Hello everyone, I’ve been working in the construction business for several years now and in 2 years I will finally be able to open my own construction company.
As a Japanese who can communicate in English/Spanish/Japanese, I’ve been wondering how could I differentiate my company to other companies, and I thought maybe I should cater to the foreign community? You know how buying and building your dream house is maybe a once in a lifetime thing, and what better to do it with a company that fully understands your mother language right? What do you fine people think about it?
23 comments
I think it only makes sense. As everyone knows the proportion of foreigners in Japanese society is only going to increase in the future, so getting ahead of the game is a smart move.
Another thing to look at would possibly be looking to offer your services in other languages as well further on down the road.
Makes a lot of sense to me. I think there are a lot of people who are good in japanese but would feel better working on such an expensive project in their native tongue.
Make a YouTube channel and it will advertise itself.
It sounds like a good idea, even more so, if you can handle all the paper work, permits etc. And if you could offer Chinese/Korean support, it might open even more opportunities for you.
But maybe don’t concentrate too much on the foreign community now, as it is small overall. And the percentage of foreigners who want to build a home, is even smaller. So, I’d look at it as a welcome add-on, not the foundation of your livelihood.
Good luck!
Even for smaller construction projects than my dream home, I would definitely check out and strongly consider a company with a reliable communication option in my native language. Even if it were a bit more expensive, it might pay for itself in avoiding miscommunication and simple ease of getting the job done as quickly as possible, especially for those without Japanese spouses or partners.
Possibly, but would depend on where you’re located and whether there’s a non-Japanese speaking community there. Kyoto could be interesting, Matsuyama probably less so.
Mother language is fine,
Mother in law is a different kettle of fish.
Wish you all the best
I second the youtube Channel approach. For projects that you work on, perhaps get permission to make a few videos and publish in whatever language you think.
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Also there’s a fantastic building and renovation group on FB that would welcome you with arms wide open
I think you need to understand how the market is really segmented to find your ideal target. I have zero clue, but just sharing my gut feel in the spirit of making you think about it:
Depending on your area, the share of houses built for foreigners is going to go from 0% to maybe up to 10% max in maybe places like Niseko?
Let’s say it’s 2% in average. Proportional to the population.
Within this niche. People who are buying a house and settling in Japan likely have a pretty strong command of the language, or a spouse/family that usually help them out for everything. Let’s say that’s 3 quarters.
Whats left are the 0.5% of houses that are built for foreigners who don’t speak Japanese. This quite a small portion, 1 out of 200 potential house builder for you. But can pay off. I’d try to understand that segment really well to find out what value proposition will stick.
I don’t think there’s much of a market for that. The majority of foreign residents, with the exception of some of the English teachers, function well in the local language.
Saving this and hoping I get to work with OP on my dream home in the near future.
As someone who’s currently doing a major renovation, I wish construction companies in Japan would be more flexible (everything we ask for, we get some teeth sucking and a “muzukashii” as a reply). We speak Japanese so communication isn’t a problem but would definitely prefer to be able to say everything in English.
Another thing I wish my contractor did was to check with me before making some executive decisions, but then again maybe this is an issue with him and not Japan in general.
Do you work in the Tokyo area?
Keep in mind that foreigners wanting to build new in Japan are not exactly a large %, so you wouldn’t want to be targetting them as your main market. However, they ARE there, and especially with reforms, there will be a lot more looking at hiring builders/carpenters to fix up older/cheaper places.
It certainly can’t help to target them in addition to your “regular” (ie, Japanese) customers.
OP, I would particularly reach out to international couples. (For example, Japanese-Filipina marriages.) There might be ways of identifying newly married couples.
So long as there’s more setting it apart than just speaking English. Most foreigners are not English, they’re from other parts of Asia.
Also the western foreigners that are keen on building a new house would generally be interested in better insulation and things like passiv houses so if you can deal with those it’s be extremely good. And that’s something that should pick up generally as the insulation standards have been going up recently
This is a fantastic idea, as you do marketing research, consider what areas you can provide service. Logically it would be where your connections for resource and materials are, as well as high density for foreigners. Personally, I’m looking to build something in Gunma and it’s been a challenge navigating construction companies and permits with my level of Japanese. I would have loved to work with a construction company that is fluent in English.
I’ve read through all your comments and I love the positive vibes I’m getting! 🫰🏼
As many of you guys suggested, once I open my company, I’ll be building for the locals and will try to get contracts from foreigners as well.
I’ll have to do some research on the marketing plan, and I’ll be based in Kyushu, mainly Okinawa-Fukuoka-Nagasaki area since I’m already well connected in this part of the country. Thank you everyone for your replies!
You guys made my day, and I will keep pushing forward on my dreams so one day when you think “ahh I want to build myself a nice house” your first thought will be, “I should call that Reddit dude from 2 years ago”.
This, this is a really nice concept. Go for it mate. I have my own camping car factory. I speak to the English language customers, my wife speaks to the Japanese customers (I do to but I suck). It works well. Question, is your team to be built around Japanese builders or are you going to have some certified foreign builders/ draftsmen mixed in?
I work for a company that mainly performs construction. Your best bet is finding a niche construction that only overseas contractors can perform and operating as the primary contractor in their engagements, engaging Japanese labor where it’s cheaper/doesn’t compromise the quality to do so.
Overseas companies still have a huge lead on most HVAC technologies, especially central heating/cooling. Importing contractors to work on systems like that could differentiate you if you’re looking primarily at 住宅 construction. If you’re experienced working on office buildings or other structures I’m sure there are specialized technologies you can bring in that you’re probably already aware of.
Basically I think English will be of more use to you with subcontractors than it will with customers. Or, sell your soul to the US government and work as a subcontractor for American primary contractors on bases. Otherwise there’s not a big enough market to support a company.
As others said, the foreign community will only grow for now on. I also agree that you should not only focus on construction but also reforms. Also, I’ve know at least 5 families last year that bought their home and build it from scratch at a veeery inaka city and they spend some money hiring a translator because they don’t speak proper Japanese nor English. I’m sure they would be willing to hire your services if they had someone that speaks their language. Feel free to DM me, I can give you more information to broaden your business ideas.
Saving these and sending my best wishes to you!
This is actually a really good concept. I’ve seen plenty of people buying houses who can’t really speak japanese that well so they almost always end up getting screwed over by a 3rd party realtor/agent. If you want I’ll ask around on how the process goes from the planning and who does the building. Also. You could also do basic maintenance for those who don’t know how to.
Is there any value in advertising yourself to other builders as someone they can work with / contract out to with English/Spanish clients?