export_ofoct.com (14)

[00:00.38] Todd: So now Dan you live in Bali, Indonesia, which is a very beautiful place and you do a lot of business in Southeast Asia.

[00:07.63] Why do you think Southeast Asia is a good place to do business?

[00:12.13] Dan: Well, one of the primary reasons is the lifestyle.

[00:15.38] If you are generating a reasonable income on western standards, you can—what we do is, you know, perform some global arbitrage.

[00:26.63] You can take that western level salary and move it to a developing area of the world like here in Southeast Asia, and your purchasing power is much greater.

[00:34.38] So if you’re selling products in a higher valued economy like Germany and you’re living in Vietnam, you’re going to be able to experience a much higher lifestyle.

[00:44.63] And we call that concept arbitrage. You know, currency markets and stock traders have used that kind of concept all the time because they’re dealing with very liquid assets.

[00:54.38] In our case, you know, our locations weren't always so liquid. It wasn’t always so easy to change your location.

[01:00.38] Now with internet style business, it’s getting easier.

[01:04.38] So primarily, the lifestyle, I found that that’s a great tool for recruiting because staff, they want to have a great lifestyle too. So if you can set up an office in a place like Bali, Indonesia, it’s like paradise on earth.

[01:14.88] It’s so beautiful here, people want to join you, and so it’s great for recruiting as well.

[01:18.38] Todd: Do you find it’s harder to get work done in a beautiful place. I mean, Bali is basically paradise. Can you still follow the nine-to-five work grind and get things done?

[01:30.63] Dan: I find that I get more work done in Bali because the cost of living here is lower on all fronts.

[01:37.88] Not only is food cheaper, rent cheaper, but it’s easier to get people to help you out to do things.

[01:44.13] For example, in United States, I can't afford to pay somebody to do my laundry.

[01:47.88] It’s too expensive. But here in Bali, I have somebody do my laundry and that saves me two hours a week.

[01:52.63] Simple things like that start to add up. It’s a very relaxed and healthy place that helps me focus on work.

[01:58.38] I have a lot of friends that live in New York city for example and they spend so much time traveling on the train, making money to afford living there, and I see that as a much more stressful, difficult environment to really be productive and creative.

[02:11.88] Here in Bali, I have no problems focusing on my work.

[02:16.63] Todd: So what kind of work schedule do you follow, like do you work every day? Do you work like eight hours straight? Do you work at night?

[02:24.13] Because you’re dealing with different time zones with people all around the world.

[02:27.63] You said your market is mainly in the States. Could you talk a little bit about your work routine?

[02:33.63] Dan: Sure. It’s actually defined by what I feel like my biorhythms are.

[02:40.88] To use a really colloquial phrase, car guys in United States use a term called torque band.

[02:48.13] And that’s when your engine is the strongest—at what time your engine the strongest? And for me that’s 7:00 to 11:00 in the morning, and 7:00 to 11:00 in the evening, and right now it’s sort of 2:33 PM.

[03:02.13] This is generally a time that I would relax. I would close my computer. I would get in the pool.

[03:06.63] I’d meet with some friends, maybe take a walk, listen to some podcasts, and relax until dinner time.

[03:11.63] After dinner time have a coffee and continue working.

[03:14.38] So, it’s primarily for me, that just seems to be when I’m most creative and I have no idea why.

[03:20.38] Todd: It sounds like a nice life.