Top 10 Mistakes When Opening A Hotel

Autor teksta:
Klaus R. Rauter, Managing DirectorMai-BS (Thailand)
Hotel Consultant and Training Company

I am writing down these “top 10” mistakes in a hope that this list might help some developers and owners.
As we are hotel consultants, we sincerely believe that a consultant must be the most honest, transparent, straight-forward and therefore most trustworthy person close to the owners and investors.
A consultant’s intention should NEVER be to keep hotel owners and investors ‘in the dark’! A true consultant must educate advice and provide samples of good and bad practices. A hotel consultant must also be a good teacher – not a lecturer! We must guide and use all channels of communication to pass on knowledge to others. We choose to write articles in a hope that it helps and inspires others.
Mistake No 1 - Vision and Mission.
Honestly, it is hard to understand that so many hotels and resorts open their doors without a proper written vision and mission statement. OR, the vision and mission is most of the times not clear at all, or only clear in the mind of the owners. On top of that, nobody communicates the vision and mission to managers and employees. How the employees will know what is expected and understand the ‘big picture’? As mentioned in one of our earlier articles, this silly mistake ensures that the business ends up following the habits of senior managers and owners and not the organizational vision and mission.
Mistake No 2 - Sales and Marketing? – No need now!
“I have many friends and they are well connected. I and my relatives are well known people who are VIP. We will all ensure that we will have many guests using the hotel and our facilities!”
Yes, don’t be shocked! - The above sayings are what I did hear from several hotel owners. Those VIP hotel guests did come, yes, but they never paid their bills as they almost always expected to be invited since they are good friend of the owners. The result of non-existing Sales and Marketing is very costly.
Mistake No 3 - Hiring of Departmental Managers.
Surprisingly, some new hotels and resorts do hire their Hotel Manager and Department Head Team just weeks before the opening and strongly believe that this will be fine. After all, they are manager, expensive and should be able to get it right in a few days…… some owners think!
To my knowledge and from my experience, this is mostly done to save some hotel pre-opening costs as the needed money has been already lost during the construction process because of bad planning and ongoing adjustments to drawings and the building.
At one occasion I have seen that the whole management team for a 150 room hotel here in Thailand to be hired just 2 weeks before the opening. The owner kindly fired the team after 2 months as in his opinion, the team was not able to implement proper systems and service standards fast enough. Some of the best employees did resign as well, as the pressure working without a proper pre-opening was too much. I say it again, if you don’t work professionally, your most capable employees will leave you first!
Mistake No 4 - Purchasing.
The purchasing process for equipment, utensils and amenities is all done by the owner without any hotel manager and departmental manager comments, input and specifications. Once the manager and departmental leaders joined the hotel for the opening, there was no budget left for any additional purchases, as most of what owners choose are to serve their own preference and style, but not functional or practical to the workers and guest use. So, the hotel or resort did end up with equipment and utensils which are not always usable, have wrong specifications, over-specs or under-specs.
Again, the owners or senior managers never stopped wondering why professional people left the company and why the quality of products and service are not up to any standard!
Mistake No 5 - Employee Restaurant and Facilities
Strangely, employees, employee facilities and welfare seem to be the least and least important thing on owners and developers minds. I know one hotel where the owner had even meetings with the employees, right after the opening, lecturing them how good the hotel will be, explaining how professional and generous the owners are as they did buy only the best qualities and products for the guests.
He said he is not stingy and use only the best and most comfortable furniture, amenities, cars, etc. The owner also asked staff to work harder and be more committed to have a good hotel forgetting that all employees worked 2 months without a day off! The employees listen and wondered what he is talking about while sitting on a dusty concrete floor inside a badly ventilated and non-air conditioned concrete shell of room, eating from a Styrofoam food box with plastic cutlery and without any proper uniforms and only one rest-room for 100 employees. I am sure I don’t have to write down here what those employees did think and even say to each other about this owner after the meeting was over.
Mistake No 6 - Training
So far I found only 3 independent hotel owners and investors who actually provided proper facilities and time to have proper staff orientations and training for employees before opening the business.
Although EVERY single hotel developer said in the beginning that they fully agree and fully understand that training is very important and that they fully understand that people need to be trained before opening the hotel, the fact is that only the true professional owners did what they say.
Most of the time, employees did not go through any orientation program or basic training. And then, on the first day of operation the managers and owners complain the staff directly that they know nothing about the hotel, that they don’t follow hotel systems, that they don’t provide good service etc.
Mistake No 7 - Human Resource
In my humble opinion, any hotel that opening / running their property without a proper HR person, HR manual and HR systems are operationally committing suicide!!!
I have seen businesses where the majority of staff has been hired without having a written employee benefit list, written rules and regulations, written basic systems etc. Employees have been verbally promised different benefits by different managers etc. The result was simply a disaster!
And then, once the management started to implement some standardized benefits for each level of employees and some standard rules and regulations, the Human Resource nightmares become did become reality as many employees complained that they only joined this particular hotel because of benefits verbally promised by managers. Not everyone promised the same…..
Mistake No 8 - Back of the House Design
Seldom is this area given good attention. In most cases, back-of –house areas have been assigned based on vacant areas. I wonder so much why proper storage, proper offices with strategic locations, proper restrooms, proper walkways etc. are almost never important to developers and owners. It is hard, and sometimes almost impossible to explain how the hospitality industry could make money from providing a good and smooth service and for this, within a rough back-of-house workflow. It is not only the waiter and the front office staff who provide a service! EVERYONE in the hotel provides a service and ALL Departments and employees work somehow inter-connected.
Mistake No 9 - Back of the House areas
Why some people believe that that staff dormitories not need proper restrooms, showers and a common room?
Why some people believe that employees don’t need proper food and variety of food?
Why some people believe that employees will not have cars and bikes which need to be parked somewhere?
Why some people believe that a proper Training Room is a waste of space?
Why some people believe that employees don’t need comfort?
Mistake No 10 - Good managers and staff are easy to find!!!!!
Those are some nice actual sentences from owners and developers to think about:
Spa Therapist not need training, just hire some sexy girls and let them massage the guests.
My gardener at my home can make up Bed’s; please consider him as Housekeeping Manager.
Don’t worry about Accouting and Purchasing; I have someone who works for me since 10 years and he is very good with figures. Right now he controls all my drivers in the transportation company.
I found a good Human Resource Manager for our 5-star hotel. She is the wife of the local police Chief. Nobody will dare to complain.
My Son will be the General Manager; he just graduated and is very knowledgeable!
Just go to the local market, there are 100 of local people who would be happy to work at our hotel even below minimum wage!
Mistake No 11 - Hotel Opening Support from owners or developers other companies.
Yes, many business owners forgot to focus on some if not all of the above mentioned points and now they are very nervous and scared about the operation of the hotel. So, they ask some family members and employees from other owned businesses which are most of the time not from the hospitality and service industry, to come and help to do the following:
- Sales and Marketing,
- Purchasing,
- Finance Department,
- Human Resources,
“I, my family and staff from the factory only like to help! You should not complaint, be happy about it!”
I am sure you noticed that I did end up with a “TOP 11” and not “TOP 10” list! Who cares! J
As a matter of fact, it should be a “TOP 100” list as there are so many areas and subjects to discuss about.

Kako napraviti biznis plan za hotel?

Autor teksta:
Thomas Pavlović
Savath Hospitality Management

Izrada biznis plana nije svojstvena samo sektoru hotelijerstva već i drugim privrednim
granama i predstavlja prvi konkretan korak ka realizaciji projekata ili pak mogući
demanti prvobitne ideje. Početna tačka za izradu biznis plana može biti odabir
adekvatne lokacije, postojanje iste ili samo ideja o određenom
pozicioniranju hotela.

Kroz biznis plan mogu se pružiti kompletne informacije budućem klijentu, investitoru ili kreditoru/poslovnoj banci o planiranom vidu, obimu i rezultatima budućeg poslovanja.

Preporuka je da biznis plan izradi konsultantska kuća specijalizovana za sektor hotelijerstva.

Izrada biznis plana podrazumeva detaljnu analizu različitih elemenata, od geografskih, prirodnih, istorijskih, socijalnih, demografskih do ekonomskih, turističkih i svih drugih karakteristika jednog grada, područja, države.

Biznis plan podrazumeva i analizu svih segmenata koji se odnose na turističku ponudu, infrastrukturu, kao i projekciju posećenosti, privredni i turistički razvoj i potencijale, kretanje ponude i cenu konkurencije, dakle sve one informacije koje mogu direktno ili indirektno uticati na poslovanje, poziciju, izgradnju i funkcionisanje predmetnog hotela.

Upravo zbog tih razloga svaki biznis plan ima makro i mikro analizu: opšta i privredna kretanja u zemlji, standard stanovništva, perspektive, glavne karakteristike grada ili područja (snaga,potencijal). Ukratko, biznis plan podrazumeva kompletnu i detaljnu analizu tržišta.

Za biznis plan veoma su važna dva elementa. Prvi je analiza konkurencije, koja se takođe sprovodi na mikro i makro nivou. Tako bi na konkretnom primeru, makro nivo predstavljao grad Beograd, a mikro nivo Novi Beograd.

Drugi element je analiza potencijalne klijentele koja će biti zainteresovana za usluge budućeg hotela.

Jedan od važnih delova biznis plana jesu podaci o zemljištu: veličina, lokacija, kapacitet izgradivog prostora...

Svi pomenuti elementi, konačno, određuju tip hotela koji će biti izgrađen.

Kada smo došli do ideje koji tip hotela želimo i možemo da izgradimo, počinje ključna faza u izradi biznis plana, a to je finansijska analiza.

Finansijska analiza

Finansijska analiza počinje detaljnom analizom tržišta, koja bi trebalo da sadrži što više elemenata, kako postojećih tako i onih za koje se očekuje da će u budućnosti doprineti poslovanju hotela.

Primera radi, za jedan hotel na Novom Beogradu, činjenica da će u neposrednoj blizini biti izgrađeni drugi sadržaji (sportski, poslovni, zabavni) i te kako ima veliki značaj i utiče na dugoročnu
validnost biznis plana. Celokupna infrastruktura, povezanost sa ključnim tačkama u gradu (centar, aerodrom, itd.), takođe ima veliki uticaj na poslovanje hotela.

U ovoj fazi može da bude realizovan i poseban investicioni dokument, Investment memorandum, koji je koncizniji od biznis plana.

Uobičajeno je da se finansijska analiza radi na period do pet godina zbog prirode razvoja hotelskog poslovanja. Iako postoje neki zahtevi da se finansijska analiza radi na period duži od pet
godina, konsultantske kuće to nerado čine, pošto je teško predvideti sve faktore koji mogu uticati na poslovanje hotela.

U finansijskoj analizi projektuje se, pre svega, promet, pojedinačno za svaki profitni segment poslovanja hotela. To znači da se pravi kalkulacija kako će poslovati određeni hotelski resori i koliki će promet biti ostvaren u segmentu soba, F&B (Food&Beverage), wellness i spa sektoru...

Finansijska analiza, dalje, sadrži projekcije personalnih troškova, projekcije energetskih, robnih i opštih troškova, kao i projekciju GOP-a (gross operating profit). GOP ukazuje na mogućnosti hotela za obim finansiranja, što se zatim analizira u relaciji svih troškova i modusa finansiranja.

Optimum GOP zavisi od vrste hotela, finansiranja i drugog, ali u hotelskoj praksi GOP od
30 i više procenata ukazuje na visoku profitabilnost hotela.

Biznis plan pokazuje i moguću sumu neophodnu za izgradnju hotela, pružajući odgovor na pitanje da li je odluka o izgradnji željenog tipa hotela isplativa, ili su potrebne određene korekcije (promena kategorije – npr. na economy class– ili neke druge promene koje bi mogle da dovedu u pozitivnu relaciju investiciju i realne mogućnosti budućeg hotela. Ukoliko je nemoguće pronaći
adekvatnu isplativu relaciju, projekat je neodrživ.

Banke

Biznis plan je u današnje vreme postao neophodan element svake investicije, pogotovo velikih, poput izgradnje hotela. Pored toga što definiše ideju i pruža detaljnu analizu svih relevantnih
elemenata, biznis plan je neophodan i da bi se pronašli investitori, to jest sredstva
za njegovu realizaciju.

Internacionalne banke, kao glavni izvori sredstava, zahtevaju detaljan, stručan i argumentovan
biznis plan. To je jedan od glavnih dokumenata na osnovu kojih se izlazi pred investitora. Pri tom se traži jasna projekcija i finansijska konstrukcija, i to na mesečnom nivou. Biznis plan daje ključ i odgovor na pitanje da li se studija za izgradnju hotela poklapa sa realizacijom poslovanja.

Agencije i konsultantske kuće

Svaki posao treba prepustiti profesionalcima, a kada je biznis plan u pitanju, izradu treba prepustiti konsultantskim kućama specijalizovanim za hotele ili drugim domaćim i inostranim konsultantskim
kućama. U slučaju izrade validnog biznis plana, njihova pomoć je neophodna i višestruko isplativa.

Ono po čemu se konsultantske kuće razlikuju, jeste sam način rada i podrške koju pružaju svojim klijentima. Nije dovoljno izraditi biznis plan, bez dalje podrške prilikom pregovora sa bankama, gde su od ključne važnosti stručna objašnjenja i odgovori na mnogobrojna pitanja.

Dalji elementi izvršene finansijske analize su idejna rešenja (nakon toga sledi projekat) sa lokacijom, spoljnim izgledom, osnovnim faktima (lična karta hotela).

Bitan element biznis plana jeste SWOT analiza (prednosti i mane projekta: Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

Nadamo se da smo uspeli da vam približimo važnost izrade kvalitetnog biznis plana. Biznis plan potvrđuje ili demantuje vašu početnu ideju o izgradnji određenog tipa hotela. Dobar biznis plan prvi je temelj vaše buduće investicije. Ukoliko imate stručan biznis plan, sve naredne faze – idejni projekti, banke, pregovori sa brendovima – imaju veće šanse za uspeh.

Biznis plan čine sve informacije koje mogu direktno ili indirektno uticati na
poslovanje, poziciju, izgradnju i funkcionisanje hotela.