Doing business in Japan has often presented cultural difficulties for westerners. However, as our expat entrepreneur living in Tokyo Jon Sparks reveals in this new series, Japan might be in the shadow of the emerging markets of China and India, but is still one of the best places in Asia for entrepreneurs to operate.
I have worked around Asia and the experience has been fantastic. On the business front, it has provided markets many times (or orders of magnitude) those I could access from Australia. In addition to shear size, these markets come with a population density that offers great opportunities around economies of scale and low distribution costs.
Having run operations in China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan has allowed for some fairly pragmatic comparisons of commercial codes, employment practices, access to funding and the like. Even better has been the opportunity to see the “softer” areas of business, such as the work-ethic of the labour force, the amount of red tape encountered when doing business and gauging how level the playing field is in a society where you operate as a outsider.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Letter from Japan: Why Japan is a paradise for entrepreneurs - Anthill Magazine
Author: Jon Sparks
