How to survive in Japan

In 2012, the EU-Japan Centre carried out a Survey of EU SMEs on their Internationalisation towards Japan (Source: In Search for Growth: Towards a New Role for SMEs in EU-Japan Relations, EU-JAPAN CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION 2013).   The obstacles most often mentioned by respondents (126 European SMEs) were:

1. Language barriers (55%),
2. Difficulty to grasp business practices,
3.  Costs,
4. Difficulty in understanding the local laws or regulations,
5. Conforming to Japanese standards.

So, you have a “Homework” to do when approaching one of the most dynamic and challenging market in the world. Of course, you should and you could start reading a couple of books/papers about Japan (you will find some resources on the “Publications” Page of our website http://www.gbmc.biz), as well as taking part in various cross-cultural training seminars (which we also offer at GBMC) or executive training programs.

However, there is a quicker way to kick off your “Japan Project”. If you are a business executive of a company:

• approaching the Japanese Market,
• reviewing its options in terms of Japan Entry Strategy,
• already exporting to Japan (Indirect Sales) or,
• already established and doing business in Japan (Direct Sales).

MY ADVICE TO YOU WOULD BE THESE 3 WORDS: ” BUY MY BOOK ”

(after a quote from “Wall Street”, Oliver Stone’s movie)

It will save you a lot of time, research and money, as the base of what you need to know is summarised in one single place:

“The Ultimate Survival Guide for Business in Japan”

In this book, I show::

• That the Japanese Market is a great market to approach and that, provided the right methodology and marketing mix, there are great opportunities to seize in the long-term for foreign (EU) companies.
• That it is necessary to get familiar with cross-cultural differences and to understand better your Japanese clients, their country, their culture and their business system.
• How to market your products or services in Japan (B2C and B2B Marketing Guidelines).
• Which Entry Strategies are available to foreign companies to choose from and guidelines for selection.

So feel free to check the book details.

BOOK AVAILABILITY:

The eBook is available right now for sale on various e-commerce sites (KOBO/AMAZON/LULU/YOUSCRIBE/FNAC/RAKUTEN/IBOOK).

The useful links are provided on our website at the “eBooks” page:

http://www.gbmc.biz/GBMC_eBooks.html

WISHING YOU A PRODUCTIVE READING !!