End-of-Life Planning Needs Come in Three Waves: Customer Touchpoints for Senior Businesses in Japan
As Japan’s population ages, more and more companies whose core business has never been serving older people are considering entering the senior market. At the same time, many of them conclude too quickly that “there’s no market” or “it doesn’t pay,” without understanding the complex relationships within Japan’s community-based integrated care system or the family circumstances that intertwine across generations. To get results, the starting point is understanding when and how needs for shukatsu (end-of-life planning) arise.
Needs arise from events, not from age
Shukatsu needs don’t simply appear as people get older. They surface in response to specific events, such as a parent starting to need care, the person’s own hospitalization, or the death of a spouse. And needs arise in chains: a hospital stay (the body) can trigger both financial planning for a move into a care facility (money) and the clearing out of the family home (daily life) at the same time.
The three waves of shukatsu needs
First wave (late 60s): Triggered by caring for parents, inheritance and retirement
Second wave (late 70s): Triggered by one’s own need for care and rethinking where to live
Largest wave (late 80s to 90s): Triggered by moving into a care facility, end-of-life care, funerals and inheritance
What matters is securing touchpoints with customers before each wave arrives. Once a wave has hit and people start searching, they have often already decided whom to consult.
The older person is not the only decision-maker
As care needs increase, the center of decision-making shifts from the older person to the family. Shukatsu-related concerns begin in people’s 50s and overlap most heavily from their late 70s into their 80s. Even for businesses that serve older people, how to respond to the concerns of their children in their 50s and 60s is an important consideration in designing the business.
Think in two stages: entry businesses and growth businesses
At Next, we organize the businesses that secure customer touchpoints into two stages.
Entry businesses: Care facility placement consulting, estate clearance and pre-death decluttering, care information media and the like. They create the first point of contact with customers, even if they are not very profitable in themselves
Growth businesses: Selling or making use of real estate, home renovations for care, asset management and the like. They grow out of entry businesses and increase revenue
For example, a consultation about moving into a nursing home can lead to a consultation about selling the home that will be left empty or, if the person decides not to move, about renovating the home for care. Earning trust through entry businesses is the foundation for growth businesses.
Local professionals to partner with
Demand for shukatsu services, and their urgency, rise once a person is certified as needing long-term care. People certified as needing support (yō-shien) are mainly handled by Community General Support Centers, and those at Care Level 1 or above by care managers at in-home care support offices, so in-home care support offices are the more natural partners for private businesses. Hospitalization is also a major entry point for consultations, so building relationships with hospitals’ discharge support departments is essential.
Talk to us about your business plans
As a “management ally,” Next Co., Ltd. supports research on Japan’s senior and shukatsu markets, business planning and the exploration of partnerships. Our training textbook, which systematically covers everything from the big picture of the market to business models, is also available, including an English edition.
The approach described in this article is a generalized version of our internal business planning materials.
This is an English translation of a column originally published in Japanese by Next Co., Ltd.
About Next Co., Ltd. We support companies in Japan’s senior care and end-of-life planning (shukatsu) market through research, business development and training. Our English textbook, Senior End-of-Life Planning Textbook, explains the market from the big picture down to day-to-day practice. See the English edition | Buy on Gumroad | Contact us
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