Terms & Conditions
How we work with you — what's included, what isn't, and how these terms fit with the engagement letter we agree before any work starts.
What's covered here
About These Terms
Navigate Business is the Japan–New Zealand cross-cultural business advisory and facilitation service of Navigate Japan Limited ("NJL", "we", "us"), a New Zealand company (NZBN 9429052367342). These terms apply to the Navigate Business services we provide to you ("you", "the client"). Use of our website itself is covered by our website Terms & Conditions.
Your Engagement Letter Comes First
No Navigate Business engagement begins without a written engagement letter, signed by both of us. The letter sets out the scope, fee, payment schedule, and notice period for your engagement, and any limit on our liability. These terms sit alongside it — if anything in your engagement letter differs from these terms, the engagement letter applies to that engagement.
Sending us an enquiry, or an initial conversation about your situation, doesn't create an engagement or any obligation on either side.
What We Provide
Navigate Business helps Japanese and New Zealand businesses work with each other through three services, described in more detail on our Navigate Business page:
| Service | What you receive |
|---|---|
| Cross-Border Diagnostic | A scoped engagement answering one question: what needs to happen next? You receive a written brief covering your situation, the risks specific to your case, a stakeholder map, and a recommended route — which may be that no further work is needed. Every new engagement starts here. |
| Bilingual Facilitation | Preparation, interpretation, and attendance for a specific meeting, negotiation, or visit, followed by a written record of what was agreed and who does what next. |
| Market-Entry & Partner Sprint | A time-boxed search for a distributor, supplier, customer, or partner: agreed criteria, a researched shortlist, coordinated outreach, and follow-through on the meetings that result. |
| Monthly retainer | Continuing support on top of any of the above, within an agreed monthly scope. |
Anything not described in your engagement letter is outside its scope. If new work comes up during an engagement, we'll confirm the additional scope and fee with you in writing before we do it.
What We Don't Provide
Navigate Business provides commercial advisory, coordination, facilitation, interpretation, and introductions. We don't provide, and no engagement includes:
- Legal advice or tax advice.
- Investment, financial product, or securities advice, or any securities or capital-raising work.
- Company incorporation, formation-agent, or registered-office services, or help with opening bank accounts, however it's described. Where you need a New Zealand entity, we can explain the public process, interpret, and coordinate with your own lawyer or accountant — who does the formation work itself.
- Property title, ownership structuring, or property transactions. For property in Japan, see Navigate Japan Stays.
Immigration is a firm line
We don't give immigration advice under any circumstances, paid or unpaid. We don't recommend a visa pathway, and we don't assess eligibility for any visa or immigration status. If your situation touches on immigration, we'll tell you so and refer you to a licensed immigration adviser before that part of the conversation continues. Interpreting or translating documents can still be within scope; advice about what those documents mean for your immigration status isn't.
Where one of these is genuinely needed, we'll tell you when to involve your own lawyer, accountant, or licensed adviser, and we can coordinate with them at your direction — but we don't do their job.
Introductions and Authority
- When we introduce you to another business or person, we don't guarantee their solvency, legality, suitability, or performance. Please carry out your own due diligence before relying on anyone we introduce.
- We can't sign contracts, accept obligations, or make representations on your behalf — or on behalf of anyone we introduce — unless the person concerned has authorised that specific action in writing.
- We'll tell you about any relationship we have with a party we introduce, including any referral fee or commission we'd receive from them. We don't accept undisclosed referral fees.
Fees and Payment
| Item | How it works |
|---|---|
| Fees | A fixed fee for the scope in your engagement letter — or, for a retainer, a monthly fee — quoted once we understand what's involved. Time beyond the included hours is confirmed with you in writing before it's incurred. |
| Payment | As set out in your engagement letter — for example, part on acceptance and the balance on delivery, or monthly in advance for a retainer. |
| GST | Fees are plus GST where applicable. |
| Currency | New Zealand dollars, unless we agree otherwise in writing. If we agree to invoice in another currency, such as Japanese yen, your engagement letter states the exchange rate used. |
| Travel and third-party costs | Charged at cost, and only with your approval before they're incurred. |
| Success or milestone fees | Only where your engagement letter defines exactly what counts as success, when the fee becomes payable, and for how long it applies. |
No Guaranteed Outcomes
Meetings, introductions, and negotiations we facilitate don't guarantee a contract, a partnership, a bank account, a licence, an investment, a visa, or any other specific outcome. We're responsible for delivering the agreed scope with reasonable care and skill — not for decisions other people make.
How We Work Together
- You're responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information you give us, and for having the authority to share it with us.
- Interpretation and translation we provide is good-faith language support. It isn't certified translation, or a legal interpretation of what a document means, unless we've separately agreed to arrange a certified service through a qualified provider.
- Meeting notes and translations we prepare are working documents, not certified transcripts. We'll only record a meeting if everyone taking part agrees.
- We may use interpreters, researchers, or other specialists we've selected to help deliver an engagement. We remain responsible for the scope and confidentiality of the work, whoever carries it out.
- Neither of us will offer, give, or accept a bribe, secret commission, or improper inducement in connection with an engagement.
Confidentiality and Privacy
We both keep confidential any non-public information shared during an engagement, except where disclosure is required by law, or is to professional advisers bound by equivalent confidentiality obligations.
We handle personal information as described in our Navigate Business Privacy Policy. Where an engagement means sharing your personal information, or that of your staff or contacts, with someone outside New Zealand — such as a Japan-based partner — we'll only do so with your agreement, and as New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and, where it applies, Japan's APPI allow.
Intellectual Property
Bespoke deliverables we prepare for you — a brief, a research document, a shortlist — are yours to use for the purpose of the engagement. We keep our own pre-existing templates, methods, and materials, and may continue to use them. Any third-party material in a deliverable remains subject to that third party's own rights.
Our Liability
We'll carry out each engagement with reasonable care and skill.
To the extent New Zealand law allows, we're not liable for: the decisions or actions of third parties, including anyone we introduce; loss that results from inaccurate or incomplete information given to us; or indirect or consequential loss, such as lost profits or lost opportunities. If your engagement letter sets an overall limit on our liability, that limit applies.
Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under New Zealand law that can't be excluded by agreement.
Ending an Engagement
Either of us can end an engagement by giving written notice, with the notice period set out in your engagement letter. We may end an engagement immediately if we identify a regulatory or conflict-of-interest issue that prevents us from continuing. Fees for work already completed, and reasonable costs already committed on your behalf, remain payable.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The version number and date at the top of this page always reflect the current version. The terms in place when you sign your engagement letter apply to that engagement, unless we both agree otherwise in writing.
Governing Law and Contact
These terms, and any engagement under them, are governed by the laws of New Zealand. These terms are published in English and Japanese; if the two versions differ, the English version prevails.
For any question about these terms, contact info@navigatejapanltd.com.