The Japan Business Insider Newsletter is the only English newsletter concentrating on success strategies and niche business opportunities in Japan. Stay informed and know where and how money is being spent and made in Japan.

 All You Need To Succeed in Japan ... For Free!

Published by
Richard Posner

Website
http://www.successinjapan.com 

Contact Us
newsletter@successinjapan.com 

Thoughts From Above And Below

The Ninety-Seven

"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."
~ Orison Swett Marden~

It is called "Being in the flow."  You know you are there when everything and everyone that enters your life makes you happier and more energized.  More money, more love, more understanding, more breakthroughs take place effortlessly in this zone.

Moreover, those in that flow seem blessed with an abundance that is incomprehensible to most mortals.  The naturals of the world make up less than  three percent of the population of any given society, and while others struggle to make ends meet, they flourish beyond comprehension.  They seem to have the Midas Touch.

If you have ever attended a motivational conference or an entrepreneurial workshop put on by successful people, what you see in the audience are people hungry for success and looking to the charismatic millionaires on stage for guidance in removing the one unknown obstacle that separates them from the the rich speaker. 

Many in the audience know the content of the presentation even better than the speaker does, yet the results of the listeners remain meager indeed.

Some of those leaders look like chiseled movie stars, but interestingly some do not.  Some speak like finely-tuned politicians on message, while others seem to be halting and idiosyncratic.

Ask these leaders why they have results which have made them millionaires while others spend tens' of thousands of dollars filling their pin heads with high-sounding notions which don't seem to work for the masses, and they will say:  "Just do it."

Here's the problem:  Successful people have a divine ability to focus on what they want and filter out what could hold them back.  They can't explain how they do it because they don't know how they do it.  They just do it.

To learn from  such people the system for success is a valuable investment worth making.  But unless you understand how to break out of the loser's mindset by learning from people who first teach you to ask the right questions to yourself to break out from the ninety-seven percent crowd, the money you invest in such seminars will inevitably be flushed down the toilet.

Systems for obtaining wealth mean cockroach crap without first being spiritually grounded.  Making money and enjoying abundance cannot be discovered in the next great opportunity or hot business system.  It's an inside job that will take some time and effort.

A great book on this subject is written by a man who understands the ninety-seven percent of us, Noah St. John.  Read The Secret Code of Success: 7 Hidden Steps to More Wealth and Happiness before chasing any more rainbows.

Japan Niche Opportunity of the Week

The Stage

Desperados, come down off your fences.  So many small business people in Japan (and elsewhere) fail to delegate.  They spend hours or a lifetime doing activities which keep their small businesses afloat, but not much more.  They send out the same fliers, advertise in the same papers, bark in front of their shops in the same manner which hasn't produced a favorable result for years.  They trust nobody and so they are doing everything themselves.

Yet there is a buzz among online entrepreneurs which rings true, even here in the Land of the Rising Sun.  It's called outsourcing, and virtually every success story online and off has stopped trying to be a one man or one woman show because of how easy it has become connected with reliable, talented workers at a fraction of the cost in the most advanced nations.

Outsourcing allows the small business or entrepreneurial venture to save money and focus in on what you and your staff should be focusing in on...increasing revenue and creating lifestyle. 

Multinational corporations have been doing this for years in the States, and in recent years Japanese large companies have been doing likewise.

The Opportunity

This concept has not yet taken  hold among online marketers in Japan.  They are rather cliquish and self-absorbed.  The power of building an online business - becoming a netrepreneur has yet to be realized.  It is very geeky.  The non-Japanese world has several famous sites for outsourcing including eLance and rentacoder.

This concept is truly in the nascent stages in Japan, mostly because most of the freelance portals are in English.  Many Japanese entrepreneurs and, on the other side of the formula, freelancers are incapable of negotiating the language barrier of freelancing on an international level.

Yet what I have discovered is that there are many Japanese and Japanese-fluent skilled workers worldwide in some of the developing countries who will work for as little as $400 a month as a web developer for you!

If you can relinquish the need to be a controller and understand how the power of leverage works to grow the most profitable enterprises, then being in on the freelance market is a no-brainer.

An online marketer named Jeff Mills is considered the go-to authority of outsourcing and he offers up a lot of free, useful content.  Visiting his site as a great starting point to become an enabled outsourcer or even to offer your services.  You can pick up a no-cost outsource compendium there.

Want to Introduce Your Product or Service to Japan?  Looking for partners?  CLICK HERE.　

Empowering Japan Resources

Designers of Japanese Websites from Around the Globe

Caveat:  Carefully check the work background of any person or company you hire to build or localize a website.  Prices vary vastly, and I would start with noted freelance portals which keep track of a freelancers reputation in the marketplace.

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More Gloom and Doom

Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja

You are what you think.  Well the news in Japan is so dark that a black hole has more light.  Most people think there is a  dark cloud overhead.

Some 400,000 temporary workers will lose their jobs by March, according to the Japan Manufacturing Outsourcing Association. Japan’s unemployment rate jumped the most in 41 years in December, to 4.4 percent from 3.9 percent a month earlier, as companies laid off an estimated 88,000 temporary staff.

Like never before, the employed must think out of the box.  By that I mean that the spirit of entrepreneurial adventure must arise from these ashes.

Services and mentors that teach people how to operate home businesses and create cash out of thin air will thrive.  Japan has been spoiled for the last forty years and the soft underbelly of a birth-to-grave socialistic system is finally unraveling.

People are going to finally learn how to be independent in Japan.  Many foreigners - fiercely independent and entrepreneurial - can fill this gap to learn how to become independently wealthy.

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Legal Advice for  Building a Business in Japan

To get legal advice about opening a business or employment regulations is very expensive in Japan.  I have found a Yahoo Group that is outstanding in that respect called Newsletter Japan Readers.  The coordinator of the group, Matsuzaki General Council, give great content in such areas as Overstay and Illegal Entry, The Cheapest Way to Incorporate Business in Japan, Sole Proprietor or Incorporation, and a whole lot more in the archives.  It's an outstanding reference point and, yes, no doubt the law firm hopes for your patronage.  No big deal.  Subscribe to this forum by CLICKING HERE.

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Chumming It Up With Electronic Importers

The Japan Electronic Products Importers' Association has made a convenient directory which makes it easier for you to contact an importer specifically interested in your electronic products.  The site can be found by CLICKING HERE.

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J/E and E/J Translation

The Japan Association of translators has a comprehensive directory (with detailsO) which is a great reference for your specific translation/interpretation needs.  View is by CLICKING HERE.

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This Week's Challenge

The Person Who Had Feelings

~Author Unknown~　

Once there was a very small person who had feelings. They had many feelings and felt them every day. Their family liked them when they showed their feelings, so the very small person started to wear their feelings on their sleeve. One day one of the small person's parents said that they didn't like to see the FEAR feeling any more, so the small person tried to pull it off. The parent said that they would give the small person some TOUGH to cover over their FEAR. The small person found it very difficult to cover the FEAR with the TOUGH, so the other parent and the grandparents all helped. It took many days. "Now you look wonderful," said the parents when it was done. "We've covered some of your feelings with TOUGH, and you'll grow into a strong person."

The small person grew a little older and found a friend. The friend also wore their feelings on their sleeve. The friend said one day, "My parents want me to cover up my LONELY feelings, and to be different from now on." And they were. The small person decided to cover over their LONELY feelings too, and they got ANGRY from another adult. The small person put big patches of ANGRY on top of their LONELY. It was hard work to cover over the LONELY feelings.

One day when the small person (who was now not so small) went to school some of their LONELY feelings started to show. So the teacher kept them behind and gave them some GUILT to cover their LONELY feelings. Sometimes when alone at night the person would look at their feelings. The would pull off the TOUGH and ANGRY and GUILT to look at their LONELY and FEAR. Then they would have to take a long time putting the TOUGH, ANGRY and GUILT back again.

One night the person noticed that their LONELY and FEAR were growing, and beginning to stick out from under the patches. So the person had to go out to find some more ANGRY to cover the LONELY, and got all the TOUGH that their parents could spare to cover their FEAR.

The person grew older and became very popular because everyone said that they could hide their feelings well. The person's parents said one day that they had a PROUD feeling because the person had been so TOUGH. But the person could not find anywhere to put the PROUD feeling because the TOUGH was getting so big. The person had trouble finding room on their sleeve for any other feelings - the TOUGH and the ANGRY were all that showed.

Then after a time the person met another person and they became friends. They thought that they were a lot alike because they both had only TOUGH and ANGRY feelings that showed. One day the friend told the person a secret: "I'm not really like you - my TOUGH and ANGRY are only patches to cover over my LONELY and my FEAR." The friend pulled back the edge of their TOUGH and showed the person their FEAR; just for a second.

The person sat quietly and did not speak. Then carefully they too pulled back the edge of their TOUGH and showed their FEAR. The friend saw the LONELY underneath. Then the friend gently reached out and touched the person's FEAR, and then the LONELY....... The friend's touch was like magic. A feeling of ACCEPTANCE appeared on the person's sleeve, and the TOUGH and ANGRY had become smaller. The person then knew that whenever someone gave them ACCEPTANCE, they would need less TOUGH, and then there would be more room to show PROUD..... SAD ....... LOVING.... STRONG.... GOOD.... WARM... HURT... FEAR....

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