Sorry Neil, I owe you an explanation, or more details why I reacted to your initial post in that manner. My first read of it struck me like an arrow…back to my Wall Street days…”let’s buy a company.”
I flunked out of my MBA program. I could simply never get through “quant” or quantitative decision making, as the calculus required just killed me. I guess even at birth, those areas of my brain were already cooked.
I do know though, that having a successful business on Bali has nothing to do with the business models we all learned in “B” school. I’m sorry, but it was from that knowledge that I reacted to your initial post.
For me, the greatest challenge of conducting a successful business in Bali is Bali herself. This is likely to seem strange, or odd, but the fact is, Bali is the ultimate seductress and master of distraction. She emits an energy which makes it very difficult to stay on target, or concentrate on matters that are of no interest to her. The most seasoned and disciplined executive will find Bali to be the biggest challenge of their career. For me, there are just too many more important issues than business.
I can only speak from my own unique experiences of life and business on Bali. The one thing I can say with utter certainty is that business here in Bali is nothing at all like it used to be in the corporate world I lived on Wall Street. It would be fun, wouldn’t it, to see some of Trump’s “apprentices” from the TV show The Apprentice be assigned to the task of starting, and operating a successful business in Bali.
As a final tip, or at least a final point of my view, I will leave you with this observation formed from many years of learning “the hard way.” Arrogance and business just don’t get along very well here in Bali. Moreover, alienating expats that are already here, with excellent contacts, both with the government, or with other expats is equally unwise.
As a counter proposal to your initial post, have you considered what could be a very profitable alternative? That might be to associate yourself as a partner/co-investor in an already successful business here in Bali. Mull on that a while, and let us know what you think.
You should understand another crucial point. While Bali is certainly a part of Indonesia, Bali is NOT looking for foreign investment. Bali is self contained, moreover, Bali has plenty of wealthy Balinese that do not desire to compete with foreign euros or dollars. This has nothing to do with business, rather it has everything to do with the Balinese commitment to keep Bali as Bali. So, like I already said, “throw out your MBA business models” They simply will not work here. .
