There are a lot of people who have the desire to do business for foreigners because they want to do their own business because they have recently been excited about their inbound business. I know a friend who was afraid with similar feelings. He wanted to make use of the English he learned hard, but he wasn’t allowed to work in English at the company, so he was looking for a business opportunity to use English as a side job. I will introduce a story about such a friend who put the inbound business on track.
Possibility for the inbound business
Even though the side job has been lifted, there are many cases where the company has been restrained for a long time and gives up on the side job due to fatigue.
At first, he just wanted to use English and was not going to do inbound business. However, he read the current market well and decided to start this business.
The market is going up
Currently, the number of foreigners visiting Japan is rising. In addition, the government is focusing on tourism, which has helped increase the number of foreign tourists in the public and private sectors.
In the first place, if there are more buyers than sellers, the chances of making a profit are high. In other words, even though the number of foreigners is steadily increasing, I thought that there would be an opportunity for the inbound business if there are still few services provided to foreigners.
Amendment of the law for private accommodation
In fact, there is no longer a hotel where foreigners can stay in Japan. Because of that, Airbnb, a private accommodation site, is very popular, and there is a great opportunity for Japanese hosts to provide rooms.
Previously, private accommodation business was conducted in the gray zone of the law, but the law has been revised and it is now possible to legally allow foreigners to stay in their rooms.
There are overwhelming opportunities in this growing market.
Service my friend succeeded
I understand that there are many opportunities in the inbound business, but can I really make money on the side business? There is anxiety that.
What kind of inbound business did my friend succeed in such a situation? It was a kimono experience service.
Foreigners are curious about Japanese culture
He was able to dress his kimono because his parents’ house was a kimono. Therefore, we borrowed several kimonos by size from parents and provided them with a kimono rental service for foreigners visiting Japan for 4 hours a day.
This service is a 4-hour rental pack of kimono, kimono, half-width belt, long-sleeve, sandals, and the price is 3,500 yen per person. In most cases, there will be more than two visitors, so it will cost you 7,000 yen once, and now you can earn 100,000 yen a month just on Saturdays and Sundays.
For foreigners who came to Japan, there were not many chances to wear kimonos, so orders were received from many foreigners.
By the way, attracting customers seems to have used a matching site called Voyagin (https://www.govoyagin.com/en) operated by Rakuten. There are various services on this site, so if you are thinking about inbound business, it will be helpful for you.
Compete in growing markets with your strengths!
My friend’s example is a special case, some people may think, but his thought process is very simple.
Introducing Japanese culture in the growing inbound market.
Of course, kimono is especially popular in Japanese culture, so it was true that he had a great advantage, but I think his ability to execute it is really amazing.
Conclusion
What did you think? I think that one pattern for successful inbound business is to introduce Japanese culture to foreigners.
In fact, there are many things that are normal for us Japanese but strange to foreigners.
How do you find it and connect it to business? Of course it is not easy, but isn’t it time to actively enter the inbound market now that the market is growing?
Leave a Reply