Rowville’s Adam McAsey on how he built a hospitality empire in Bali
This Melbourne businessman had his start at his dad’s Rowville restaurant. Now he’s built his own hospitality empire in Bali, laying claim to some of the biggest venues on the holiday island.
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Melbourne-born entrepreneur Adam McAsey has always been around food and wine.
He grew up in Rowville in Melbourne’s south east, working at his dad’s steak and seafood restaurant Cocomos on Stud Rd.
Today Adam owns one of Bali’s biggest hospitality groups 8 Degree Projects, behind Aussie centric Seminyak hangouts — Sisterfields, Bikini, Bo$$man and Sibling.
And he isn’t slowing down, with more projects on the go.
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The 33-year-old didn’t know what to do with his life after school, so he invested in property in Bali.
“Rather than investing in a house and land package in Pakenham, I hedged my bets and leased some land in Bali,” he says.
“Looking back I was quite naive at 24 … I was running by the seat of my pants really.” Adam continued to build his property portfolio until he saw an opportunity to start his own business.
“The food and beverage industry was quite lucrative in Bali at the time,” he says.
“So I stepped back into hospitality, where my skill set was.”
But doing business on the island wasn’t an easy slog.
“It’s a tough market, transient market and a different market and that makes it tough to understand,” he says.
“The workforce is so different, the labour rules are different, then there’s the culture.”
Adam says the cultural differences were the biggest things to get his head around, more so than the language barrier.
“We have 450 staff across our books from four different religions and they have cultural days which are well respected throughout the years,” he says.
Adam’s first Bali business success was with Aussie-style cafe Sisterfields, which opened in Seminyak in 2014.
The year after, Bo$$man opened — a grab and go burger joint —, and in 2017 a more refined dining experience Bikini, with head chef Jethro Vincent at the helm.
In between running his three businesses, Adam launched Expat Coffee Roasters, a wholesale coffee roaster and brew bar.
He later sold the business and focused his attention on Sibling — another grab and go concept promising great coffee and sandwiches, which opened last year.
Now he’s putting his energy into other projects, including a gelato bar and pan-Asian restaurant.
“We’re working on Freckle, a gelato bar that’ll open across the road from Bikini,” he says.
“Then there’s Pink Lao, a pan-Asian restaurant in Petitenget between Potato Head and W Hotel.”
There’s also a monster project on the cards, made up of several other businesses that’s earmarked for Canggu. For now, that’s top secret.
As for Adam’s biggest piece of advice for the aspiring entrepreneurs? Commit to the sea change.
“Nobody plans to move over here and you have to do that,” he says.
“It’s no different to opening in Australia — it’s a tough industry and that doesn’t change being over here.
“Some say it’s easier and cheaper, but it’s not like that anymore,”
“You have to pay rent upfront, produce is not cheap, building isn’t cheap. Even if it was, you’d need to be here to run your own business,” he says.
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