Start-up expansion to Japan
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2021
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
Language
en
Pages
65
Series
Abstract
This study covers essential market knowledge for start-ups considering expansion to Japan. The topic aims for making a clear overview of the Japanese market and has been inspired by my personal efforts of bringing a start-up from Finland to Japan. It was while seeking market information when I realized the data is not concise, which motivated me to look at the topic from my perspective. Particularly, I have recognized lack of intersection of business and cultural topics. It is important to view business topics in the perspective of target market culture, for which Hofstede’s 6D Model is a great tool to understand the cultural specifics. In the study, I have combined theoretical knowledge of creating business models with the Hofstede’s cultural characteristics and created a Triangle of Success that adds key partners as a key element to matching value proposition with customer segments. This stands as an important framework for cultures where key partners serve crucial role in business. To gain critical knowledge about Japanese market, I have sourced data from various local and international reports. Additionally, I used an expert questionnaire to gain insights of 3 local experts. The data from reports served as a basis for questions to the expert pool. All questions to experts as well as discussion of their responses are clearly marked throughout this study for those who are familiar with public market data but may be interested in discovering expert opinions from the start-up environment. We can see that the Japanese market faces a challenge of aging population, which meanwhile opens new opportunities for elderly-focused businesses. It is also apparent from the data that the start-up environment has seen positive development in the past years. It is quite easy to set up a company in Japan, nor is the process tedious. However, business founders should plan for longer time frame needed when considering Japanese market entry. This also means sufficient investment needs to be prepared. Additionally, obtaining domestic funding may be possible with a branch set in the country, but it is also recommended to build a record on the market before attempting to seek an investment from local investors. While Japanese market may be often seen as very traditional and difficult to enter, this study shows that there are upcoming opportunities in the start-up environment. Entering through local start-up communities gives foreigners critical entry support from local schemes, as well as open paths to potential business partners – the so much needed element in cultures like the Japanese.Description
Thesis advisor
O'Shea, GregoryKeywords
entrepreneurship, start-ups, business models, internationalization, culture, Japan