What does it really take to run a €300 million family business from one street in Malta? Simon De Cesare is the CEO of Eden Leisure Group, the De Cesare family business behind the InterContinental Malta, Eden Cinemas, Casino Malta, The Eden and 89.7 Bay. Partners: https://bestgymsmalta.com/ https://alliance.mt/ His grandparents opened the Eden Rock hotel in Sliema in 1967. In 1980 his father and uncle moved into St George's Bay, when it was a valley with a couple of houses, and opened Styx, the nightclub Paceville grew up around. Today the group has three hotels, well over a thousand staff, €318 million in assets and €56.1 million in revenue last year. Simon joined in 2000 and has been CEO since 2018. In this conversation he explains how the business really works. Why his real competitor is the €10 in your pocket, not another cinema. How you open a casino you don't understand, and why its board meetings are about keeping the wrong money out. Exactly how cinemas make money, when a €9.90 ticket loses 18% to VAT and up to 60% to the film distributor. Why you get paid before you do the work, why you never surprise your bank, and why the wave of new hotel beds coming to Malta terrifies him. He also takes you through the businesses they closed. Malta's only ice rink, his first job. Bay Mobile, a phone network sunk by a partner's technology. Why a new business gets about two years, who decides when to stop, and how it feels when the room tells you it is not working. What he feels once it is decided is relief. But the moment that stays with you has nothing to do with money. While he was pushing the voco hotel and The Eden over the line, his kids told him he looked grey, that he sighed all the time, that he was no fun to be around. The tests he did at 50 scared him into changing his life. A 25 item bucket list followed: Kilimanjaro, 28 years after his family failed to reach the top together, freediving to 33 metres, and Mont Blanc next. And when Luca asks what he wishes someone had told him as a teenager, his answer takes one line: that there were other options than going into the family business. Now his son is facing the same choice. Everyone sees what a family business builds. Almost nobody talks about what it takes out of the person running it. ______________________ 00:00 - 03:20 - From One Hotel To A Whole Street 03:20 - 05:47 - Your Real Competitor Is The €10 In Your Pocket 05:47 - 08:54 - How To Find A Gap In The Market 08:54 - 09:48 - Why Malta Is A Copycat Country 09:48 - 11:30 - The Ice Rink That Failed 11:30 - 15:03 - New Laws, A Casino & Anti Money Laundering 15:03 - 17:50 - How To Test A Business Idea Before You Invest 17:50 - 21:57 - Why Arcades Want Your Card, Not Your Cash 21:57 - 23:04 - Where The Best Business Ideas Come From 23:04 - 27:02 - The Two Year Rule & Closing Bay Mobile 27:02 - 29:57 - Who Decides To Close A Business 29:57 - 31:36 - Calculated Risk: Know Your Numbers 31:36 - 34:12 - Too Many Hotels In Malta? 34:12 - 38:19 - AI, Jobs & What He Tells His Son 38:19 - 40:52 - Get Paid Before You Do The Work 40:52 - 45:33 - How Do Cinemas Make Money? 45:33 - 48:04 - Banks, Debt & Surviving COVID 48:04 - 49:33 - €56 Million Revenue: Where It Comes From 49:33 - 51:29 - The Business That Kept Him Up At Night 51:29 - 55:34 - Stress, Health & A Wake Up Call At 50 55:34 - 1:00:20 - Kilimanjaro, Freediving & A 25 Item Bucket List 1:00:20 - 1:01:25 - Work Life Balance Has To Include You 1:01:25 - 1:03:12 - Taking Over The Family Business: Was It A Choice? 1:03:12 - 1:04:54 - Regret, Teaching & Giving Back 1:04:54 - 1:06:11 - Journal Question: The Apology He Never Gave 1:06:11 - end - Outro ______________________ Subscribe and follow Champions Connect: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChampionsConnectYT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/championsconnect_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@championsconnect_ Site: teamchampionsconnect.com #FamilyBusiness #MaltaPodcast #ChampionsConnect
