Poor ALT wishes to open shop

I'm currently an ALT in a small town in Tochigi and have found my calling. I want to open an American style pizza and sandwich place in Ashikaga. All of you must know how weak their pizzas and sanwiches are. However I've just gotten started in this starting your own life thing, and I don't have a lot of money.

How can I get started? I don't get paid a JET's salary...much much less. Like 20–œ. I don't have college loans to pay though. Do you suggest I take out loans/find investors asap or wait and save up a certain amount? I also feel like I need to complete some personal goals first like pass the JLPT 1 by December and I'll need a cooking license and a new visa for the shop. I also realize that I need to research the market.

Any ideas on how I should start this and at what point?

UreshiiMiko, are you so sure you would be given a loan? Young people with no assets or business experience would be considered an incredibly poor risk by most banks and investors, particularly if you are not a Japanese national. I wish you luck, but I think you have a lot more research to do here. Incidentally, while I agree about the sandwiches, I think you can get some great pizza here.

First I would be concerned about visas, and you should contact an immigration lawyer to find out if you could legally start a business on your current visa. You may have to apply for an exception to do work outside of your visa class to start the business. Then when it comes time to renew or change your visa you will have to consider what type you will apply for. There are some options and an immigration lawyer would help you figure out which is best for your situation.

The second concern is that Japanese lending institutions may require you to have permanent residency before they will accept your loan application. That is an obstacle that I have run into recently. So at the very least, it seems you may need to find a Japanese partner to get this business off the ground.

Thanks for the replies and so quickly too.

So it seems a loan would be either difficult or impossible for me to obtain without experience or a Japanese partner. If that's the case would you still recommend a loan or saving up money on my own?

Maybe I can talk some of my Japanese friends into helping me.

You'd have to go some way to beat Dominoe Pizza pizzas. Best in the world, although you could certainly aim to beat their rather high price.

Hmmmm...I feel like a pizza now..moshi moshi...:-)

P.S. Not to be too harsh, but it doesn't say wonders for your business savvy if you need to elicit opinions on a 'travel' forum (a bit more than that, I know) on such a life-determining matter.

It is obviously better not to go into debt if you don't have to, so using your own money rather than borrowing would always be ideal, but did you know that just to start up a "yuugen gaisha" (limited company), which would probably apply to this case, you need to have 1 million yen locked away?

Honestly, your chances of getting a loan without permanent residence are almost non-existent, other than from the really dodgy "cashing" companies, and you really don't want to go down that route.

How many years in the future are you thinking for this?

"You'd have to go some way to beat Dominoe Pizza pizzas" no offense intended but any real Italian Pizza maker in North America beat them by a hundred miles..
One my Japanese friend in Canada is a chef trained in both Japanese and European cuisines and HIS Pizzas are unbelievable!

to the OP: seriously now, could you get a loan as a poor student in your home country? any idea how much it cost to rent a small shop, renovate it for Pizza making according to the local building and health safety bylaws. Did you ever priced a special pizza oven?
then you need staff to help you.. and you need money to pay suppliers..and an accountant, lawyer etc.
Hard enough in your own country but in a foreign country???..

teaching privately after work, if it is allowed with your visa, would be much easier..

Domino's is good, but we don't have it in Tochigi as far as I've seen. I'm not marketing for Tokyo-ites. Plus, it's the Japanese version of Domino's not the American version. I'm trying for authentic here. I asked here because there are quite a few experienced people here, this forum isn't just for traveling. Don't assume I haven't asked others I know yet.

To Sira, I'm planning on living in Japan for a while. I guess if I'm opening a shop I'll be in Japan for a long time until I have to close it down or forever, depending on the success. To actually start it up I'm hoping within 5 to 10 years.

If you think I can't get a loan, maybe investors would be a better option. I have some contacts who are well to do, one involved in the food industry. Perhaps they might be interested in helping.

To Momkey:
I'm not a student, I'm an ALT. AKA English Teacher for public schools. And I don't want to teach privately. It's not about the easy way out, it's about the goal I want to achieve.

Congratulations on your ambitious idea. In my perfect life, I too would like to start up a restaurant in Japan (preferably Mexican) and see how that works out as I still think that quality and cheap Mexican food is lacking in Tokyo.

That being said however, you still have plenty of work to do and money to save up before you want to actually go through with this idea. Business ideas, food quality, real estate decisions, your niche, there's so much you have to think of before going in. Obviously, almost everybody who does / wants to open a restaurant does so because they think that their offerings would be more superior. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case (at least in the states, about 59% of restaurants close within their first three years).

Keep the idea on the backburner for a while and come back when you have a grasp of what you really want to do.

you won't get a loan here unless you've been here for 2 or 3 years and have a good solid salary, or are married to a japanese person. also they're going to really grill you about your business plan at the bank.

that being said i do think that a good pizza and sandwich place would probably do well, if not among japanese then at least among foreigners.

one thing..i don't think american/chicago style pizza would fly all that well here.

Ok so a loan isn't the way to go. Thanks for letting me know.

I guess it couldn't hurt to start talking about it to some of my contacts, friends, and also to some people at work. See if I could develop some support while I'm saving money.

I say keep at it.

Japanese laws changed a few years ago, you can start a new company with 1yen (though you will need to post a profit within the first 3~5 years of operation.

It's about connections. 20man is pretty cheap for you, is that even legal? I thought the minimal was a bit higher.

Didn't know the law on minimum wage in Japan. Haven't looked it up. I realize already my company is sketchy. A lot of their employees use that word to describe them.

I hope I can open shop within 5 years. I need to talk to my friends and contacts a bit more. If i do open up shop, please come visit if you plan on going to the outlet mall. I hope my take on the food will be unique in Japan. I got some ideas.

UreshiiMiko,

Assuming you manage to save up enough cash to start a business in Japan, what visa do you intend to get that will allow you work, since you will presumably be self-employed?

looking at my options is seems the Investor/
Business Manager is the most suitable.