A few days ago I had mentioned that a client of mine has been considering a rather large career change and had asked me for some advice. I was ill-equipped to act as his career counselor, so opted to ask anyone who wanted to comment for their insight. That said, changing careers is something that a lot of my colleagues, including myself, have thought about over the last year as our pay checks have continued to shrink and half of the foreign staff have returned home. Many of us have our annual reviews coming up, and we’re wondering whether the company will hold on to us despite the lull in sales. But what are our options?
When I was living in Canada, I had worked as a freelance programmer in my spare time. There were quite a few opportunities back in 2006 and 2007 as everyone seemed to want to bring their corporate websites into the Web 2.0 world, and it seemed that everyone wanted to have a blog. Someone could easily earn upwards of $2000 a month in extra cash just by setting up WordPress sites for two dozen clients and showing them how to use the tools. Now that blogging has (apparently) passed into antiquity, iPhone and Android applications are where the money is for anyone with a few hours to spare.
But is this something one could do full time in a foreign country and still afford a semi-comfortable lifestyle?
Was Xzibit Right?
Xzibit, one of my favorite rap artists from way back, remarked that “procrastination is like masturbation, you’re only f***ing yourself”. I couldn’t agree more. A lot of people say that they want to be their own boss, but never get started. When recessions are in full swing people are far more cautious about starting anything new, and finding (or making) excuses is incredibly easy. However, without the initial leap of faith, we will probably never have a career that we truly enjoy.
One of the biggest advantages to working for ourselves is the ability to have multiple income streams. With a single employer, we’re putting ourselves in greater danger of losing our source of income. If we’re working freelance for (ideally) many clients, then the risk is reduced.
On top of this, there are several markets that we can get involved with. In the case of programming, this means that one could focus on writing mobile applications while leaving the rest to other freelancers to pick up. Personally, I prefer working with a very narrow niche market, which often means that the pay is generally higher. This doesn’t mean that we need to limit ourselves to just one market, though, as our skills can be put to use many different ways. Never let anyone tell you that a particular freelance market is small, as this is often not the case.
The last reason I’ll mention today has to do with the allure of handsome paychecks. When we work for ourselves, we don’t have to sit down, shut up, and get paid what our employer feels we deserve. Of course, we need to earn that money before we can spend it, but that’s just one of the fun challenges that is part of being your own boss. For anyone that is serious about taking control of their own income, being a freelancer is one way to do just that.
But what are the legal issues that might get in the way of someone living in Japan? Are there certain restrictions that someone might face with being an entrepreneur? I, for one, intend to find out 
I’d suggest reading this piece, particularly point 10. It’s directed at people who want to be freelance writers, but I’ve found lots of it to be applicable to translators as well, and the general business aspects of his advice apply to anyone looking to jump from in-house to freelance status.
Re the visa deal: A spouse visa keeps you here, no problem. Ditto permanent residence if you’ve got that in your pocket. A working visa can be obtained, but it requires documentation (letters) from a company or companies that regularly give you enough work so you clear that ¥250,000/month minimum, or whatever it is these days. These letters should also include references indicating your upstanding character, the fact that they need you here in Japan where they have plenty of access to you, and so on. At least that’s my understanding based on some freelance translators who have done this in the past.
EDIT: If you’re going to do this in Japan you’re also going to need to study hard and learn all about self-employed taxation, filing with blue forms vs. white forms, holding on to a sizable chunk of money for your residence taxes, making sure you’re paying into a social insurance scheme of some kind . . . all those things that your employer does for you today. Consider paying a pile of money for an accountant to take care of all this crap for you every quarter or year.
Ya, I’ll definitely be making use of an accountant here. There are just waaaaaaay too many little things that I’ll likely never understand. I’ve been reading up on some of the things that need to be done to register a business here, and it isn’t something a n00b can jump into cold.
That said, it should make for some interesting blog posts in the future
My wife went to the tax office for some kind of taxation lesson, and it seemed to have been enough. She gets the forms, fills them in and calls the tax office if she has questions. She doesn’t enjoy it, but prefers to do it herself than spend money on an accountant. I try to ease her stress by taking care of the young one during tax season
Well, at least you still want to find other work within the programming sector.
I’ve been programming for almost 30 years and been a professional programmer for about 20 years. The world is a big place, however, and there are other enjoyable things as well. In my case, I’m more interested in teaching Go, but since I’m not an asian professional player, the chances for that are rather slim. Still, I’ll consider a career change – I don’t want to sit in front of a computer all my life.
I don’t see why you couldn’t teach Go. My first Go instructor was a guy from Germany
Well, I do teach Go to beginners, but do it for free, in the club. Did your instructor teach for money?
Hmm … no. And working for free doesn’t pay the bills.
Well, that said, there’s always hope
When you have the very least to lose. Because unless you have two or three reliable customers from the start, you’re gambling.
Perhaps in a year or two a mortgage or a baby will make it much much harder.
There’s no arguing with that, Mark. Mortgages and young children require a steady income regardless of where we are.
I agree that having two or three reliable customers from the get-go will make things a heck of a lot easier. This is something I’ve been working on and, luckily, the future is starting to look pretty good. That said, one shouldn’t be reliant on what could just be empty promises and lip service. When I go freelance, I’ll be making sure my employer is entry number one in my customer database
I quit my job one year after taking out a 35-year mortgage, and 6 months after having a baby. Sometimes, having the most to lose is exactly what you need to make it work. Saying that, I had built up a side income before giving up the day job. I’m not completely crazy!
Очень интересно!!! Только не очень могу понять как часто обновляется ваш блог?
Это очень просто! Спасибо за ваши комментарии