Calling All Business Owners

[RenaissanceMan]

Calling All Business Owners:

What are some lessons learned from owning your own busines on Okinawa?

[hankypanky]

Don't wait for the american dollar, keep it japanese.

[amplify]

Posting flyers, having signs and the and advertising in the daily newspaper works for attracting the ￥.

Though, if you really want to keep your profits-- don't go with publishing companies to make flyers or signs. I make 2400 professional flyers for $30, at a company, you would only be able to get 500ish for this price. I failed the first time and made 5 professional signs for 4000￥ each, but the second time around I was smarter and bought cement for 480, wood for 980, paint for 2000 and 6 blocks for 98 yen each at Make Man. Both making and posting flyers (800 per 3 hours is reasonable) is an all day project as well as making signs.

The newspaper charges per character, but the first time you get 2 ads for the price of one. I have found that most of the customers who come from the paper are older and your business must cater to seniors if you use this method. Usually I will only receive 1 to 2 calls per advertisement but the CPA is worth it.

Take into consideration that Okinawian's aren't American's and they won't pick up the phone to call you or walk into your business the moment they see your advertisment. They wait it out and keep it in the back of their heads for a while... So be patient and keep trying.

PM me if you need any tips for running a business of base. Weigh your options & good luck.

And NO I'm NOT WORKING, I am VOLUNTEERING my time. :cool: