Betting on Bali: My Journey Into the Offshoring Business
I’ve lived on the island of Bali in Indonesia for the past five years. I do business locally, I speak Bahasa Indonesia, and I’ve come to call this island my home.
Foreigners are nominally welcome to live in Indonesia, but they are much more welcome when they contribute meaningfully to the Indonesian economy and the lives of local people. John Galt Services (no website yet, it’s that new!) is a startup that deploys young, tech-savvy Indonesians remotely to augment your customer service or tech-support operation.
In other words: I’m laying down a big bet on Bali! 🚀
Let me share the evidence that has inspired me to take this personal and professional leap. Maybe it will inspire you to jump in with me!
English
I’m a senior software engineer, and I get involved in all kinds of techie social events here on Bali. I’m into crypto, and I spend my days in one of the big Canggu co-working spaces.
Every day as I make my rounds I meet young Indonesian technology and business professionals. And I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve commented on how amazingly well somebody speaks English… only to learn they’ve never traveled outside Indonesia!
Bali’s thriving tourism industry has created a strong incentive among locals to learn English and practice it regularly. The cool Indonesian kids sitting in Pererenan cafes speak English with one another.
According to the EF English Proficiency Index 2022, Indonesia ranks moderately globally, but my impression is that most of that English proficiency in Indonesia lives right here on Bali.
Technical Expertise
The rise of the digital nomad subculture has fostered a tech-savvy environment on Bali.
Co-working spaces like Tropical Nomad (where I’m sitting right now) and BWork Bali offer training programs and networking opportunities that attract a ton of locals. Indonesian universities like Udayana University produce graduates proficient in software development and familiar with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and help desk software.
Moreover, according to the Indonesia Digital Talent Report 2022, there has been a significant increase in the number of tech graduates and professionals in Indonesia, and Bali’s a major contributor due to its growing tech community.
Work Ethic
As you get to know Indonesians, one thing you can’t miss is their exceptional work ethic. Working overtime is the rule here, not the exception. The Indonesians I know seem to thrive on positive feedback, and they’re willing to go the extra mile to get it.
People here still live pretty close to the land. Virtually every tech worker and business professional you meet on Bali spent some part of his childhood working in a rice field or on a fishing boat. For the most part, their parents or grandparents were full-time farmers and fishermen.
This heritage is real, and it hasn’t gone away: there’s a group of people harvesting a rice field 100 meters from where I sit typing right this instant.
So when an Indonesian rolls up his sleeves to go to work… he means it.
This hardworking attitude translates into a high level of dedication in professional roles. Employers can expect an Indonesian team to be not only technically proficient, but also aware of how their work is perceived and eager to earn the praise of their customers.
Teamwork
Indonesian culture places a high value on collectivism and community. Go to any restaurant and privately hand a tip to your server: it winds up in the communal tip jar—no exceptions!— and everybody gets a share.
In the workplace, this translates to exceptional, natural teamwork.
Employees in Indonesia support one another, share knowledge freely, and work collaboratively towards common goals. This collective spirit fosters a positive work environment where team members are motivated not just by individual success but by the success of the entire team.
Service
On Bali, hospitality is a virtue.
The island relies heavily on tourism, which contributes over 60% of its GDP. This is not an accident: kindness to strangers was a key part of Balinese culture long before the island became a tourist hub.
Beyond being a very nice place to live, Bali is also a playground for the very young and the very rich: a crowd not noted for their humility. Which is to say that I regularly witness acts of kindness and tolerance on the part of Balinese service workers under conditions that would try the patience of the Buddha.
These folks can handle your most challenging customers with grace. No sweat.
Loyalty
Beyond a natural talent for service, Indonesian employees respond enthusiastically to fair and supportive work environments.
When a foreign visitor leaves a Bali restaurant without paying (which happens, sadly), most restaurants here will stick the server with the bill… which could easily amount to a week’s wages or more. The same dynamic often plays out in professional environments, where employees are penalized for mistakes they really need to make in order to learn.
Even in a strong service culture like Bali’s, this creates a pretty oppressive work environment that can leave employees unwilling to take risks to serve their customers.
At John Galt Services we take the approach more common in the West: we expect our employees to make mistakes as part of the learning process! The risk is ours, not theirs, and we evaluate them on how well they learn and improve.
It’s hard to overstate just how much Indonesian employees appreciate this approach, once they come to believe we actually mean it. So don’t expect much turnover on your Indonesian team!
Infrastructure
Bali boasts a robust technological infrastructure.
Indonesia in general averages fixed internet speeds around 30 Mbps, and urban areas on Bali like Denpasar and Kuta routinely post speeds twice as high. This is more than sufficient for customer service and tech support operations.
The Indonesian government’s Palapa Ring Project aims to improve internet connectivity across the archipelago, including Bali. This commitment to infrastructure supports the viability of offshoring operations here.
Time Zone
Bali time offers significant operational advantages.
The island is in the GMT+8 time zone year-round: 12 or 13 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast (depending on daylight savings). While your U.S. team is offline overnight, your Bali team can handle new customer inquiries and finish the swing on daytime work items.
Bali’s time zone aligns perfectly with business hours in major markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Sydney. If you have customers in the Asia-Pacific region, your Bali team can provide real-time support during your customers’ business day.
Seamless Integration
To your customers, your Bali team members are indistinguishable from your internal staff.
They learn your products and services with your training materials and programs, so they speak your language to your customers. By adopting your tools and communication platforms, your Bali team seamlessly integrates into your existing service architecture.
Whatever performance metrics you already use to evaluate your service operation, adopting those metrics is our first priority when integrating with your team.
This ensures that your Bali team’s goals align perfectly with your own. It’s also of great interest to your Bali team on a personal level, since they earn sizable bonus payments when they consistently land in the top 20% of your team, according to your metrics!
Data Security
When you outsource services halfway around the world, data security is a top concern.
We follow our customers’ data security measures and guidelines, using your tools and protocols to ensure compliance. This includes:
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Global Standards: We adhere to GDPR, CCPA, and other relevant regulations according to your own requirements.
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Secure Systems: We use VPNs, encryption, and secure servers in line with your own security infrastructure.
By aligning our data security practices with yours, we protect sensitive information just like you do, providing consistency your compliance team will appreciate and protecting the trust you have earned from your customers.
Trusted Local Partnerships
After five years doing business on Bali—much of that in Bahasa Indonesia—I am not prepared to say I understand either the complexities of Indonesian regulations or the nuances of Indonesian and Balinese culture! But I’m a lot closer than you are.
Most importantly, I have a local network of trusted friends and business partners who do understand these things, and are happy to help me navigate them.
This is important, because my business is your business! And Bali is my home. So we’re going to…
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Ensure all services we perform on your behalf comply with Indonesian law.
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Make sure you have the right staff, with the right skills and training, in place when you need them.
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Bridge any gaps between your existing workforce and your Bali team so they can all pull hard in the same direction.
We believe that happy employees lead to happy customers. We provide a supportive and growth-oriented work environment, and our emphasis on learning from mistakes empowers our staff to put the needs of your customers first.
As a result, expect your Bali team’s strong work ethic, technical proficiency, and service-oriented mindset to help you deliver exceptional customer experiences!
Flexibility & Scalability
Different business face different challenges.
Small businesses and startups need the ability to work small and scale rapidly while controlling costs. Established businesses need flexibility with an eye on the bottom line.
Our Bali offshoring solution offers:
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Half-time support. Onboard resources in half-time increments, so you only pay for the bandwidth you need.
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Waivable onboarding fee. Make an annual commitment to a full-time resource, and we’ll assume the cost of finding, hiring, and training that resource.
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There when you need us! Indonesian staff on Bali observe Hindu holidays like Nyepi and Muslim ones like Eid al-Fitr, which typically don’t overlap with Western or East Asian holidays. So your Bali customer support team remains operational during times like Christmas or Lunar New Year, ensuring uninterrupted service at no additional cost.
The Numbers
If your company offers complex technical products, you are likely employing highly skilled customer service or tech support agents in the 90th percentile of the pay scale. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top 10% of customer service representatives in the U.S. earn over $61,000 annually in wages alone.
According to the U.S. Small Business administration, once you factor in taxes and benefits this translates to a total cost per employee between $76,250 and $85,400. For a training- and management-intensive role like customer service or tech support, the high end of this range is probably the most accurate.
Domestic Onshoring
Many businesses in high-cost U.S. regions now onshore support operations by sending them to lower-cost areas of the country.
Given our focus on technical products and services, this may bring the resulting annual wage down to the national customer-service median of about $40,000, resulting in a total annual employment cost between $50,000 and $56,000. Again, the high end of this range is probably the best estimate.
That’s a 34% improvement over baseline: not too shabby.
Offshoring to Bali
John Galt’s most advantageous payment terms offer a fully-trained, closely-managed, well-equipped full-time support resource for a total cost of $48,000 per year.
This represents a 14% price advantage over the domestic onshoring scenario described above, and a whopping 44% savings over what you are probably paying right now!
Other options are available, including half-time resources and quarterly or monthly payment terms. This gives you the ability to limit your offshoring commitment and scale your support team based on actual demand without unnecessary overhead.
Here’s a summary of John Galt’s pricing structure:
| Resource | Full-Time | Half-Time |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Annually | $4,000/month $48,000/year |
$2,500/month $30,000/year |
| Paid Quarterly | $4,500/month $54,000/year |
$2,750/month $33,000/year |
| Paid Monthly | $5,000/month $60,000/year |
$3,000/month $36,000/year |
We also charge an onboarding fee, equivalent to one month’s payment, at contract initiation for a new resource. This fee is waived for annual contracts including at least one full-time resource.
Why I’m Taking This Risk
On paper, Indonesia is one of the world’s richest countries. They export mineral oils, palm oil, paper goods, coffee, cocoa, textiles, rubber, electronics, natural gas… the list just goes on and on. Everybody in the world uses something from Indonesia, pretty much every day.
In the last five years, I’ve come to understand that the least appreciated resource in Indonesia is the Indonesian people, and very specifically the kind of young, technically-minded Indonesian professional who winds up on Bali.
These kids are just awesome.
So on the one hand, John Galt Services is my bid to make a solid contribution to the local economy that justifies my KITAS, which is the piece of paper that allows me to live here.
But on the other hand, John Galt is kind of a ringer. A rigged bet. An insider trade. Because apparently I’ve figured something out that not too many people know, and I’m willing to stake my resources and reputation on it:
Young Indonesian technical professionals are best deal in the world for customer service and tech support.
An Invitation
Partnering with a startup always involves an element of risk.
The argument I’ve made above in favor of offshoring your support needs to Bali is the same one I’ve made to myself in favor of hanging out my shingle and offering to support those needs.
I found the argument compelling, so here we are. Maybe you do, too.
If so: let’s talk!
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