Business startup books

[Ocean11 0]

Does anybody have any recommendations for books about starting up a business?

 

I'm interested in anything in English that covers things to think about, or in Japanese that covers the regulatory side of things.

 

This is what I'm looking at so far;

 

The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business : A Step-By-Step Blueprint for the First-Time Entrepreneur

 

The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies

 

Six-Week Start-Up: A Step-By-Step Program for Starting Your Business, Making Money, and Achieving Your Goals!

 

The Company We Keep

Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, and Place

John Abrams

 

Grassroots Marketing

Getting Noticed in a Noisy World

Shel Horowitz

[misorano 1]

O11:

Most of the Japanese books we used are more of a step by step guide through the registration process. (Toki, Teikan etc). Easy to find at any major book store.

 

However most of the info is online if you google it. Model teikans etc are easy to download, an you just full in the gaps.

 

From memory you have to go to the Homukyoku, Shiyakusho, and Zeimusho (twice to some place)

 

One bit of advice, make sure everything is 100% correct (both in format, and detail) as it costs 30,000-40,000yen to change later.

 

I've read a few "make your business a success" type books but the are not really geared to the Japanese market. Most of it was common sense.

[slow 0]

Ocean, These are the links I often use.

http://www.rakucyaku.com/Koujien/A/A010000 http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/COMMERCE/11-1.html

[Ocean11 0]

Excellent, thanks misorano and slow!

 

I'm going to need financing which means writing a business plan with actual figgers, so I'm going to need something that covers that side of things. Did you do that misorano? (I'm guessing that for your business, like my current business, you didn't need to do that...)

 

slow if you have anything else, however irrelevent it may seem, do please post it.

[misorano 1]

O11:

We had capital saved from several years of doing it part time, so we haven't needed any financing.

 

For us, the minimum to get registered was 3.6mill. (3 mill as capital (shares), and 60man for a bond lodged with the govt..

Apart from that it's just a matter of getting the Toki and teikan accepted by the Homukyoku. (That's what the wife is for). Best to get both done in as general terms as possible to cover any possible business activities.

 

I imagine you'll need a guarantor for financing. I think they are more important than the actual business plan.

Most bank tenchous can issue a loan for up to 5mill without an OK from head office, but above that then the geriatrics at head office enjoy saying no. If you have a good relationship with your local bank manger then approch him first, esp if you have other loans with them.

[gamera 0]

Also try hellowork if you need to employ someone for the new business. They have some plans to help you especially when you start new business. Ask the details at the closest one.

[Ocean11 0]

All good info. Thanks!

[indosnm 0]

Misorano, you're doing a school right?

[misorano 1]

Indo:

Nope! We own a travel agency. (Hotel reservations for non Japanese visiting Japan)

[indosnm 0]

Miso, sorry I have you mixed up with someone else!

Thats why I was wandering why you took the path that you did by setting up the business that way...

Didn't they recently scrap needing the 3 million up front when starting a biz?

[misorano 1]

They changed the rules so you could start with less capital, but you had to get it to 3mill in a certain time period (3 or 5 years).

 

You really need to look at it carefully as there are big advantages to certain structures.

 

If you are single and your moneyflow is cash, then being self employed is much better then forming a company as a lot of personal expenses can get written off. However almost everythig is counted as income and taxes can be steep once you start making good money.

 

Main reason we formed a company was that I have 5 dependents, and by paying myself a salary at a certain threshold, I escape income tax altogether, also local taxes, kindergarten fees, hospital bills etc a much cheaper. The down side is that company tax can be quite expensive. But you can get around this by declearing a loss on your first year (I think it's almost expected that companies declear a loss in their first year), so you start from the red in your 2nd year.

We are a yugen gaisha, which give us total control of things. We hold all the shares and can do what ever we like.

The bigger kabushiki Gaisha is more difficult as you need at least 3 directors + a host of other things.

 

Another reason for forming a company is recognition. For some reason, a company is more prestigous than a self employed person here in Japan. Doesn't matter what shape the business is in, as long as you you have yugen gaisha etc after your name.

[indosnm 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by misorano:
[QB] They changed the rules so you could start with less capital, but you had to get it to 3mill in a certain time period (3 or 5 years).

You really need to look at it carefully as there are big advantages to certain structures.

If you are single and your moneyflow is cash, then being self employed is much better then forming a company as a lot of personal expenses can get written off. However almost everythig is counted as income and taxes can be steep once you start making good money.

Yeah I heard it was about 3 years that you had to have the capital by.

I'm not single and have 3 dependants but doing the blue form is better for us. Guess it really depends on the type of business and the deductions you can make. Cash is an advantage as your income can be reduced, but there is a down side to it that you can't qualify for loans here or back home etc. Still beats paying criminal amounts into health Insurance and kindergartens.

[misorano 1]

Indo:

Know exactly what you mean.

To get anywhere here it's like 1 step back - 2 steps forward. You need to take a hit somewhere before you can get going.

 

We're starting to pay into the Shakai Hoken plan from Jan, as we need to increase our expenses. Also starting a Taishokukin plan with the local Chamber of commerce (shite return).

All should help when going for a housing loan.

 

Receiveing cash is good, but like you say, it make you look bad if you hide too much.

I know a sign writer in Miyazaki who was declearing about 1.8 mill a year, but was driving a porsche. Zeimusho got him and we wound up backing several yearws of taxes.

[Ocean11 0]

Do you hire a tax accountant? We have a dude in Osaka who seems pretty, uh, sharp.

[Ocean11 0]

Finally I ordered;

 

The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies

 

Six-Week Start-Up: A Step-By-Step Program for Starting Your Business, Making Money, and Achieving Your Goals!

 

The Company We Keep

Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, and Place

 

and

 

You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise

 

It occurs to me that if we want to be able to build a house of the kind we want, we're going to have to have farmland of our own to get building permission. There's a lot of farmland going to waste now, and opportunities for new farming models, so I might as well read up on that possibility too.

[misorano 1]

O11:

We don't as yet. We just run everything through Yayoi software, and it gives us all the papers to take to the Tax dept. My wife does the books (it allows us to pay her a salary too).

I've heard that it's a good idea to get an accountant though. 20,000yen a month + extra at tax time is the going rate for a few guys I know.

 

With the farm idea, doesn't it all come down to zoning. I've heard that changing no-chi to taku-chi can be a pain in the ass.

 

Still doing something you enjoy would make it worth all the hassles.

[Ocean11 0]

My wife does the books (it allows us to pay her a salary too).

> My wife does the dishes which is what she gets her salary for. (She gets 'paid' more than me.)

 

20,000yen a month + extra at tax time is the going rate for a few guys I know.

> I think that's about what we pay.

 

With the farm idea, doesn't it all come down to zoning. I've heard that changing no-chi to taku-chi can be a pain in the ass.

> That's right, but if you're registered as a farmer who farms an area of a certain size, you don't need to change no-chi to taku-chi. You just site your farmhouse where you want it. I keep seeing nice places that aren't taku-chi...

[indosnm 0]

Miso, well driving a porsche make it look a wee obvious doesn't it!

 

My wife does the books too, but we bought a dishwasher!

The first year that she did the blue form she was referred to an accountant that would take her through it for the first time ( this is available at any ward/city office).

We just pay about 5man for him to check the whole thing once we have finished it. (we use software too)

[misorano 1]

Great things these wives aren't they?

 

When you start up you worry about things on a daily basis ("Shite, did I make enough today"), but now I get a nice little print out at the end of each month that tells me where we are.

 

After working for yourself I think it'd be pretty much impossible to go back to working for someone else.

 

O11: Have you been checking out the banruptcy sales at the court house. Real bargains down there.

[Ocean11 0]

> O11: Have you been checking out the banruptcy sales at the court house. Real bargains down there.

 

I see the ones that Yasuragi sells, but I wouldn't want any of them at any price. Definitely low performance housing.

[misorano 1]

O11:

If you head down the court house they'll have a whole room of them at dirt cheap prices. I dunno if Matsuyama has a HP up, but this is what we used to look at in Miyazaki

Saibansho

 

Take a look at the 農地物件一覧.

 

I used to go down to the courthouse every couple of months as the have a room where you can view all the documents etc. Great deals if you havetime on your side to wait for the dream property to come along.

[Ocean11 0]

Cheers! I didn't know there was more to it than that. I'll check it out.

 

Apparently there can be some big problems with 'yakuza squatters' on this kind of land, but it's worth thinking about. I'm sure my worms wouldn't turn up their little noses at a couple of chimpira.

 

"Eh? What? Those two rude blokes with quiffs? Nah, haven't seen 'em. They weren't here."

[Ocean11 0]

OK, quick follow up.

 

The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies (Rhonda Abrams) is a very comprehensive guide to just about everything about starting a business. Good value.

 

You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise (Joel Salatin) - A classic! This guy is a Southern conservative Christian (who may very well believe in Creationism too), but this is an extremely positive, can-do guide to getting started and avoid all the things that make people say "farming - that's no life". I couldn't put it down. People may have noticed a slight streak of anti-Americanism in some of my posts, but this book has reminded me what is great about America, still.

 

Thanks to everyone who gave me pointers.

[misorano 1]

Let us know how you get on.

[Ocean11 0]

Will do.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to an Eco trade fair and I'm half thinking about throwing myself at a biodiesel manufacturer and asking them to hire me for a year... a paid apprenticeship would be a nice change ... plus I bet I have more ideas than they do for building their business...