The hotel business to an outsider is very easy.Though it’s lucrative. It is very difficult to start, but today is your lucky day. As I plan to show you the tips that will help you start your hotel business, and find your footing in the hospitality industry, during the course of this article.
Starting an hotel is hard work, and succeeding in the face of mass competition and unfavourable conditions is another level in the game. The first thing you will need is a good hotel name idea. Once you have a good name, there are many other things you need to think about.
Here are the tips you need to keep in mind, to make starting your hotel business, a success;
(1) Have A Plan: proper planning they say, prevents poor performance. Without a plan, you are sure to fail in the hotel business. You need to formulate a plan involving;
(a) The kind of hotel you want to start; is it a Luxury, First class, Standard or Economy Hotel?
(b) Services to Offer: you have to outline services to provide. Are you starting a Bed and Breakfast or something more luxurious. Are you going to offer services such as Laundry, Restaurant, Bar, Gym, Swimming Pool?
(c) Cost of Operation: you need to have an approximate of how much you need to spend, how much you need to run it daily, and how much you plan on making daily, even if you have an unlimited capital.
(d) Location: your location determines the market you will get, so you have to plan where to locate your hotel business.Your location will have a lot to do with where target audience love to stay, the area your competitors are located.
(e) Management: having a good team to manage your business is crucial. A good hotel Business will fail without proper management. You need to plan out, who will be in charge of each area. Hire people to work in areas of their expertise.
(2) Research: You can’t succeed in a field you know next to nothing about. You have to learn about a hotel business. Research about your competitors, learn what they are doing right that you can incorporate, learn what they are doing right and wrong and take advantage of the knowledge to help you plan your strategies.
(3) Know Your Customers: knowing what your customers need is important. What are their favourite activities, favourite food, the kind of facilities they like? You need to know what exactly they want, so you can cater for them better. To make profit, you need to sell to your customers what they want.
(4) Don’t Build From The Scratch: don’t try building a hotel building from the scratch as a newbie in the hotel business, the cost of renting a building to useis relatively low to building one. Remember you are just starting out, you need to build your brand, not your building.
(5) Have A UVP: you are probably wondering what I mean, right ? UVP stands for Unique Value Proposition. How can you win your competitor’s clients, if you don’t stand out from the existing hotels in your local market. UVP tell your prospective clients why they should choose your hotel with the least amount of words possible.
For Example: Our Rooms Bring You Free Wi-Fi and movies. S Starting your hotel business, is all about having a plan, making the plan work, marketing your hotel, ensuring customer satisfaction, then you sit back and watch as customers throng into your lobby( Never sit back, the game is changing everyday, becoming better and more better at what you do).
