When thinking about the creation and implementation of a hotel process, it is necessary to think about the costs and conditions of service that it demands in this industry. It is then when the possibility of having a consultant specialized in the subject should be evaluated.
By Valterina Gherardi Torres*
This time I will share a real life story with which surely many people will identify.
The protagonist of this story is called Luis; he and his family owned a house, and they also had money saved, they did not know what to do with the house or what to invest the money in.
Luis, for a long time, read and listened on the radio, television, magazines and newspapers about the increase in tourism in the country, about the construction of new hotels and remodeling of some existing ones.
One fine day, Luis gathered his family members, told them the news about the tourists, the new hotels, and his idea of turning the property they had into a nice hotel. The family told him that none of them knew anything about the subject, and they asked him how he planned to manage it, to which Luis replied that he had traveled a lot, had been staying in different hotels and from what he had observed and experienced, he thought it would be easy, that he could do it himself. Luis told them "how difficult it can be to decorate, to hire a receptionist, a person to clean? and ready... we put the hotel in motion."
Hands on
And so it was, it was time to decorate the house and turn it into a hotel. Luis hired the painter, whose data he obtained from the telephone book, and who would be in charge of providing the painting, as specified in the budget. In the process, Luis realized that the color tone of one jar of paint was different from the other and so on, leaving the walls with different shades. The painter changed the painting, had to repaint the walls, this meant a delay and they would no longer open the hotel on the date they had planned.
Then, Luis decided to look for a carpenter in order to manufacture the furniture according to his own designs and to the measure of the spaces they would occupy. The carpenter manufactured the furniture and delivered it a week after the agreed date, and to make matters worse the furniture did not fit in the determined places, some were relocated, and others were redone, and this meant, in addition to loss of time, an additional expense, since the measures had been taken by Luis and not the carpenter.
It was time to hire the staff, Luis decided to publish in the newspaper a notice requesting a receptionist, the day after it was published, a large number of people formed a long line outside the hotel waiting to be interviewed. Luis didn't have time to meet with everyone, yet he hired a person. Over time he realized that the occupancy of the hotel was not proportional to the income. He observed that there were guests at the hotel but they were not registered, he noticed that the receptionist did not report the money.
In addition Luis hired a person to take care of the cleaning of the rooms, this person was not clear about the cleaning procedures or knew how to use the products, also took too long to clean the rooms. Luis when hiring this person only told him what places to clean, without specifying procedures or quantities of products to use.
The crisis
Luis could no longer do so, the desperation and pressure of the family did not let him live quietly, he felt that he could no longer manage the hotel, he made the decision to reunite with his family and expressed his concern, since he realized that managing a hotel without the basic knowledge was not so easy. After a long meeting, Luis and his family decided to hire the services of a hotel and restaurant consulting company.
This advisory company helped them organize the company, evaluate the staff, determine the functions, processes and procedures of the different areas and jobs and use the appropriate formats to establish controls.
Luis realized that if he had hired the services of a hotel and restaurant consulting company from the beginning, he would have saved time, money, and avoided many bad times.
Professional help does not hurt
The consulting companies will help to develop and implement the hotel or restaurant project considering:
* Finance: Consider the budget, available capital, need to apply for a bank loan.
* Planning: Develop the business plan, determining weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, competition.
* Design: According to the land or the existing establishment, guided by the plans and legal requirements.
* Construction and remodeling: Supervise the work, suppliers, enforce the times, quality and requirements of law.
* Administration: Supervise the operational and administrative areas, helping the owners to relax.
* Recruitment and selection of personnel: Interview and select the suitable personnel who will perform in the different positions of the hotel.
* Manuals and standards: Evaluate, elaborate, standardize and implement the functions, processes, procedures and formats in the different areas.
* Training: Prepare, constantly, the administrative and operational staff in the different processes, procedures and customer service.
* Audits: Constantly evaluate the performance of administrative and operational staff, compliance with standards, processes and procedures.
* Bottlenecks: Detect critical control points, deficiencies in the service, processes and procedures, in order to modify them in such a way that they are more effective and efficient.
Let's relax and let hotel and restaurant consulting companies help us turn our dream into reality.
Asking for the support of a specialist is a smart decision! It's not an expense, it's an investment.
If we want our hotel or restaurant to be successful from the beginning, then, let's not waste time and make the decision, let's investigate, search and have the support of specialized consultants who will guide us step by step in our life within the hotel and restaurant industry developing a business plan, advising us on the design, construction, remodeling, property management, training of administrative and operational personnel, standardize processes and procedures according to law.
* General Manager of MVH SAC Hotel Solutions. [email protected]
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