Establishing business in a new market as a foreign company always presents novel challenges to a business unit.
Entering to the global market for Startups and SMEs is a critical consideration, the Japanese market is no exception.
Japan has the unique marketing laws and strict regulation of importing, selling products and services, and establishment of domestic firms for foreign businesses.
Any foreign startup or SME who wish to enter the Japanese market must be prepared to endure a long, complicated hierarchy of regulatory and financial hurdles.
At DGC we have studied the Japanese market closely and analyzed paths of entry for a variety of different industries. As a result of our experiential research, we have developed an original Japan market-specific entrance strategy framework, which we call the 3Bs Market Entry framework®.
After reading this blog you will learn about 3Bs Market Entry framework® and importance of that in market entry process.
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There are three elements in this framework
- Be Patient
- Be Prepared
- Be Respectful
1. Be Patient
As a foreign startup or SME, the first and the most important aspect you should consider in terms of entering the Japanese market is being patient during the market entry process. Japan is a politically stable country, and it has a fast-growing market in regards to innovation and creativity. But entering the Japanese market is a marathon that presents foreign startup or SME with a gauntlet of procedures and obstacles to reach market entry success. It is conceivable that companies without knowledge or experience with the Japanese way of business might become impatient with the pace and complexity of Japanese market entry bureaucracy and consider implementing different shortcuts to reach to their goal faster. However, by choosing and executing any shortcut way, lots of problems may show up resulting in unexpected costs and lost opportunities. Thus, one of the essential secrets to Japanese market entry success that foreign startups and SMEs should take into account is being patient with Japanese procedure.
2. Be Prepared
The Japanese market is unique and entering to this market is not an easy task for foreign startups and SMEs. With proper preparation, however, any company can introduce and sell their products effectively to the Japanese buyers.
Japanese buyers (importers, distributors, and end users) consider special key buying factors when they select any services or products from foreign suppliers.
Any foreign company who wishes to establish its business in Japan needs to drive their preparation with special consideration of these key factors.
Proper preparation spans a variety of fields, for example: marketing and sales strategy, product and service design, packaging, pricing, regulation, and quality, etc.
The best way to know about what kinds of preparation will be needed by any foreign startups and SMEs is to consult and partner with the market entry consultant to mitigate the hurdles during their journey.
At DGC, we provide expert experience and knowledge to support foreign startups and SMEs seeking Japanese market entry.
3. Be Respectful
Japan has a deep and unique business culture and Japanese people will value a unique collage of business etiquette both domestically and when seeking business with foreign companies.
One of the key success factors for breaking into the Japanese market as a foreign startup or SME is building extensive knowledge and respect of Japanese business culture before attempting entry into the market.
Japanese market is different from any other market in the world in many respects. In the past, countless companies, both big and small, who have attempted to blindly enter the Japanese market have unknowingly ravaged their brand image with unintended disrespect. Partnering with local market entry consultants who have extensive knowledge of not only the market situation and market entry regulation, but also business culture will reduce any unintended cultural tension between foreign companies and Japanese buyers.
We at DGC support foreign Startups and SMEs to succeed in Japanese market entry, and have a great experience doing it.
We encourage any foreign startup or SME to implement this 3Bs Market Entry framework® to achieve the best result in your Japanese market entry journey.
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