Emi was a freelancer in Japan for years. For a while it was okay to work with other teams as a freelancer yet at one point it was not enough anymore. During this covid time, it was like a sign that something she loves to do was in such a demand – websites, E-Commerce, digital marketing, content creation.
We want to share her story with you:
Emi, your business is about project management, where you create content for websites and help businesses to do digital marketing in Japan.
Connecting with e-Residency: Impact on the Business Journey
Before I started with my company I made market research and realized that there is a lot of fish in the sea. In terms of approaching to Asian market properly, I found out that they were almost all large companies working with other large companies with high cost.
In particular, it is costly for small/medium enterprises to deliver information properly to the Japanese market, but it is difficult to expect that much in return. My idea was to be a small/medium enterprise that helps other SMEs. And it was something that was missing. Now, when I finally started here in Japan I had another dream, which was to make my business global.
Estonia and e-Residency have given me the chance to help Estonians who would like to approach the Japanese market.
Choosing Estonia
I had some conditions, for example, low living costs, polite culture and last but not least country that not just speaks their local language but also English. Now, when I found out how advanced is Estonia in its IT world and that you are about to issue a Digital Nomad Visa, my interest only grew.
Digital Nomad Visa is really important for me. Diversity in our company and job is very important which means I’m looking for people who might live somewhere else but can work in Estonia without much bureaucracy troubles.
It sounds all super easy and convenient yet we all know there are always some ups and downs. How have you coped with difficult situations or when you have a lack of knowledge or understanding of something?
Somehow the only problem I have had so far is just English, which I think is for many Japanese. However, I haven’t been doing my business that long in Estonia yet to say there have been a lot of issues. I’m a fan of Jobbatical and SuccessHub. SuccessHub has been a lot of help. I can ask anything I need, doesn’t matter how crazy or small it is at that time. But if you are an employee who wants to work abroad, Jobbatical will help you greatly.
Business Advantages in Estonia and Insights for Entrepreneurs
Honestly, I don’t know any other country that would support you so much in starting a business as it is in Estonia. There are so many events that introduce or motivate you to start running your own company or consulting companies that are always there to support you with entrepreneurship knowledge.
“Honestly, I don’t know any other country that would support you so much in starting a business as it is in Estonia.”
Also, it’s important for a lot of startups that initial costs are as low as possible. Here everything is possible. We will see how my first annual report writing will go, as I haven’t done it before, yet I have heard it’s easy to understand but if somehow I can’t get it through I have help from you, the SuccessHub team.
What I would recommend to others, is to just make good market research but don’t get stuck into it. At one point you just have to get up and just start doing it. If you are not sure about something, I have got help from SuccessHub for example.
Conclusion
I think different success stories about entrepreneurship and e-Residency motivate and inspire people today to get out there with their ideas and make them real. So as much as I can I like to share my stories and read others.
E-Residency allows working remotely, and let’s face it, today it seems the best and only option how to do work successfully in the global market.
You might also like to read How to Start a Global Business in Estonia