Thread: Buying a Business in Bali

Neilf, you can either call me an idiot, or a deranged person, but why on earth would anyone want to buy an existing business in Bali?

Surely you must realize that if any business on Bali is for sale, it is most likely because it is not successful!

Those reasons for the lack of business success can run the whole gauntlet of improper paperwork, a pissed off Balinese partner, a wife, a husband, the family thereof, or the police, a bad location, etc., etc.

I've never met, or personally known a successful expat in Bali who "bought an existing business."

By purchasing an existing business, you automatically inherit all the bad crap that made the first try go bad. If anyone is in a position to "re-incarnate" a dead business, it is long term expats that have been here for years. The next one I meet, who has done this, will be the first.

Sorry, but even with an Indonesian wife, and I guess your wife is not Balinese, all I can say is good luck. Even with a Balinese wife, I would say that what you write is a very likely recipe for disaster.

Dear Roy,

I have managed some og the biggest companies in Indonesia. But by buying an existing company you inherit infrastructure. Managment is the key. Management is the sole reason why businesses fail.

Originally Posted by Bert

:evil:

Why?

Please Bert...don't shut this string down...OK? Let it go its path and seek its own level.

I totally disagree with Neilf that management is the sole reason businesses fail, and you and I both know that in Bali, management can be the REASON businesses fail. But...let's play this out, and I promise to keep my heavy artillery in the far rear of this "battlefield." OK? Fair enough?

Jesus Bert, you've already edited Nielf's post where he called me an idiot, and I agreed that I am a happy idiot.

PLEASE...let these discussions go where they may! Unless we threaten one another with a first strike nuclear attack, or raping each other's wives, is there really any need for any intervention?

Nielf, please just think again about your post. Nobody in
Bali cares one iota what companies you managed in Java.

Bali is NOT Java, and although some things work similarly, much does not..

Most expats in Bali in what could be called “white collared jobs” only last if employed, and “bite the dust” very quickly if not employed.

Ah, here we go again with my oft said phrase, “the expats ebb and flow like the tide.”

Nielf, you may be thinking that your years of success in unmentioned parts of Indonesia managing the “biggest” (and also unmentioned) companies in Indonesia have prepared you for instant success in Bali…but you are wrong.

Good luck, and I really hate to say it, but Australians are top on the list of failures as expats in Bali. Maybe that is something else to consider as they so often consider Bali as “little OZ.”

I havn't heard of any available succesful businesses for sale in Bali and as Roy said buying a non-succesful would probably result in a great deal of unexpected problems. Most entrepeneurs i "observe" start up with a fairly unique idea or branch accompanied with a big sack of money for investment and expenses, though this is far from enough. You need to find people to trust and count on and may be problematic even for an successful manager as yourself. There are a great deal of bumps on the road before one finds people to trust in business.. and even when you do, there is no guarantee ones business will be successful or more successful than the other who will soon follow up on your idea and become competitors. With this i can only say that, as Roy said and have said before, there are expats who make it work.. but i'd say the vast majority don't. The reasons are pleanty and it all differs from person to person, experience and i'd say also values and characteristics. Business or not, not everyone is molded to fit into the balinese society. Some make it work for a couple of months, some a couple of years and the very few make it work for a lifetime. wish everyone involved good luck! :wink:

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. .