Principles for Japanese solo operators
A Japanese solo founder needs (1) Invoice System + My Number compliance, (2) LINE/Chatwork support, (3) Sansan-based lead inflow, (4) understanding of 稟議 flow. Global SaaS alone covers none of these fully.
By category
Support Channel.io or a standalone LINE Official Account.
Accounting / tax freee or Money Forward Cloud.
Payments Stripe JP, PAY.JP, Square.
Email Benchmark Email, HubSpot, Brevo.
Docs Notion or DocBase.
Project Backlog or kintone.
Automation Yoom, Anyflow, n8n.
Analytics GA4 + KARTE (optional).
AI Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, ELYZA (Japanese-specialized).
Meetings / video Zoom, Notta, Rimo Voice.
Business cards Sansan or Eight (personal tier).
Recommended minimum stack (~¥50,000/month)
- LINE Official + Channel.io
- freee (accounting + HR)
- Sansan or Eight
- Notion
- Yoom (automation)
- Claude Pro
- Notta
Growth stage
Above + Backlog, kintone, SATORI (MA), SmartHR (3+ members).
Pitfalls
- Ignoring the Invoice System: critical post-October 2023
- No tax accountant for a corporation: month-end overtime becomes permanent
- Paper business cards: lead evaporation. Sansan is essential
Japanese solos set up accounting, business cards, LINE, and a tax accountant first; layer the rest gradually.