We Japanese take pride in being an economic powerhouse with one of the world's highest GDPs (gross domestic product).
In fact, in the 2016 world ranking of nominal GDP by country, Japan ranked third, after the United States and China.

On the other hand, when you look at GDP per capita... Japan comes in at a shocking 30th place, and apparently dead last among the G7, the seven leading industrialized nations.
This was covered in an article published by Toyo Keizai Online on February 15, 2017.
(Reference: Japan's service industry ranks lowest in the G7 on a "per person" basis)
We encourage you to read the article yourself for the details, but here is a rough summary of its main points:

* Japan's GDP per capita ranks 30th in the world, having fallen to last place in the G7
* A major factor behind this is the low productivity of the "service industry"
* Is the reason that "Japanese people sell good things cheaply"?
* Could one of the biggest reasons be "insufficient use of IT"?
* It is necessary to make use of IT and fundamentally change organizations and the way we work.

That's the gist of it.

Why bring up GDP?

In fact, this topic was raised at the very beginning by a speaker at the "IT Introduction Subsidy Support Provider Briefing" I attended in Osaka on February 16.
In other words, I think the implicit message was: "These are the facts. The IT Introduction Subsidy program was created to overcome this serious challenge."

Indeed, the IT Introduction Subsidy targets small and medium-sized enterprises and sole proprietors, and the fact that it subsidizes the cost of introducing software to improve productivity also fits this purpose.

Incidentally, most of the companies we work with are small and medium-sized enterprises. As mentioned above, many SMEs still can hardly be said to be making full use of IT.
Fewer companies now issue delivery slips and invoices by hand, of course, but there are still many that handle purchasing and inventory management at a level not far removed from pen and paper.
It also seems that almost no systems have been put in place for sharing customer information to improve sales efficiency.

In terms of productivity, besides improving operational efficiency there is also the efficiency of generating sales. Going forward, it is essential to build systems that increase prospective customers by making use of websites and internet services. Yet here too, while large corporations are actively adopting such measures, the reality is that SMEs are not making the progress they would like.

One reason for this is the cost of introducing IT. Another is that, even if a company decides to adopt IT, it has no one in-house with the knowledge of what to do and how to do it in order to raise productivity.

Can the IT Introduction Subsidy be the trigger for removing the barriers to adopting IT?

I believe the aim of the IT Introduction Subsidy is to provide a mechanism to cover both the IT introduction costs mentioned above and the human resources needed to select the right tools.
As introduced in this article, the IT Introduction Subsidy is a scheme in which part of the cost of introducing IT is covered by a government subsidy.
It is not merely financial support: to ensure that the tools selected genuinely contribute to productivity and are chosen with appropriate expertise, receiving support from specialists such as IT coordinators when applying for the subsidy is a key factor in being approved.

Furthermore, after introduction, there is an obligation to report productivity-related indicators over the following five years.
These reports are also to be prepared with the support of the IT introduction support provider that supplied the system.
In a sense, this is an extra chore that takes some effort, but having regular opportunities to measure the effects gives business owners a chance to gain valuable insights.

Seen in that light, it may well be a program that can easily become a springboard for growing your company.

P.S.: Note that the IT Introduction Subsidy mainly covers
* Website production that attracts customers
* Business software that improves operational efficiency

and similar items. In addition to website production, we have a proven track record of supporting the introduction of many business software packages.
If you are having trouble with your operations or struggling to attract customers via your website, please feel free to get in touch with us first.