I have started using Google’s Chrome browser recently and one thing which was bothering me, was that it kept redirecting to the Indonesian version of Google every time I loaded google.com. This was particularly annoying when I was trying to go to Google’s news page, where I couldn’t find any menu option to show English news.

After a little bit of digging today, I found the solution.

Click the settings tab in the top right corner (spanner icon) and then Options.

From the Basics tab, find the “Default search” option and click Manage.

Next, check which search engine is the default. Mine was set to Google’s Indonesia website: google.co.id, so you just need to click edit and change this to google.com

You might need to restart your browser for the change to take affect.

I came across this post about someone a woman who moved to Spain and started (or took over) an expat magazine and has successfully franchised it to other expat locations.

She gave five tips for starting a business overseas:

1. Network like crazy at workshops, events and local seminars!

2. Use social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to find other business people in your area;

3. Be a leader. Be the authority figure in your field – arrange a charity event, organize a weekly women’s lunch, use your initiative and it will pay off;

4. Keep your ear to the ground at all times, that way you will never miss a great opportunity; and

5. Learn the language where you live and make new friends.

The following is an interview I did with Dallas Finn, founder of the Bali Peace Park. It seems a real shame that nothing has been done with the site since the initial plans were created for the park. Whatever feelings you might have about the park and what should be done with the bomb site, I really admire Dallas’ dedication and perseverance with the project.

Can you please tell me how you first got involved in the project?

I came to Bali in the lead up to the 1st anniversary,whilst waiting for friends at the Sari club site I was approached and told the land was up for sale, I raised the idea of purchasing the site to build garden.

What is the current status of the project?

Currently the Association are supposedly in negotiations, the information is very patchy at the moment they seem to be hiding something the Association or trying to cover there asses.

I read that the land was leased to a Balinese bar operator, can you confirm if that ever went through?

Bapak Kadek has a 30 year lease on the land and believe he has every right to build the night club he came up with the money, the Australians have had nearly 7 years to get there act together, I will be seeking to meet with him on my return to Bali.
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Have you ever been able to get in direct contact with the owner of the land? Is he willing to sell the land?

Not direct contact I met with his brother inlaw in 2005 in Jakarta and in Bali, then made an offer of approx 1.2 million AUD to sound them out and we also gave them an option of a land swap this was with the help of the Desa-Adat Kuta.

Some people say that there is already the memorial across the road and say that is enough. The Quicksilver surf store has also been built on the site. What purpose do you think the park will serve?

This was never to be a memorial its a peace park…but it would provide a place for people to reflect, regarding the former paddys site we could have also purchased this site as well this came up first in mid 2004 the heads of the village of Kuta and myself met with the owner.

Do you think people will really be able to sit and relax in a park knowing that it was a bomb site?

Yes …if you look at the peace park in Hiroshima in Japan and people go to the bar above the quicksilver shop.

What do you say to people who think that the funds the association is raising could be better used elsewhere in Bali, like hospitals and schools?

If the rumour of 3 million USD for the site is correct yes it could be better spent especially toward education and upgrading schools especially around East Bali.

I know the governor of Bali is behind the project, but do you think this what Balinese really want done with the land?

I approached the now Governor of Bali in 2004 to become the Indonesian patron, which he agreed…I know through my work over the last 7 years the Kuta community believed in what I was doing and am greatly appreciated by all there support.

If the park is built, whose responsibility is it going to be to maintaining it?

This is currently up in the air…I have Yayasan Gelombang Udara Segar an enviromental group with close ties to the village of Kuta on board.

Do you think it would be better to do something with the land right now until the park can be built, even if it is only temporary?

Yes.. it currently is a car park, we planted frangipani trees on the site a number of years ago and organised regular clean ups of the site, the trees were removed when building was about to start on the night club.

How much has money has the association raised already? What would happen to the donations that have been contributed already if the park is never built?

The Association hasn’t raised that much, they wasted most of it on threatening me with legal action a number of months ago.

Has the recent global financial crisis created any problems with raising money for the project?

There’s always been an issue due to not having a confirmed figure and a contract, I personally funded the project for near on 7 years over 100k AUD and am currently in major financial hardship due to the actions of various individuals who over the years have come along to take me down, if you include loss of income the figure is over 300k.

The WA today reported on February 2nd that you were “expelled” from the group? What happened there and are you still directly involved with the project?

Pertaining to my expulsion this was due the direction the Association was going, I stood my ground on cultural and political issues defending the Balinese, the direction they were taking the website and comments made by several board members in the media including the spokesperson whom I must point out has profited through the media by selling there stories in the last 12 months in a magazine here in Australia, they also tried bullying me into signing a power of Attorney in which I had 2 lawyers look over here and was advised not to sign it.

They didn’t even have the respect to tell me to my face of my expulsion they sent me a text message the night before I flew to Bali, that was when I found out the night club was about to be built and through my contacts was able to have the building stopped, this also lead to a meeting between the Australian Consulate and the Governor.

I am still in contact with various stakeholders and Government officials and am will be organising to meet with them in the near future to look at other options.

Is there a point in the future that you will accept that the park may never be built?

Yes now …the park does not have to built there it could be better placed some where else.

I just got back to Bali yesterday from a short trip to Singapore. I had been to Singapore before on a company junket, but that was a long time before I was living in Bali.

Singapore has a fantastic transport system with buses and an extensive subway system. It is easy to get from the airport to the downtown area and anywhere around the island.

The traffic is “normal” where people actually follow traffic signals and wait for pedestrians to cross. There is no rubbish in the streets and the sidewalk gardens are planted with well groomed tropical plants.

The first day I was actually thinking it might be nice to live there. Lots of shops and places to visit. The next day I took an early morning subway ride. It brought back memories from commuting daily on the subway when I was living in Tokyo.

I couldn’t help noticing that tired and distant look everyone had as they traveled to work. I remembered that feeling and it sent a shiver down my spine. No-one spoke to each other and people either tried to get a little bit of sleep or listened to music on their ipods. In fact most people I saw were listening to their ipods or were talking on their mobiles. Everyone living their lives in their own little world.

It was nice to be able to browse the huge bookstores like Borders and Kinokuniya and have a bit of change in scenery, at the same time I couldn’t wait to get back to Bali.

Every so often, in letters to the editor and posts on forums, you come across people who have “lost their shirt” in Bali.

Here is one such person in a letter to the editor in the Jakarta Post:

I am an American who has been living in Bali full-time for the past three-and-a-half years. I first came to Bali in 1997 and, like many other visitors, fell in love with the natural beauty of Bali and the seemingly simple way of life.

To date, I have made two agreements with my partner and have already given him more than half of everything I have in an effort to resolve this situation. I made these agreements in good faith yet I continue to have problems. I have been to many lawyers and notaries and have asked for help from the Bali Police (Polda) but from what I can see, the problem only gets worse.

On one hand I have sympathy for people like this, but on the other hand it is difficult to comprehend how someone would invest their life savings in a business without getting the proper legal advice and protection.

If you are planning on investing in any country, even if it is your own, it is important to understand the laws and how they pertain to your own situation. Not understanding the language is also a poor excuse. If you are not fluent in the language, you should get all legal documents translated by an independent translator into your own language.

Legal fees are relatively inexpensive in Indonesia and it is a good idea to speak to a few different notaries or lawyers until you can find someone you like and are comfortable working with.

I just received the proof of the printed version of my book “How to start a business in Bali”. I approved the proof, so it is now available for sale through Createspace and hopefully soon, through Amazon. My whole experience with Createspace has been fantastic and the printed book looks great.

It’s a weird feeling seeing a book with your own name on the cover. I now understand why it’s called “vanity publishing”. The printed book looks great and just like you would pick up in the bookshop. I don’t feel like reading it again though, because I am sure there are still typos and mistakes in it.

I expect that more books will be sold this way in the future. It’s great that you can buy almost any title and it will never go out of print.

My book is also available on the Kindle, but I am reluctant to promote it because of the large cut Amazon makes. I just read also that Google are launching their own ebook store and authors get to keep 60-something per cent for their sales.

The extra competition and increase in sales outlets is only good news for aspiring authors. I am pretty sure that if you can create a useful and informative book, have some expertise in marketing and are prepared to work hard, you could make a reasonable income from writing.

While sending out email about my business guide to Bali, I had a few comments from people that they are not interested in starting a business in Bali, because they are moving to retire!

It has given me an idea the idea to provide more information on this on my website and perhaps another guide.

If you are interested in retiring in Bali, I would love to know what kind of concerns you have.

As a reward to people who help answer my questions, I will be offering a free guide and response to the number one concern people have about retiring in Bali.

I have created an online survey with Survey Monkey which I suggested as a tool to use in my guide to starting a business in Bali.

I have received some fantastic replies so far. It’s great to be able to see what interests and concerns people have about retiring in Bali, which I can then hopefully put together a more useful guide.

I was looking for more places to get exposure for my guide to starting a business in Bali. After doing some research, I found that anyone can sell print on demand (POD) and ebooks on Amazon.

I think it is a fairly recent move that Amazon has started or they acquired a site called CreateSpace. CreateSpace allows people to sell books, DVDs, music and MP3s.

I am currently in the process of trying to get my ebook approved. People will be able to hopefully soon be able to buy my book from Amazon in either an ebook or paper book format.

You have to become a little familiar with publishing terms such as “bleed” and “trim”. The interface however to their site is very simple to follow. You can even create a cover for your book from one of their templates.

In terms of pricing, I priced my book at $25, of which I would receive $10.70. There is a PRO version available also and if you pay some money to join, you will receive a little more money.

I have heard of authors traditionally getting paid very little for their books, so I am sure even this amount is pretty good.

Another thing I like about this service is that there are no upfront costs to the author. They even supply you with an ISBN number if you don’t have one. I looked at the self publishing service of Lulu and their basic cost to get your book into their store was $300!

One more advantage is that once your book is online in the store, it should be there forever! It will never go out of print, so as long as your book is on a topic that won’t get dated, you will be able to earn royalties on your sales for the rest of your life.

About the only downside I have seen so far, is that you need create and submit a separate file to create a Kindle version for your book. It is something I will be trying to work out next.

I did read though, that 500 titles are being uploaded to Amazon everyday! It’s a very competitive marketplace, which is why you want to create something that targets a small but specific niche market.

Update: The book was approved last night. I had to order a copy to check it before it goes “live”. The cost was about $4 for the book and $10 for shipping.

I have just set up a business directory for Bali based and related businesses.

You can check it out here:

Bali Business Directory

I have added a couple of listings already and I think it is only really going to work, if I can get people to add their own or their friend’s businesses.

One thing I like about it, is that it is integrated with Google maps, so if you just enter the address in the listing, Google automatically creates a map for the business. It has worked so far for most of the addresses I put in.

Today I have great pleasure to announce the launch of my new eBook – How to start a business in Bali – A practical guide to setting up and running a successful business in Bali.

If you have ever thought of setting up a business in Bali, this guide is for you.

When I started researching it soon became apparent that I needed to hear from experienced expats who have set up businesses in different areas. I did five interviews with entrepreneurs all with completely different businesses in Bali – including a business consultancy, organic farm, translation and cultural service and a hotel.

Learn from experienced people and avoid making mistakes that could be costly down the road.

Need more information? – get a full run down of the eBook here.