a cost. Expect your revenue to be cut in half and your autonomy to suffer the same fate. However, in most cases, you’ll find the steady income and learning and networking opportunities worth the trade off–at least while you’re starting out.

Final Thoughts and Further Reading

Once again, I’d like to thank Blink Community and LIFE.14 for providing the venue and technology that enabled me to share my story with audiences throughout Japan and the world.

For the full list of books and resources that were featured in this presentation, click here. And, subscribe to the Saga Consulting email list for future content highlighting even more tools and resources that will help you succeed in Japan, or for that matter, anywhere else in the world.