Steven Guo, a 24-year-old entrepreneur, shifted from the United States to Bali and he’s never been happier. Speaking to CNBC Make It, Mr Guo revealed that he works just 30 hours a week and earns a whopping $254,000 (Rs 2.15 crore) a year. “Bali really is a place where my work-life balance finally makes sense,” he told the outlet, adding, “Mornings are mostly for running my business, (and) afternoons are for surfing, exploring the landscapes or enjoying the vibrant culture here.”
Mr Guo said that his entrepreneurial journey began when he was 12 and “super into the game Minecraft”. “I wanted to host servers so that me and my friends could play on it. Turns out, other people decided to start playing on it as well, and because of that, someone offered me $50,” he told the outlet. This transaction changed his life. “I didn’t realise you could make money off the internet,” he recalled. By the end of that summer, Mr Guo pocketed $10,000.
However, his first attempt to start a game development company “failed miserably” and blew all his money. “But I learned a really valuable lesson, which was: marketing is extremely important for any business,” he said.
After facing failure, Mr Guo said that he became “obsessed” with learning about running a business and making it his career. However, despite being fixated on starting businesses as a teen, he didn’t take college as seriously.
Mr Guo studied business economics at the University of California, Irvine, where he was more focused on my entrepreneurial endeavours, because of which he scored a 2.7 GPA. However, he said that his poor grades motivated him to become a successful entrepreneur. “Because my GPA was so bad, I knew that getting a high-paying job was probably unlikely, and that pushed me to work even harder on my own businesses,” he told the outlet.
Today, Mr Guo works with a team, managing 19 employees across the US, Philippines, UK and India. He typically works from Monday to Friday six hours a day, or 30 hours a week, and spends roughly 40% of his time doing market research on his clients and the products and services they sell, the entrepreneur told the outlet. His string of successful businesses includes, an online retailer that sells dates (the fruit) to customers, a K-pop-inspired merch store and a company that sells premium car covers for people with luxury cars.
The 24-year-old revealed that after he graduated from college, he travelled to roughly 15 countries, following which he decided to shift to Bali for its affordability, natural beauty and sense of community. He splits a four-bedroom villa with two friends and fellow entrepreneurs.
“I’m definitely much happier in Bali because of how great the lifestyle is,” he said, adding that he is blown away by the quality of life he can have at a “fraction of the cost” of what it would be back in California. “I get to spend tons of time with my friends. I also get to spend a lot of time doing the activities that I like, such as surfing,” he said.
“Bali isn’t just a home. It’s the freedom to live, work and thrive on my own terms,” he added.