News for the Hospitality Executive |
by Dr.
John
Hogan, CHE, CHA, CMHS
September 14, 2012 While my career has been substantially in managing and working with full Service Hotels, I also learned a great deal from managing independent, free-standing restaurant operations as well as successful restaurants and lounges in hotels. More than150 years ago, Charles Dickens
penned the story of
two contrasting major European cities. A Tale
of Two Cities (Paris and
London in the days before the French revolution) has sold over 200
million
copies and ranks among the most famous works in the history of
fictional
literature. The lesson here is of the
contrasts Today, we live in every large metropolitan
area, with many
hospitality business options. In the
last 90 days, one of our favorite local restaurants closed and we
discovered
another that had been open for 25 years and is now it in its second
location. Both of these properties had good food, fair
pricing and
ownerships that hoped to be able to maintain success.
In today’s competitive markets, hope is not
enough and owners of hospitality businesses must continually keep their
product, marketing and offerings fresh. Both of these were ethnic restaurants,
although of two
different nationalities in food types.
They were relatively comparable in price, adequately
staffed and there
the similarity stopped. The restaurant that closed had a good
location near a major
thoroughfare and many apartments. Over
the years, we enjoyed the ethnic musical talent offered on a weekly
basis. This restaurant had become part of
the chain
of three and enjoyed some success over a 15 year period.
The second restaurant relocated four years
ago from a challenging location to one that was closer to a larger
population,
but still in an off center location. It
remains an independent with an involved owner.
The first restaurant location is now
occupied after 90 vacant
days by a different ethnic offering, and to date, we’ve seen very few
cars in
the parking lot. The second restaurant
actually now has a waiting list for reservations at least one day a
week and
continues to promote itself in both proven and experimental ways. It also has something the first restaurant
did not, and that is a loyal staff that expresses its pride with every
customer. The first time we ate at the
second restaurant, we were served by enthusiastic 30 year-old who we
thought
was a member of the family. She had
worked with the business for four years with both owners and had such
enthusiasm that she genuinely made this independent restaurant
something unique
in a time of ordinary sameness These lessons from the field demonstrate
that it is so often
the example, vision and presence of the owner that makes such a
difference
whether a hotel, restaurant, lounge, spa or other hospitality business
is
successful. Many of us are preparing the budgets and
marketing plans for
next year this month. I encourage
creative thought in the process this year as we all plan to tackle new
competitors, new marketing gimmicks and a growing global marketplace. Success
does not come by accident or chance. We
can help.
Contact us for assistance – [email protected] 602-799-5375 HoganHospitality.com : [email protected]
John Hogan is a successful hospitality executive, educator, author and consultant and is a frequent keynote speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events. He is CEO and Co-Founder of HospitalityEducators.com , which has more than 1600 resource pages and has become the #1 independent website for hotel owners and managers. He is also the Principal of HoganHospitality.com, which offers hospitality consulting and hotel expert witness services. |
Contact: John Hogan, CHE CHA CMHS United States - Phoenix, Phone: 602-799-5375 www.hoganhospitality.com [email protected]
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