“To Airbnb, or Not to Airbnb, That is the Question”

The role of a hotel owner can be likened to that of one of those plate spinners you may have seen years ago on children’s TV; 15-20 delicate objects all requiring your attention or else risking complete and utter disaster, and the whole trick ruined.

The difference is, for the owner, this undivided attention doesn’t get to stop when the show is over. It’s required 24 hours a day. 365 days a year. Until the end of time! Or at least until you retire, sell-up, go bust, or meet your maker.

Until then, there will always be something to attend to, and you will always be the one responsible for attending to it!

Hotels have been described as ‘real estate with a lot of parts masquerading as a business’. Consequently, finding the best way to optimize this ‘business’ doesn’t require addressing just one issue, as may be the solution in other industries, but countless, and often all at the same time! 

Decor, customer service, cleanliness, deliveries, operations, marketing, food and beverages, staffing, entertainment, check-in, comfort levels, reservations, payments, etc. etc. The list is endless, and can be exhausting to deal with.

As an industry boasting an impressive 80% of failure within 5 years of operation, understanding the mentality of a person willing to undertake such a risky endeavour would require a degree in psychology at very least.

Why then do so many people fall for this nightmarish scenario?! Well, losers will always find a way to lose, and winners will always find a way to win. And who has ever considered themselves as a loser? 

As Western influence has swept the globe over the past 50+ years, being gifted the opportunity to create wealth for you and your family can be considered the contemporary American dream.

Families coming together to purchase a small property are already part way towards realising this dream, so as a business venture, the hotelier is never more than a few steps out of reach for a large portion of the population. That, as they say, is the hook! 

Little did anybody know when they were dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, just how much of their life they were committing to this gateway to potential financial freedom....or ruin. 

Step 1, aka finding the market need, is quickly pushed to one side. Your ego tells you and everybody else that the location needs what you’ve got. “Don’t worry about it, it’ll work out. Trust me, honey!’

Despite knowing the potential risks, step 2 of strategizing and running the numbers is dominated by the optimist, as the pessimist amongst the group is deemed too negative and if listened to would probably result in cancelling the project there and then. The voice of “Karen” is dismissed, and the paperwork is quickly drafted.

You’re all in now.

Once the next step of hiring staff and launching the business have commenced, the plates continue to stack up and spin, and won’t ever stop.

What have you done?!

For many, sadly, this is the reality. Rather than take their time to analyze the situation, they jump in with both feet, and before they know it, those plates have come crashing down around them. The result; a broken business, or at least one in need or major overhaul.

Not every hotel aspires to be the next Marriot or Hyatt. Owning and operating a property doesn’t need to have several departments and divisions. A well organised and structured business can work just as well with limited staff, so long as those involved know exactly what they're doing. 

Where do you start then? Well, as chief plate spinner, the responsibility is on the decision maker, the owner. Knowing where to direct your precious time and energy then, can be considered as the key to unlocking the door between you and the success that lies on the other side.

Utilising a mix of experience and contemporary research journals and innovation, within this series of articles, hospitality operators will be given all of the tools required to make the many small improvements and adjustments required to enact big changes, and turn their fortunes around.

“Progress is a slow process”…..50 Cent

For good or for bad, nothing worth having was created overnight. As a process driven organization, the nausea-inducing cliche of “trusting in it” should be accompanied with the feeling of enjoying it.

If children can take delight in watching the man spin those plates for hours on end, then it has to be something worth sticking around for.

Who knows, you may just enjoy yourself along the way!