what do you think about my plan?

Hi there, I'll get straight to the point.

this next April I'll have around 40 000 dlls in savings (living in Mexico but working in USA helps you a lot by earning dlls and spending pesos).
I'm planing a 1 year intensive Japanese curse starting next April, I'm in the process of applying to the school this month, so in the worst case scenario I'll spend the half of that money if i don't find some kind of part time job.

is 20 000 dlls enough to start a business in Tokyo? I'm thinking of a Mexican tacos stand something like king kebab but Mexican tacos.
what are the legalities in starting this kind of business?
under what type of visa I'll be, etc? assuming that ill be at the end of the pre college visa.
any information that you can share is appreciated.

I have 2 nationalities, Mexico and USA, if that helps. had been two times in japan as tourist, speak a little bit of Japanese only the basic(like where is... whats that).

your thoughts??
thank you.

Your main challenge will be the visa.

I very much doubt that you will be permitted to run your own business while being on a student visa. Student visas basically do not allow any paid activities, although it is possible to get special permission to work part-time for the financing of your studies.

The alternative would be a business manager visa which seems to be very hard to get. I believe that one condition is the employment of at least two Japanese nationals:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/appendix1.html

The money is less of a problem, especially if you were to run the business as an individual (but I think only a spouse visa would allow you that), there would be basically no administrative costs involved.

you'll need more money.

buy an existing restaurant and get a manager or investor's visa. it's not as hard to do as people make it sound. but you need to have a lot of money. 40,000USD (not dlls..!!!) might be enough, but the more the better.

do not try to open your own, the complexity of getting permits and paying people goes way up. Buy someone elses business and the paperwork will be much more simple and it may already be profitable and have a staff set up.

Visa is also a problem but 40,000 USD is nowhere close to being enough to start and sustain a business in Japan or the US. Not sure if you have a business background or education but as a small business owner myself in the US (in the service industry), your overhead alone is probably going to eat up that money in a matter of months! Rent, insurance, human resources, marketing/advertising expenses, finding/dealing with suppliers, all involve a lot of money. In addition, businesses (unless they get really, really, really lucky) only going to lose money for at least months, if not years. With that amount of money, you're going to be close to the edge right away and fighting to keep your doors open.

As Winterwolf mentioned, it's financially more feasible and easier on you if you had a partner but by yourself, I'm sorry but you're pretty much just throwing away $40,000 hard-earned dollars that you could've spent in a better way. That and in my opinion (living in Japan for a while), Mexican food just isn't popular. If it was, wouldn't Taco Bell already have invaded the country long ago??

hey thank you for your replays, maybe it's just a crazy dream from my part,because i don't have any background in business management or anything alike, my education is in IT field, I'm a 25 year old that took a good job after graduation and was able to save that kind of money. For now I'll stick for the original plan of 1 year of Japanese language school as is one of my personal goals.

p.d. well taco bell as Mexican food is debatable, you should come to Mexico and try real tacos, first of all tacos are Not made with flour tortillas nor crunchy corn tortillas.

Haha! Yeah, Taco Bell is actually one of my least favorite fast food places. I split time between Tokyo and Los Angeles so I have more than my share of real Mexican food and I absolutely love every enchilada, taco, burrito, torta, etc I've had!

That being said though, real Mexican food in my mind just doesn't match the tastebuds of Japanese people. In Japan, most restaurants including Chinese, Italian, and Thai are very much "adjusted for Japanese people" and they just don't taste the same (not that they're inferior though, depends on each individual's taste).

Anyhow, congratulations on your success so far and I hope your plans to study Japanese work out!

yeah LA, San Diego, etc have good Taco shops... but still is not the real Mexican flavor; as an anecdote i once took 2 Canadian friends that were on a business trip in San Diego over the border and i still remember the look on theirs faces after the first bite of a taco it was like they were tasting a Delicatessen (in Spanish: "manjar", i don't know if I'm using the correct word).

somehow relate rant: you know what sucks, that i can't even start a business here in Mexico the moment I'll start making money or having success is the time that for sure I'll be the target of the imperative violence (blackmails...etc even kidnapping). you need to have a low profile. one of the things that i loved about Tokyo such a Big city and you can walk safely at 2 AM without any fear. One of the things that you give for granted.

There is the very generic chain El Torito (in the Tokyo area at least), which is fairly popular, but Tex Mex rather than Mexican.

There is also the very well-established and long-running ''El Fonda de la Madrugada'' near Harajuku which is considered the benchmark for Mexican food in Tokyo. Even if real Mexican food doesn't have mass appeal, there are still enough people in Tokyo to keep a restaurant in business if the food, service, management etc are good.

$40,000 US is nowhere near enough though, and without a much better knowledge of the country, culture and business practices it sounds like a very risky undertaking.

surely is only a crazy dream, i think I'll be more wisely to invest that money in some kind of education once there.

I'm first time poster but i always read/visit the forum, how you find time to always share your opinion.... ... wait a minute i think that i responded myself....

thanks.

I'm the original poster DG = DanielG