The Livelihood Podcast

EP#22 - Creating Your Perfect Lifestyle & Building a Surf Empire - Meet Chris McLaverty, who quit university and set off for Indonesia with two friends. Ten years later they run one of Indonesia's most popular Surf Camps, but it hasn't been plain sailing.

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Chris runs the Mandiri Beach Club Surf Camp with his two business partners. It's based on a remote beach on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Chris talks us through how they not only didn't have a business plan, but ended up falling foul to a notorious con artist in the area. The first few years Chris had to sleep with a machete under his pillow in order to protect themselves from attack. The guys eventually worked together to get the con artist deported, but even then things weren't easy. Chris talks us through his approach to building your ideal lifestyle, that way it's easy to take the positives when thing's aren't going so well. Super inspiring stuff from Chris! 

Questions we go over:

  1. How has the rise of social media, especially instagram helped your business?
  2. What advertising channels do you use to promote your business?
  3. You have a really strong brand, how important is your brand image to your customers throughout their stay?
  4. How many people do you have working for you? How difficult is it to manage staff?
  5. How has it been running a travel business during corona virus?
  6. What are your plans for the business in the future?
  7. Finally we like to end the show on your most embarrassing moment in business, so try and think of an embarrassing story you have had in your business journey. 

https://mandiribeach.club/




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The Livelihood PodcastBy Entrepreneur Luke Emery & Product Designer Alex Peet