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petermacadam

Doing Business in Japan




This can be incredibly rewarding if you know what to expect, or extremely frustrating if you haven't done your homework properly!



Although Japan has changed a lot since the late nineties when it comes to doing business there, some things just never change. One of those involves how companies there prefer doing business. Over the years, so many exporters to Japan have tried to do direct business with their customers, supposedly to cut out the 'middlemen,' however, the prevailing business culture there is one of working through locally based Japanese trading houses.


They act as brokers, facilitators and/or distributors for your products, and become your eyes and ears on the ground while facilitating business on your behalf. One should never underestimate how important a Japanese trading house can be when it comes to doing business in Japan. They are local companies, understand the culture, have highly qualified salespeople, and can assist a great deal when it comes to registration protocols, as well as supply chain management. Exporters to Japan should see the trading houses as their agents or business 'partners' there, as they take care of most of the time consuming formalities, thereby enabling you to do business a lot quicker and easier. Working through a trading house is therefore the smart choice in my opinion, but there are excellent, mediocre and bad ones in the mix. Exporters will therefore need to align themselves with a trading house that suits their company and product/s best.


When you hire staff, you generally interview them to assess their skills, their suitability for a role, and whether they would be a good fit in your company. It's no different when it comes to choosing a good trading house in Japan. Make it your business to meet up with a few prospective trading houses in Japan before committing to one, as they do become an integral part of your exporting business there.


In recent times there have been more companies willing to do direct business with foreign exporters to Japan, but excluding these trading houses can sometimes cost you dearly, especially when there's a problem of some sort. My advice to exporters is to tread carefully when doing business in Japan, as they are very bound by tradition in all facets of life and business. Trying to save money by going directly could end up costing you a lot more, so work with the system in place and reap the rewards!

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