This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Hey, what's up? If you're not getting the Side Hustle School weekly recap email, well, you should. Or maybe I shouldn't say you should because you can do whatever you want. But I would encourage you to check it out. It's free. You can subscribe directly at
sidehustleschool.com. And I mentioned that here today at the top of our episode because a few weeks ago in that email recap, I told the story of a Japanese man who hires himself out to strangers. For no practical purpose. I didn't actually tell the story. Now that I'm saying that, I'm like, I actually referenced the story. I linked to a story in an English language Japanese newspaper
that was telling this whole story about this guy who charges, I think around $100 and has received more than 3000 requests, which if you do the math, adds up to quite a bit of money. And as I said, this guy, his whole hustle is he's hiring himself out for no practical purpose. It's not like he's a guy who comes and assembles your Ikea furniture, which I have hired people like that before. He just kind of hangs out, shows up, doesn't really offer advice. He's just kind of there. So the
article went into some more detail. But the point is, this story sparked an idea for a listener. One of our listeners was reading that email. And she was like, Hmm, wonder if I can do that? Like what's the best way to frame this idea in a context outside of Japan? Would the rent a person idea
work in the United States? Or let's say anywhere outside of Japan, because Japan is particular in several ways, which I shall discuss here in a moment. So that's our listener question of the day. The detailed question is coming up and my answer after this quick message from our sponsor. Hi, this is Jennifer from Portland, Oregon. I've been listening to the show for several years now.
And in a recent side hustle school weekly recap email, you featured an article about a guy in Japan who's started a business to rent a person who does nothing, and then asked who will be the one to do this outside Japan? Well, I want to be that person. My question is, how can I frame this so people will take it seriously around here? I hope to have fun with the concept too, but I'm concerned it would often be seen as a gag instead of a real endeavor that could benefit people. Thanks. Hey, Jennifer, thank you so much for listening. Thank you for the question. I do
hope that you will be the person to figure this out. I'm not totally sure I have all the answers, but I thought about this a bit and let's kind of dive in. Because remember, it's important always, not just in this situation, but for any story that you hear about a side hustle, whether it's on this podcast or somewhere else, even if it sounds really wacky or unusual, or just kind of like, wow, people can make money from that. There's almost always, if not always, a fundamental underlying need that is being met. Okay, so what is it in this case? I think the need
it meets, like what this guy is doing, the need it meets is social isolation, particularly in Japan. So let's go and actually look at the article. I'm going to quote a bit from that story, and this guy, his name is Morimoto. So people rent Morimoto for various reasons. At times, he will participate in a gaming session to make up numbers, turn up to send off people who are moving away, accompany those filing for divorce, or listen to healthcare workers who have become mentally unwell due to their exhausting work. Morimoto commits to doing nothing and basically
just gives back channel feedback when someone speaks to him. And he says, I myself don't like to be cheered on by others. I get upset when people simply tell me to keep on trying. So when someone is trying to do something, I think the best thing to do is lower the bar for them by staying at their side. So pretty unique thing here, right? Question is, does it work in particular
because it is Japan? That's the question, I think if it's implemented somewhere else, it would definitely need to be localized. But is social isolation a problem in the United States or in Canada or in some other Western country? Well, I would say yes. And it's exacerbated by social media. Like never has it been so possible to feel so alone, while surrounded at least virtually,
you know, by this constant chorus of people who seem happy and are kind of inducing FOMO or making you feel bad about yourself. I'm not saying that's what all social media is, of course, but there is an aspect to that. So that's that. But still, the question remains, like how to localize this project? Like how do you go from what this guy is doing to saying, Okay, I'm going to apply it here.
And I'm not totally sure, you know, just to be perfectly honest, because if it were easy, someone would have done it already. This is the kind of thing that, you know, just because this guy did it, doesn't mean that there's a huge market for a lot of other people to do it. And not only, you know, somewhere outside Japan, but even there. I don't think this is a huge industry that's going to crop up in Japan. He's just kind of found a special thing. And sometimes these things are
one and done, in the sense that whoever tries it next is not going to achieve the same result. But having said that, if you look at those reasons, like why he's starting it, the logic he provides about, you know, sometimes people just want to be around someone else. And so instead of being a coach or a counselor, instead of there's a lot of other things that could have been, he chose to really focus on something quite minimal. And then it became a story, it kind of grew from there. I mean, that's the core of it. So I think what needs to happen is some sort of branding, or some sort
of concept that's like, all right, I'm taking something from that. And I'm applying that, you know, here in my life, with my experience, everything I've been thinking about. And then hopefully that's going to then meet the marketplace of people out there who have these needs, who feel isolated and alone. And here, whatever it is, that's the x factor, you know, the x factor is what brings it all together, what ties it together, what leads people to go and pay $100, or whatever the case is, to come and have this experience. So again, I don't have the easy answer. But I
think that's how you get to it. I think you think about what is the fundamental underlying need, how can I meet that need in an interesting, creative way. And if you do that, Jennifer, or anybody else out there, please let me know, we will feature it here on the podcast, we will tell people about it far and wide, because I'm curious myself. So I leave you with that. Thank you again, Jennifer. Thank you, listeners. If you have a question or comment, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, looking at all sorts of fun, wacky wild projects, but also profitable projects that are making a difference in people's lives, because that's ultimately what it's about. I hope you'll subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and join me again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
