setting up & running a guesthouse

[psyiren]

Hi there, apologies first off if this is the same old 'newbie' looking for help type question .... but I guess I gotta start somewhere ...


I am a British citizen with an Indonesian wife currently living in the UK. We have begun to think about buying a guest house, nothing too major - just somewhere for us both to live, rent out rooms to tourists, raise our child and live modestly. We have no great fortune to invest, just a modest savings account - but we are not looking for major profit, just a release from the pressures of daily living in the UK


Does anybody have any advice or tips on whether all this would be viable, on say an intial sum of ... GBP £20,000 // USD $29,000 ???


Like I said, were not after luxury, just a modest roof over our heads and the opportunity to support ourselves. My wife longs so much to return to Indonesia, and I would jump at the chance to leave the UK


If anybody has any experience in trying to set up a guest house, losmen, etc. where is the best place to look for these on the internet (whilst remaining based in the UK until we move to Bali)? Everything I have found so far is the higher end investments, what were after is more of the locals type of investment.


Any help you are able to offer us at this time would be very warmly received, many thanks.



PS. Also worth noting, I am a video cameraman/video editor with many years of experience. Skills which would cross into the the Bali Wedding business perhaps??

 

[ronb]

While a guest house "that is nothing too major" may not be a beach front property, it probably needs to be close to the beach. That makes me think that US$30,000 won't buy you ownership of anything interesting. But you may be able to get something like a 5-year lease. You are not likely to find these possibilities on the Internet - I think you need to be here.

 

[mimpimanis]

Hi psyiren

I am also from UK and my husband is Balinese. We have a homestay in Lombok which we started building 10 years ago. All costs in Lombok, land, materials, workers, were cheaper and even 10 years ago our total investment was more than £20k.

With a losmen rather then hotel you are more likely to targetting backpackers and surfers. So the best way is to get into the most popular guide books which takes a couple of years. You need to have some other income or savings to see you through until your business is runnning at a profit. For me, I returned to UK each year for a few months to work.

The income you get from rooms alone is pretty low though by Indonesian standards it will seem good but you mention you have children, so school for them, medical insurance or paying for medical care as needed (a 3 night stay in hospital cost me 9 million recently.)

So even for a pretty simple existence I dont believe a few rooms are enough, you need to offer some other services too. Tours, trips, food, car bike rental are some ideas.

I also cant see you being able to buy anything in Bali for £20k big enough for you and your family and to rent a few rooms.

Sorry to sound a bit negative

 

[psyiren]

Many thanks for your responses, its all welcome information. This is just one of my various options on getting the hell out of the UK, and if it means we need to stay here for a few more years to save closer to USD $50K - 60K, then so be it.

Another choice is a move to Australia (have researched this and visa shouldn't be too hard for me to obtain) and then a move to Bali much later down the line.

Again, thanks for your time!

 

[spicyayam]

I run a travel and visa forum for Australia and it seems like applications for working visas are taking a very long time to process as numbers are being cut due to the economic slowdown.

With the cost of visas and setting up house, you will spend quite a bit of money moving to Australia.

Not sure what your occupation is, but you might be able to find work in Jakarta.

 

[Anton]

Another choice is a move to Australia (have researched this and visa shouldn't be too hard for me to obtain) and then a move to Bali much later down the line.

Hello psyiren,
you sound like you have had enough of the UK and what better place to dream of than bali :roll: but to be realistic your cash imput is way too small but there is away to over come this :

You did mention considering settling in australia and this is a possibility for you if you have a skill or career that is perhaps needed so step one would be to get a job offer in australia preferably in perth because this is so close to bali you can go shopping in kuta and still return to perth for dinner ok then thats step one,now you are established in perth earning a reasonable wage and have a good credit with an australian bank then you and your wife can take trips over to bali and perhaps find a good location then go back to your aust bank and take a business loan and start building etc but dont give up your job in perth as you will want to maintain your repayments for your new business venture so now you will have a reasonable chance of success and still beable to provide for your family and as your wife is indonesian then she will beable to do some of the communication work in bali while your stuck in perth working your balls off :mrgreen: i think your wife would agree to that one hihihihi .

Well thats an option for you that is possible :?:



Nantiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

 

[psyiren]

Im a cameraman / video editor, but the thought of working in Jakarta makes me sick .... no thankyou. Spent quite bit of time there before, and it really wasnt somewhere I could stay long term.

Now I know this is a really vague, open to many variables type question, but as USD 30,000 is too little for a modest backpackers losmen, what kind of amount WOULD be reasonable?(reflecting that my wife, one toddler and myself would also live there, and have room for a modest restaurant to serve food to guests). Your views would be very welcome to give us some kind of idea how much we would need to save.

And again, to re-iterate, the motive for moving isn't profit driven (although of course profit IS a necessity) - my wife is from a small village in Java and misses the basic pleasures of life that living in a big city in the UK does not give, and I feel this totally.

 

[psyiren]

Thanks for your input ANTON, sound advice!

I've looked into whether my job skills are transferable to Australia, and seems I have two choices - get a sponsor from an employer (difficult without actually being there) or get a sponsorship from a district within Oz that sees my job as 'In demand'. Unfortunately its South Australia only that accepts 'Editor' as an 'In demand' profession (pretty, pretty, pretty far from Bali). Anyone any tips on winning a job position in another country WITHOUT setting foot on foreign soil? ha-ha!

 

[goldminer]

South Australia is only about 5 hours from Bali via Perth, a lot closer than the UK. But hey, there is a global recession happening, work is harder to get in Aussie, and besides... we have enough POMs here already :roll:

 

[aquaman]

Thanks for your input ANTON, sound advice!

Unfortunately its South Australia only that accepts 'Editor' as an 'In demand' profession (pretty, pretty, pretty far from Bali). Anyone any tips on winning a job position in another country WITHOUT setting foot on foreign soil? ha-ha!

Whoa nelly don't go dissin good ole South Oz :x Nah just kidding Adelaide now has regular direct flights to Dempasar with Pacific Blue (5 1/2 hour flight) so other than Darwin and Perth it's probably closer than the other major capitals eg Syd/Melb/Bris. No disrepect to Anton he's just throwing up ideas for you to think about but the business loan in OZ probably wouldn't work for you ie. temporary Oz resident seeking business loan for a start up business in Bali probably wouldn't fly with lenders here.

Interesting you mentioned editors are an "in demand" profession in South Oz.I wouldn't know but just wondering where you got that information? There's numerous job placement agencies in Adelaide it might be worth registering your interest with them (or in Perth for that matter Darwin's probably too small but you never know).

 

[KaBIm]

Now I know this is a really vague, open to many variables type question, but as USD 30,000 is too little for a modest backpackers losmen, what kind of amount WOULD be reasonable?
(...)
my wife is from a small village in Java and misses the basic pleasures of life that living in a big city in the UK does not give, and I feel this totally.

A question came to my mind while reading you. Have you considered settling down in other parts of Indonesia, such as close to your wife's region? Costs, in many region of Indonesia are much lower than Bali or Jakarta and offers more possibilities of developping businesses. Bali's business market is mainly a market geared toward tourism/foreigners, while in other places, one has a much wider choice for "small business".
My wife (indonesian) started a business about 6 years ago (nothing to do with tourism) in the region we live, with a starting capital of less than EUR 10.000. Over the years, she has injected more money but I would roughly evaluate it to a total of about EUR 30.000 in fresh money, no more. Over the years she has developped little by little several businesses (mainly catering to locals ranging from public transportation to agribisnis trade to small industrial equipment rental...etc) reinvesting part of the money she earnt. She is now managing two small companies and her total personal assets are more than 15 times the initial investment. In 6 years, it ain't bad IMHO and I am very proud of her success. She now have a monthly net income more than sufficient to pay for our daily needs, scholarship of our 3 kids and for the salaries of our household staff. I could sell my company abroad and retire, I believe I won't be financially in trouble just relying on her. She is even saving money.
Relocating with a "small amount" of money is not impossible, as long as you have a very clear idea about what you wanna do, have expertise on the field you wanna do business with, fair knowledge of the regulation, taxes and costs associated to your business and have a fair knowledge about the local culture and the language.
Before puting your hard earnt cash, I would songly suggest, that you first come here for a while and get a feel of what "living in Indonesia" or "doing business in Indonesia" is really about.
This is my two cents.

Wish you to realise this dream you have...

 

[ronb]

Now I know this is a really vague, open to many variables type question, but as USD 30,000 is too little for a modest backpackers losmen, what kind of amount WOULD be reasonable?(reflecting that my wife, one toddler and myself would also live there, and have room for a modest restaurant to serve food to guests). Your views would be very welcome to give us some kind of idea how much we would need to save.

Look here: Hotels for sale in Lovina and you will see some North Bali hotel/homestay businesses for sale. Keep in mind that Internet prices will be a bit high, but on the other hand North Bali prices are lower than the south. Here you find 8-room businesses at around US$150,000. If you were here and searching you may be lucky enough to find something more modest for half that. So a rough answer to your question could be US$90,000.

 

[gilbert de jong]

Hello psyiren,

first of all welcome to the forum .
You already have got some good advice or tips from the other members that reacted to your thread. I might have thought of something too, don't know if it's something worth persueing(spellcheck?hihihi). You could post an add that you're looking for a 50% partner for setting up a 'little' guesthouse (bed and breakfast). I realise there could be some snags in something like that, but maybe you haven't thought of it? And you know somebody who would be interested, family of you or your wife maybe?
You could also try and send a resume to Indonesian TV, I know that is a long-shot, but hey if you don't try....right? Also maybe through the BBC you could find a position in Australia?
As for the question 'how much would be enough?' it's like you said, very dependable on alot of things, and a very hard question to answer. I think the 90.000 USD mentioned, is a more viable sum of money, but it's still a very low budget. If it were me in your situation, I would try Ronb (firts post) suggestion....try to find a short lease with an option to extend ofcourse, you keep working to have an stable income, whilest making the hostel/guesthouse profitable. I don't know how your 'accounting' mind is, but 30.000 USD is about 290 million IDR. Going to be very,very hard to find something in this price range, but if you would invest 250 million for a 5 year lease, that would mean 50 million per year, so your return (profit) would at least have to be 2 million a week, as in 52 weeks X 2 million = 104 million a year....without putting any money aside your family would have to live of 8.6 million a month. Healthinsurance, schoolfee's, electric&water bills (not that much), etcetc...also have to be paid from that. so you would be actualy 'eating' away from your savings.
As you see, you really would have to have another income, other wise after the short-lease period there's no money for the option to extend the innitial lease period. Unless the hostel is a thriving business right of the bat ofcourse, and making a lot more money as in my example. Which I by the way truly hope for you and your family sake it will.

Goldminer, I don't know what a POM is ? , since it's probably something very obvious i am ashamed, but I have no idea and can't figure it out

Friendly greetings........Gilbert.

 

[Anton]

Goldminer, I don't know what a POM is ? , since it's probably something very obvious i am ashamed, but I have no idea and can't figure it out

Gil let me help you cure your shame hihihihihi

Ok we know england sent its convicts to australia back in the eighteen hundreds and as they were still convict when living there they would have to wear the regulation uniform and the letters P.O.M.E were written on the uniform and the letters meaning : Prisoner Of Mother England so now australian refer to the english as pom"s or pommie .

Anyway im a pom :mrgreen: hihihihi

Anyway i hope i got that correct and maybe others can add to my answer :idea:

 

[aquaman]

Goldminer, I don't know what a POM is ?  , since it's probably something very obvious i am ashamed, but I have no idea and can't figure it out

Ok we know england sent its convicts to australia back in the eighteen hundreds and as they were still convict when living there they would have to wear the regulation uniform and the letters P.O.M.E were written on the uniform and the letters meaning : Prisoner Of Mother England so now australian refer to the english as pom"s or pommie   .Anyway im a pom  :mrgreen:  hihihihi   Anyway i hope i got that correct and maybe others can add to my answer  :idea:

Gilbert,Aussies and Kiwis (New Zealanders) and sometimes Sth Africans refer to English people as POMS we have for a 100 years . The origins of the word are not 100% clear. Antons reason is one of a few popular suggestions....refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_words_for_BritishThe average Aussie eg me wouldn't really know exactly where the word came from it's just part of our vocabulary  :lol:

It doesn't seem to bother Anton but some of his countrymen do get offended. A recent court case revolved around trying to ban the word's use in advertising etc but it was defeated so the word stands and is very commonly used by Aussies.

 

[psyiren]

You could post an add that you're looking for a 50% partner for setting up a 'little' guesthouse (bed and breakfast). .... somebody who would be interested, family of you or your wife maybe?

Nice idea, so lets say for example my family would be interested, ie Mom & Dad. How would this work visa wise? Would my wife be legally able to sponsor my Mother, Father & I?

 

[gilbert de jong]

Hello Anton & aquaman,
Thanks for explaning my POM question, hahaha, see I knew it would be something obvious, and makes alot of sense. Just wondering if none of those convicted English changed their fatigues??...as in get rid of the POME uniform, 'borrow without asking' some other (normal)clothes and keep a low profile as an non-convicted person (australian). Find some wife or husband, get offspring and the grandchildren of that offspring, thinking they are Aussies, but in fact are also POME related...now they use that word to refer to others, which they are themself too? Confusing hmmm, hahaha, so am I 8). to be very poetic, it's not a name that defines the man, it's his action's...or something like that :lol: :lol:
Anyways, thanks again for explaining...learned something again today

Psyiren, I don't know how many people can be sponsored by one person. There's a member named Kabim, he's very up to date with legal matters and visa's and would probably know...
you could try to send him a PM. Or maybe some of the other members who are reading this can give you an answer? But may I asume your parents are over the age of 55? If so, they could aply for an Retirement-Visa, which legally means they are not allowed to work in Indonesia, but ofcourse they can help out around the guesthouse, hihihi.
I checked the website of BaliIDE real quick and it doesn't mention a sponsor is needed to aply for this Visa....check this link out
http://www.bali-expat-business.com/indo ... sa.php?p=2
If they (parents) are not over the age of 55, there's info on that website for that too :wink:

Friendly greetings ......Gilbert.

 

[psyiren]

Good advice, and viable at that too. Both my parents are over 55, but I sadly doubt they would want to retire in Asia .... although who knows? there will be words I can guarentee ;p

Im looking also into the advice given about setting up a business other than in Bali, namely Tegal, Central Java (my in-laws hometown). But of course thats another kettle of fish ENTIRELY!!! Whicj business? Do what? Open what? Give what services? oy oy oy! Although its certainly best to do something your good at, and I have camera and editing skills, so a video service certainly seems some kind of option. Any advice anyone?

As you may of guessed, im still in the very very initial stages of doing ANYTHING. Just sending out the feelers!

Thanks all!

 

[donfuego]

Hey Psyren and everybody!
I'm new here and I'm pretty much in your situation, both planing wise and econamically it seems... Camera and Editing is really a versatile area IMO which means you could work within a lot of different areas such as tourism, media, education, television, internet, etc. It seems that tourism in Java is picking up although very slowly but as Bali becomes more and more exploited I guess tourists will find new "uncharted" destinations so there could be a sustainable future working with tourism in Jawa as well. Who knows? I'm in the computer field and pretty good at what I do and trying to find a way in. My wife is from Jawa Timur (east) and is dreaming about opening up a restaurant i Bali. Personally I think it will be very very difficult. I'm a DJ as well so I could probably find some badly paid gigs in one of the many clubs in Kuta, although that's probably not what I want to do in the long run, with family and all. But right now I'm kind of considering every option and try to see what possibilities there are...

 

[Anton]

It doesn't seem to bother Anton but some of his countrymen do get offended.

Look when im in north america im a limey in indo im a bule in germany im a tommy in africa im the boss and yes in aust im a pom well its an agreement we have with the australians that is to say if you fly our flag we will let you call us pom now thats a pretty good deal


aquaman im glad you have a sense of humour :mrgreen: