#264 – Growing a 2-Person Business to $80k/Month with Eric Turner of Japan Dev

What It Covers

Eric Turner explains how he and his wife built Japan Dev, a niche job board for English-speaking tech workers in Japan, from zero to $83,000 monthly revenue with no employees.

Key Questions Answered

• •Cold start solution: Solve the job board chicken-and-egg problem by pitching companies first with zero upfront cost, performance-based pricing at 30-35% of salary only when they hire, making rejection nearly impossible while building supply before demand.
• •SEO page structure: Create separate landing pages for every keyword combination like "Python jobs Japan" and "PHP jobs Japan" rather than one generic page, plus write salary guides and relocation content to capture long-tail search traffic over 6-12 months.
• •Revenue model arbitrage: Japanese recruiting firms charge 30-35% of starting salary per hire, higher than US rates. Position as cheaper alternative by charging performance-based fees only on successful placements, eliminating company risk while capturing significant per-hire revenue without ongoing subscriptions.
• •First customer hack: Approach your current employer as initial customer since you have internal network access, understand their needs directly, and can easily reach HR. Use this brand name plus 2-3 others to create social proof that makes subsequent sales dramatically easier.