Lifestyle No.2 - Beginners Guide to Bali for Business

blog 2014
Written By Andrew Ford

Business in Bali, why would you bother!  Why would you want to work? I know Bali is Australia's favourite holiday destination but let's examine why it could make a great business destination too.

I recently ran one of my courses in the Expert in Your Industry series, which I run with expert business coach Maureen Pound, in Bali. We decided early on to offer this incentive to our long term clients as an opportunity to have a break from the day to day work and complete their annual business planning. Situated in stunning Nusa Dua, we enjoyed the Grand Hyatt hospitality, wonderful massages and tasty food. Not to mention the Bintang beer! Lucky I had my trusty Closest Beer smart phone application to find local bars :) 

There were many learnings from running this event and I want to share them with you in my top 10 business in Bali tips:

Ensure you have a passport. Seems quite obvious, however we had several customers who couldn't locate their passport before they went and also one which was close to expiration. It plays to check these details at least three months ahead with your event.

Leave a day early. My Sunday night flight was cancelled so I missed the first day of the course on Monday, lucky for me Maureen was already in Bali.

Buy a meal. I purchased a meal on Jetstar, but due to the flight delays on my way back they ran out of food! So if you didn't order a meal there was no food available, not a good look when entertaining clients.

Prepare your currency. The local currency is Indonesian rupiah which I recommend you getting some before you travel. Your local bank or Australia Post will exchange currency for free. You can also use US$ for most transactions.

Pay for priority. You can pay and extra US$20 or approximately 200,000 rupiah to be escorted through the visa on arrival and customs. I recommend buying this for you and your customers. The visa on arrival is US$20 so a total cost of US$40.

Get a Government taxi. On arrival at Dempasar airport there is an official taxi rank located as you exit customs, which you prepay for your journey. It is sightly expensive however reliable and quality service. To Nusa Dua it was 150,000 rupiah with no negotiation.

Book a Room. Most Bali hotels are open to the environment so quite humid. It's ok when you are on holidays but challenging when you are wearing business clothes. I suggest booking a room with air conditioning an regular supplies for your clients. However do review the costs as they can add up. Our room was US$50 per person per day for room, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

Venture out of the resort. Not far from our resort was many local restaurants, shops and bars. All were very reasonably priced, accepted credit card and quality food. It makes for a much more interesting journey when you venture off the beaten track and enjoy the local hospitality.

Bring your own IT supplies. There is nothing more frustrating than when a projector doesn't work! My team couldn't get ours to work day 1 and on arrival I changed over the Mac to projector cable and it worked fine. Never leave home without your own cables.

Leave for the airport early. Nuda Dua is in a fantastic location from the airport. They have built a new freeway which costs US$1 and goes directly to the airport. From our hotel it was 20 minutes total. My last trip to Bali staying near Seminyak was a disaster travelling to the airport. I almost missed my flight as it took over 90 minutes due the horrendous traffic.

So there you have it, my learning experiences from running my first business event in Bali.  I plan to run more events in Bali in the future because I love travel and it provides a different space to be productive with clients. All part of my plan to run a Personal Business, one which reflects my own values and maximises clients value. Who says you can't have a business that gives you the life you dream of? 

I would love to hear how your tips for business travel so please share on my social media. I also have created a Pinterest board of my favourite adventures in Bali, feel free to review and add if you desire. Enjoy!

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(the link is http://www.andrewford.com.au/book/)

Andrew Ford
Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.
http://www.andrewford.com.au/
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Beginners Guide To Bali For Business
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