Consulting in Japan

Was cleaning up and found another huge poster of Mayu and Reika from Ninomiya-kun - T'was a SAP from comrades at Columbia Japan. Was consulting with them for a while on a web related project.

When I first started up Mirai Inc, we were a two wo/man band - my wife and I. Much of the first year was spent consulting for companies like iKnow and Columbia and some others that I cant (but would like to) mention because I'm under NDA - a document that you sign saying "I promise not to tell anybody your deepest secrets" type thing.

Consulting was great as I also got to meet a load of folks at each of the offices and build more relationships. Consultation for each of these companies then lead to more opportunities as my clients would recommend my services to others.
This has been one of the keys to being able to run a successful startup in Japan without any venture capital or angel investment. While many companies need to spend money on marketing or go round to get new business - business knocks on my door though word of mouth or people I know. Could not be happier ^o^

I've mentioned it many times in the past but do try to get to know as many people as you can in life. New friendships will not only enrich your life with happiness but also open a huge amount of doors for you which lead to new opportunities.

Another thing I wanted to mention about consulting - companies hire consultants to do something that they are not good at. They may be great at making figures (for example) but need a consultant to help them in areas that they don't excel at.
Consulting is a good business. My initial rates were 35,000 yen per hour and required a minimum of 3 hours per consulting session. My rates were cheap compared to other comrades but making a load of money at the beginning was not the focus - experience and gaining new friendship was more important. Having said that I wasn't going to charge 100 yen per hour ^^;

If you are interested in consulting for others, identify what your specialties are and pursue beefing up those skills - which should come naturally if you are passionate about your specialties. As for how much you should charge per hour - speak to others who are consulting in the same area or google it up.