Scaling Japan is a podcast where experts who have experience with business and scaling companies in Japan share their stories and give helpful advice. While a wide range of topics are covered, this article will be focusing on the 4 main topics of: talent management, company financing, marketing, and partnerships.
How to Manage Company Talent
Human resources (HR) is at the center of effective talent management as not only does it lay down the foundation of a company, but it also embodies the company’s core values and helps with accelerating growth. The first step in managing talent is the recruitment process. Hiring the first full time employee can be a daunting task. During this time, it is important to acknowledge the soft skills of potential employees. While both hard and soft skills are equally important, soft skills are what makes working in a company environment an enjoyable experience. These attributes will further help contribute to a company’s overall culture. As the company grows, business owners need to know how to scale their employee team along with the company. Starting from a family (1-10 employees) to a nation (10,000+ employees), HR managers need to maintain a constant balance.
Talent Management Podcast Episodes:
Rina Sakuraba joins us in this episode of Scaling Japan podcast. She is the founder of 35CoCreation and was former HR director at GE Health Japan, in addition to several senior level director roles with companies around the world. Rina Sakuraba explains what Human Resource (HR) is and the role it plays. She also breaks down the different types of positions and talks about how a HR partner can help with company growth.
Sylvain Pierre, founder of the Le Wagon Japan branch, joins us in this episode to share his experiences with scaling multiple companies. He talks about what it is like for a company to go through different stages of growth and how different types of organizational frameworks may work better. He also gives helpful advice on delegation and the hiring process for first time founders.
In this episode of Scaling Japan, we are joined by Nathan Hoernig. He is the founder of Humble Bunny, a digital marketing and design company in Tokyo. He shares his experience of what it is like to grow a company from the family stage and the beginning process of employee recruitment. Nathan Hoernig also provides helpful insights into the importance of creating and maintaining company culture.
How to Finance Your Business
Finances are not only important when starting up a new company, but also during the scaling process. While having a lot of money will allow a company to rapidly grow, businesses do not need tens of thousands of dollars to be able to successfully scale. There are many different types of ways to finance a company, own funds, bank/government loans and angel investors, just to name a few. The main objective is to determine which method will best suit your company and help it achieve its scaling goals. Some things to take into consideration are what resources are available, potential risks, and timeline of growth. Feel free to check out these following scaling articles to find out more: bootstrapping, blitzscaling, slow scaling, fast scaling.
Finance Podcast Episodes:
As angel investing is becoming more popular in Japan, this episode we are joined by Yuki Shirato who is an investment lawyer that works in M&A and runs Yakumi.co, a Japanese angel syndicate that works with foreign companies. Yuki Shirato talks about how he got into his career and shares his experience as an angel investor. He further delves into what exactly angel investing is, what kind of businesses it is suitable for and what profiles investors are looking for.
Miho Tanaka joins us in this episode of Scaling Japan podcast to talk about government financial support in Japan. She is the founder of Startup Work Inc. and the startup visa lead of Shibuya Startup Support. Miho Tanaka goes into depth about government grants and loans that will be useful for business owners from Japan and international founders as well. Other helpful tools for entrepreneurs, such as free office space and business related seminars, are also discussed.
Tune in now to our highly-requested talk with serial entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd who, for over 20 years, has been guiding businesses hands on and through his consultancy agency in Japan to navigate these challenges. Terrie has established 20 companies in Japan and has brought his investors 8 successful earn-outs, as well as amassing a large following of like-minded entrepreneurs in Japan via his long-running newsletter on business in Japan: Terrie’s Take.
How to Market Your Service/Product
The purpose of marketing is to retain and attract more customers through increasing brand awareness, brand engagement, and customer value. Without marketing, a company would not be able to effectively communicate the worth of their service/product. To better promote a service/product, a solid customer profile also needs to be created. This is especially important if you’re operating in a foreign country. Different marketing strategies should be applied because of differences in culture. As the business is advancing, it is important to keep up to date with current trends. Currently, digital marketing is growing in popularity as the use of technology and social media has greatly increased.
Marketing Podcast Episodes:
This episode we are joined by Harry Hakuei Kosato, who was head of marketing for both Virgin and Dyson in Japan and is now the founder of Sushi and More, the largest sushi chain in India. He shares experiences from both Virgin and Dyson, explaining how the companies had different strategies and views on success. Additionally, he talks about how he was able to bring his experiences from Japan to India and start his own business.
As we are transitioning into 2022, this special episode is brought to you by the podcast host, Tyson Batino. He is the founder of Scaling Your Company, a business coaching company, and also Japan Switch and One Coin English. With his business Scaling Your Company, he has already attracted 20 clients within the first four months of starting up. Tyson Batino shares his three biggest business takeaways from 2021 which can help you in improving your 2022 business plan goals.
How to Establish Business Partnerships
There are many advantages when it comes to forming partnerships in business. The main goal is to be able to scale, come up with new innovative ideas, and reach out to a wider audience by working with another corporation. Foreign country managers need to understand the business culture in which they are operating in to establish strong partnerships. For example, in Japan corporations are more open to risky proposals if a foreigner is the one proposing it. There are also many startup events available for business owners looking to make new connections with big corporations and innovation teams.
Partnership Podcast Episodes:
In this episode of Scaling Japan podcast we are joined by Fariza Abidova. She is the founder of Trusted Corporations, a search engine focused on connecting businesses and accelerating innovation. Fariza Abidova shares her experience of creating Trusted Corporations and explains how partnerships can be utilized to scale companies. She also provides helpful advice for startups, large corporations and country managers on how to establish a successful business partnership.
Pascal Gerbert-Gaillard, Japan managing director for Unabiz and senior advisor for SES-imagotag, joins us this episode to discuss shareholders and big corporations in Japan. Pascal Gerbert-Gaillard shares his experience with scaling Unabiz and the challenges that he has faced. Not only does he cover aspects of B2C in Japan, but he also explains how business culture and recruitment processes can be different in Japan.
Subscribe to the Scaling Japan podcast for more business in Japan content. The podcast is available on the following platforms:
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Looking for more business podcasts centered around Japan? Then check out this article on the Top 5 Japan Business Podcasts.
