Resources
Buyer checklists & frameworks
Before you engage
- □ Written acquisition thesis (sector, size, region, role)
- □ Realistic budget including 6–12 months of working capital
- □ Time commitment honestly assessed (part-time rarely works)
- □ Japanese-language plan: personal ability, hire, or partner
- □ Read the FEFTA guide for your sector
Evaluating a target
- □ Three years of financials (and honest normalization of owner comp)
- □ Customer concentration and key-person dependencies
- □ Employee tenure, age structure, and retention risk
- □ Real estate: owned, leased, or entangled with the family
- □ Why succession, why now, and who else knows the business is for sale
Process discipline
- □ NDA before detail; respect intermediary rules
- □ In-person meetings budgeted (video rarely closes trust gaps)
- □ Bilingual LOI reviewed by Japanese counsel
- □ FEFTA pre-notification checked before signing
- □ Post-close transition plan agreed with the seller (often 6–12 months)
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