Report on a Business Trip to Vladivostok, Russia (Part 3): Key Points for Global Expansion

Hello, I am Ichiki of Sync Logistics.
Continuing from last week, I’d like to share with you a report on my business trip to Russia last January 16 to 23.

■The Pace of Doing Business in Japan Vis-à-vis the Rest of Asia

I’d like to share with you some things I’ve come to realize during my overseas business trips these past two or so years. As I’ve experienced, the pace of doing business abroad is so much faster compared to Japan. If the speed of doing business in Japan is 1 to 3, negotiations and agreements abroad is on a scale of 5 to 10.
A cautious person might think, “Is this person really considering what can or will happen later on?” but when I’m working abroad, I feel that doing things at this pace is normal. During this business trip to Russia, it only took 30 minutes from the time I first met the other party at the company I decided to visit until I decided to work with them in creating a service. (Although I did go into the meeting having prepared in advance while in Japan, and having clarified our objectives first.)
Of course, there are things that require a large investment or must meet compliance issues; and I know that there are things that cannot be decided on by the person-in-charge alone.

However, the pace can be picked up through measures such as clarifying the person-in-charge’s discretionary budget beforehand, or having a superior who can make decisions join the meeting via Zoom while visiting a potential business partner.

While it is important to thoroughly study beforehand to avoid failure and increase the possibility of success, shouldn’t we also be aware of the fact that opportunities generated by the pace of decision-making may also be lost due to an inclination of not taking on challenges?

■The Team Working on this Project

The staff member in charge of this Russia project has only been with our company for 3 months and has had no experience in the trading industry.

A graduate of a foreign language university, this staff member is good at languages, but has almost no knowledge about cars and logistics. While I provide support, this person who is highly inquisitive and respectful of different ways of thinking is the one doing the planning for our new service. Most of all, this person is very good at coming up with ideas that others in this industry may not have thought of.

After selecting the market, policies, and bringing all parties together, this staff member comes up with an action plan on their own, and proceeds with the planning.

While opinions such as “It takes 10 years to understand the traditional practices of this industry,” and “Knowledge must be absorbed first,”are common, I think it is possible for a person who is highly capable and has a strong sense of responsibility to build a service.

I also think it is my duty to develop personnel like this person to their full potential, and to nurture them so that they will be indispensable to our customers and partner companies.

We have many more talented staff members in our company whom I would like to introduce to you in the future.

■Creating a Logistics Service that Backs Exporters

For Japanese companies to cross over globally, I think it is most important for them to recognize the disconnects in their instincts, and to secure personnel who take risks while coming closer to success.

Although the omicron variant is still spreading, we are hiring and training employees for our plan to strengthen overseas expansion from 2023.

If you are a shipper and you would like to have a service build to greatly expand your exports to a certain country, please contact a member of our staff.

Thank you for your time.