New to Victoria II, questions about playing HOD bookmark Japan

You should westernise straight away. The reforms are removed upon westernisation.

You don't actually run your economy. You can influence it, sure, maybe even build some of it, but you don't run it. When a factory is running, and has workers, it will automatically try and source its inputs and sell its produce, first to your population, and then to the economic sphere you're in, and then to the world at large. You don't need to build factories that require goods in provinces producing them, as you can simply import things. (There are bonuses for building in regions with required goods, though!) If it is losing money, there are loads of reasons why that might be the case. Most importantly, it is likely that you are simply not efficient enough in your industry, and you will need some commerce technologies to boost that. Secondly, there may be no market for the factory to sell its cement. You can rectify this with subsidies, or by building more factories (they require cement as maintenance).

Price is globally determined, and the same for all nations. Building somewhere with its input good doesn't make a good profitable.

It takes a year of maintained great power status to switch. Great powers cannot demote while at war, or during a crisis.

Icendoan said:

It takes a year of maintained great power status to switch. Great powers cannot demote while at war, or during a crisis.

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They can while at war, but there are exceptions (like a crisis war, or a Brothers war between german GPs)