Life Planning for Owner-Executives
what did you really want to do?
Business Owners
Starting with your desired future, we explore options for you and your company. Options can also be combined.
When you start a business or take over a company.
what did you really want to do?
Owner-managers who started or inherited a business can seem entirely self-sacrificing: the company first, customers first, employees first, family first. Have you gradually begun sacrificing your own needs?
“I started my own business to get out of an organization and work freely. Before I knew it, I was hiring people and dealing with organizational problems again.” We often hear this. Second- and third-generation owners may also find that daily responsibilities push their own hopes for the future into the background.
Why did you start your business?
Why did you take over the company as its successor?
Why not begin by recalling the future you imagined for yourself then? Our principal, tax accountant Kenji Yanagisawa, will listen not only to your business concerns but also to your personal wishes as an owner and shareholder, and consider your future life with you.
Turn “Someday” into a Plan
For example, if you realize you had really wanted to retire at 55 and you are now 50, you have five years to prepare.
Do you want an M&A exit in 5 years? To pass the business to family or management? If you move abroad, how will your relationship with the company change? Working backward from your preferred timing helps identify what to consider now.
You do not need to decide at the outset to sell your company. M&A may emerge as an option while you consider moving overseas.Our Entrepreneur and Startup Support Pagealso explains that the starting point is what you truly want to do.
I want to live overseas
How can you combine living abroad with running a Japanese company? We help establish a direction for review, covering life after relocation, management arrangements, and tax issues.
I want to move on to the next stage of life through M&A
How long do you want to keep running the business, and what do you want to do after transferring it? We consider the sale together with your personal aspirations and the future of the company.
I want to pass the company to my family
If you want a child or another relative to succeed you, we clarify the successor's intentions and readiness, your retirement timing, and the transfer of shares. We work with inheritance tax specialists where necessary.
I want to pass the business to a management team I trust
Even without a family successor, options include an MBO in which the existing management team acquires the shares. We explore who will take over, when, and how to address funding challenges.
We want owner-managers to enjoy both wealth and happiness
Running a company can expose your personal assets to risk, including through personal guarantees. Having built the company and taken on those responsibilities, owner-managers deserve to consider their own lives and assets while the business is doing well.
Those who take the greatest risk should receive the greatest return.
That does not mean forcing money out of the company. It means keeping the company's finances sound while allowing you, as an individual owner, to receive rewards commensurate with your efforts and retain options for the future. This principle matters to us.
What is more important than saving on taxes
Business owners build wealth in different ways. Some steadily accumulate assets through executive compensation. Others keep compensation modest and become wealthy through an IPO or M&A transaction. Still others hold shares and real estate alongside their businesses.
If you see running your company as an investment in it, that investment can command all your attention. Investing in the business matters, but after ensuring adequate retained earnings and liquidity, it is also important to take appropriate director remuneration and consider personal savings and asset ownership.
Rather than focusing solely on minimizing tax, consider how much wealth remains in the company and in your own hands, and what kind of life it enables. Looking after the company matters, of course, but please give greater attention to your own interests as its owner too.
Research on wealthy people in Japan
Definitions of wealth vary by study. Nomura Research Institute classifies households with net financial assets of at least JPY 100 million but less than JPY 500 million as high-net-worth, and those with JPY 500 million or more as ultra-high-net-worth.
Its estimates published in February 2025 put the combined number of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth households in Japan in 2023 at 1.653 million. Rather than focus solely on a monetary threshold, consider the assets needed to achieve the life you want and the path to get there.
Nomura Research Institute estimates (published February 13, 2025) ↗
Around one hour a month to discuss your own needs as an owner
We build an ongoing relationship in which you can consult our principal and tax accountant, Kenji Yanagisawa, by email, LINE, phone, and other channels. You do not need a specific project in mind: you can start with thoughts such as “I want to consider retirement” or “I am interested in living abroad.”
The monthly fee includesaround one hour a month of consultation and discussion of direction. We review the plan as your wishes and circumstances change and connect you with the specialist services needed when you are ready to act.
M&A brokerage, specific tax planning for overseas relocation, and implementation support for business succession or an MBO are quoted separately according to scope. If support exceeds approximately one hour per month, we will discuss the scope and fees with you in advance.
Indicative Fees
| Initial consultation | Free |
|---|---|
| Life planning for owner-executives Around one hour of consultation per month | JPY 30,000 per month (JPY 33,000 including tax) |
| Owners of businesses receiving our ongoing tax advisory services Around one hour of consultation per month | JPY 10,000 per month (JPY 11,000 including tax) |
Both tax-exclusive and tax-inclusive prices are shown. Before engagement, we confirm your objectives and the scope of support. We recommend reference materials and books as appropriate to the consultation.
Tell us about the future you want for yourself and your company.
Start with an Email Inquiry
Tell us about your current circumstances and what you want to achieve. We will explain support options and fees suited to your needs.
Submitting an inquiry alone does not incur a fee.
Consultations on Inheritance, Gifts, and Business Succession
For company share and property valuations, lifetime gifts, and succession to the next generation,Inheritance, Gifts and Business Succession pagePlease see