Starting a hospitality business may seem rocket science, but it doesn’t have to be. Here, you will find amazing steps to run a hotel business successfully.
Here is a practical guide to help you set up a successful hotel business.
Step 1: Chalk Out a Detailed Plan
The first step in setting up a hotel business is to plan your goals. Business planning is so important and you can’t afford to miss this step.
What are you looking to achieve? What do you want to achieve? What’s your vision for the future of the business?
Once you know these things, it’s time to start writing down all the steps that will take you there. You may need to consult with others for help and advice, but don’t be afraid to brainstorm as many ideas as possible.
If you have already worked in the hospitality industry, it will likely be easier for you than someone who has never worked in this field. But even if this is not the case, it’s still possible for anyone to set up their own hotel business if they have enough drive and determination. Just remember: nobody said starting a business would be easy!
Step 2: Set up your website
The next thing that should happen is to create a website for your hotel. This can be done through Google Sites or any other free hosting service you choose.
Feel free and creative to look for hotel website designs and templates that will help you to build a user-friendly website.
Once set up, this site will be used as an online brochure for all prospective guests interested in booking a room at your establishment.
It’s also essential to make sure that this site is mobile-friendly to be accessed on any device.
This way, potential customers can quickly see photos of the space (and even see if they’re interested in staying there), read about the amenities offered by your establishment, and learn more about what makes it such a great place to stay while visiting the town.
Step 3: Pick The Right Hotel Identity
The next step is to pick the right hotel identity. This will be the name of your company and should reflect your brand. Your brand identity should also be memorable and easy to pronounce.
For example, if you are opening a new hotel in Tampa, you might choose the name ‘London Hotel’ or ‘London Hotels’ or even something more creative like ‘”Tampa Hotels Limited.’
You can also choose words that describe your business, such as ‘the best boutique hotel in town,’ ‘the most stylish boutique hotel in town,’ or even ‘the best boutique hotel in town.’
It’s up to you to find a name that represents your brand and is memorable enough for guests to remember when they arrive at your hotel.
Step 4: Pick The Right Place For Your Hotel
If you’re going to open a hotel, you need to pick the right location.
You can’t just go anywhere. You have to ensure that your hotel will be profitable and sustainable long term.
Here Are Some Things to Consider When Looking for a Location:
Location: Will your guests want to stay in your area? This is one of the biggest factors in deciding where to build a hotel.
Accessibility: Is getting there easy? If not, it might not make sense to you or your guests.
Proximity To Amenities: Do you have restaurants and shops nearby? If not, you’ll need to consider how close they are before deciding if they’re an amenity worth having.
Step 5: Decide Whether To Buy Or Build a Hotel
In the past, hotels were built from the ground up. But today, hoteliers are increasingly buying existing hotels.
The advantages of building a hotel are obvious: You can capitalize on a business model that others aren’t interested in. The disadvantages are compounded by the fact that it takes longer to build a hotel than to buy one or lease one.
Buying an existing hotel is also more expensive than leasing or building yours from the ground up, but as with any business, there may be other ways to offset costs.
Step 6: Secure Funding
When you first start a hotel business, you will want to get your money as early as possible to build your business. You might be able to get a loan from a bank or credit union, but this is not always an option for everyone.
In this case, you may have to look into raising funds in other ways.
One way is by having your family and friends invest in your business. This can be a great way to raise money and gain some great advice from people who know what they are doing.
However, if you plan on asking them for money, they must understand the risks involved in investing in an unproven business like yours. This means that they should understand why there is growth potential and what could go wrong if things don’t work out as planned.
Another alternative is getting investors more willing to take risks with their money than your family and friends may be. One way to find these investors is by looking online for websites like AngelList or Crowdfunder, where angel investors or crowdfunding platforms accept applications for new startups daily.
Step 7: Find The Right Service Providers
The hotel industry is complex, and it’s impossible to do everything yourself. This is where you’ll want to find the right service providers.
These are the people who will help you manage your hotel business. They can be your general contractors or specialists in specific areas of operation like food or guest services.
You will definitely save a lot of time and effort if you outsource your laundry service.
You can now focus on other things that matter more to you, such as running your business, making money, and growing your business.
When looking for a hotel laundry service, it is important to find one that suits all your needs. You need one that offers fast pickup and delivery, affordable rates, quality services, and great customer service.
Step 8: Hire & Train The Staff
The hotel staff is the backbone of your business. You will need to hire and train them, and you will also have to train them on how to run the business. This is a big task, but it is necessary if you want your business to succeed.
You should have a team of at least five people working for you at all times, including the accountant and sales staff. Of course, you will also need someone in charge of training new employees and people who are leaving after completing their shifts.
In addition to hiring and training staff, you will also need to pay them properly so that they can afford to live in your area and support themselves while they work for you.
They mustn’t live too far away from where they work because this could cause problems with transportation costs and other issues which could be detrimental to the success of your business over time.
Step 9: Create a Hotel Marketing Plan
The hotel marketing plan is a critical component of your business. It will help you understand how to improve your hotel’s standing in the eyes of potential customers and show how you can use marketing to drive bookings.
A Marketing Plan Should Include:
- The budget for advertising and promotions.
- The length of time for which you want the campaign to run.
- A list of all media outlets and frequency (e.g., print, digital) will be used in the campaign.
- How often do you send out press releases or other forms of communication with details about upcoming events at your hotel?
- How often you’ll provide press releases or other forms of communications with details about upcoming events at your hotel
Step 10: Open Your Hotel
Once you have your hotel, it’s time to open the doors and start welcoming travellers.
If you’ve done everything right, you’ll have a great first impression of your business and all the steps ahead.
Step 11: Exploit social media
It is without a doubt that there are benefits of social media for business is a force to reckon with when it comes to promotion in the modern age.
One of its main perks is that it is cheap but sometimes you can even get away with social media promotion without spending a dime.
You can get your hotel business into the limelight by using social media to spread the word about your institution organically.
You should engage the services of a professional photographer, videographer, or/and social media manager.
However, you should also engage your satisfied customers to help you with your social media campaign. Encourage your customers to post their stay at the hotel on their media page while tagging your hotel.
This mode of promotion makes a lasting impact on members of the public. It might even be more effective than your official promotion.
You can also offer games or hashtags that would encourage them to post pictures of their stay on social media. This ensures their friends are engaged and the tags lead back to our business.
Step 12 : Develop a marketing plan
While marketing is a very key part of every success story of all businesses, many businesses fail to take full advantage of marketing.
Many fail to promote their business as soon as they started making sales. Marketing is not only a tool when you want to start a business, but also crucial to your growth after your business is established.
Developing a sound marketing plan is the way to communicate your value to your potential customers. There are many creative ways you can market your hotel business., one of which is discussed above (using social media).
Other ways include print media, hotel magazines, radio and tv adverts, and partnering with travel agencies.
Step 13: Keep ahead of the trends in the industry
It’s not a brainer that you need to be up to date with the current industry trend to succeed in any business.
The truth is that you lose value as soon as you become a little bit outdated.
Once you are outdated (even in the tiniest bit), you lose some customers which is not good for business. also, you cannot get ahead if you do not pay rapt attention to the trends in the hospital industry.
Keeping abreast of the current trend is the surefire way to be successful in the hospitality industry.
You can do this by following hospitality news and hotel blogs. Do not be conservative when it comes to trying new things that are making waves in the hospitality business.
Also Read : 9 Future Marketing Trends You Can’t Ignore.
Step 14: Associate with businesses in your locality
The hotel business is never a ‘standalone’ business. it cannot flourish alone rather it needs the help of businesses around to thrive.
Your customers wouldn’t come to your premises unless they have a thing or two to do around.
Customers on vacation think about their vacations as a whole package, so the more you can add positively to their experience, the better your hotel would be rated.
And the best way to get this done is by associating with the business. you need to have an accord with these partners so that they can refer your hotel business to their customers.
You can also hand out markers, special offers, and other freebies that will be beneficial to your customers, your partners, and your business. Such partners include restaurants, parks, event centers, stadiums, libraries, museums, and other attraction centers.
Step 15: Build a great team
The hotel business is not all about fancy buildings and great locations alone. The quality of service your customers receive is a great measuring marker.
Quality of service is a major deciding factor for many individuals when they are choosing a hotel to stay in or refer to a friend.
The quality of service is directly related to the quality of employees you have. You need a great set of employees to render great service to your customers. you must be very thorough when it comes to recruitment and ensure you only recruit the best of the best.
You should train your employees to ensure they understand the value of your business.
It is also important to be intentional about the key/ contingent workers you should have on your team. Lastly, ensure you appreciate and recognize your employees by rewarding them appropriately.
Final Piece of Advice
There you have it, your comprehensive guide to starting your own hotel business.
You might never be able to build five-star hotels that rival some established brands’ success, but you can certainly start building a good business for yourself based on your values and hard work.
Remember the basics of running a profitable business, treat others fairly and respect your employees – and you will be well on your way to success.
