Hospitality Industry Entrepreneurial Skills and Talents

Entrepreneurship is the ambition and capacity to establish, grow, and run a company with the primary objective of producing money. It is the process that transforms an idea into a business (Barringe 2012). An entrepreneur is someone who manages, expands, and coordinates the business with a lot of initiative and risk. Each and every area of business, including the hospitality sector, places a premium on entrepreneurship. Hotels, restaurants, international travel, and event organizing make up the majority of this industry, which is often made up of anything related to customer service (Brotherton 2012, p. 6). The hospitality industry continues to undergo tremendous changes such as increased competitive pressures, technological advancements, and consolidation. To cope with these changes, innovation has played a paramount role in creating new ideas in the industry and developing the existing ones thus creating a competent environment (Chang and Shum 2011 p. 813). An entrepreneur should possess various talents and skills in a bid to help them not only survive but thrive in the competitive industry (Elmuti and Omran 2012 p. 83). Skills and abilities for the successful inception and growth in a global hospitality industry are therefore paramount and imperative

Leadership skills

Leadership is imperative in entrepreneurship in company growth and development. A leader is someone held in charge of a group of people undertaking certain responsibilities. Real leadership, therefore, is the ability of an entrepreneur to manage the people under him effectively (Elwell and Mattocks 2015 p.293).

An entrepreneur should, therefore, be an excellent communicator to his employees. This communication ensures that employees are involved in whatever happens in the business, therefore, get a sense of belonging and are motivated by being more productive. Through proper communication, employees can give ideas on developing the business and point out the necessary improvements needed in some areas (Welch 2011 p. 330). The entrepreneur should have a vision for the business and draw plans on how to achieve it. He should have guidelines that will push him and his staff to the result he hopes to make for his business. It is important to know the dynamicity of the hotel such that one can plan for it appropriately. Both people skills and business skills are components that every entrepreneur should possess (Raposo and Do Paço 2011 p.455).

Another key leadership skill for an entrepreneur is the ability to lead by example (Elwell and Mattocks 2015 p.294). He should be the role model to his employees. His integrity should be unquestionable and his character admirable to all. The employees can then follow his paths ensuring greater productivity.

A good entrepreneur always surrounds himself with the best. He can keep the loyal, hardworking and reliable employees around him hence ensuring he is working with the best team.

A good leader in entrepreneurship also knows when not to depend on his ability hence will delegate duties to the right people. Delegation helps develop a team in the business hence working becomes. He will also seek advice from experts since this kind of an industry is a developing one, and changes are rapid hence relying on one’s knowledge might often lead to a fail.

The hotel industry thrives where good leadership prevails. Excellence in managing staff ultimately results in complete success of the industry. Four Seasons Hotels in Canada is one example of a hotel entity that attributes its success to proper management. Isadore Sharp, a Canadian Hotelier, founded and remained the CEO of the company up until his death. He received many awards due to his success in the hospitality industry as he lay the foundation for the improvement of the hotel sector. Service is a vital attribute in any hotel. Sharp believes in the presentation of the service whereby he always insists on kindness and mutual respect. He led by example and soon the hotel was known and famous for its friendly nature (Solomon 2015). This fact brought in more income to the business and the company has maintained its name to date.

Willing to be a risk taker

To thrive in the hotel industry, one must be a risk taker. An entrepreneur always takes risks and will know when to take them. Taking risks means learning more and creating more innovations for your business and putting money to facilitate its success (Carland, Carland, and Stewart 2015 p.3). Risks such as leaving stable jobs to channel the energy to their businesses are worthwhile. Other risks can include taking loans to expand a business, sacrificing their personal time to input more into the firm, believing in a particular employee, sacrificing capital for the company among others. An entrepreneur who takes risks will get far more and better opportunities than one who does not and will be a more important decision maker than the latter (Hutton 2014).

An entrepreneur, however, should know how to manage a riskless it costs him time, money or simply disappoints. They can reduce risks by getting an insurance cover for the risk, taking minimal loans, analyzing and evaluating the consequences of some risky activities, taking the time to learn past trends and keeping accurate records of the business endeavors (Sadgrove 2016 p.71).

Colonel Harland Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken, took a risk aged 65 years and founded one of the largest fastest growing chicken joints in the world took a risk and put in all his savings in the business worldwide (Great Business Ideas, Start Ups And Entrepreneurs 2015). He had developed his cooking skills from his mother and strived to make the best out of it. Sanders focused on his small business and were selling out of his dining table. He was determined to make his business prosperous and as such perfected his chicken recipe. His determination and skills made his enterprise more famous and eventually saw it grow. He relocated to a restaurant where he continued preparing his unique chicken and gained, even more, fame. Sanders cooking skills gained, even more, recognition to the point where he became dubbed Kentucky colonel in recognition to his fabulous chicken. Partners sought him after a while increasing his capital and providing better means of performing activities. Currently, his franchise is in almost all countries amounting to thousands of branches worldwide (Great Business Ideas, Start Ups And Entrepreneurs 2015) Proper entrepreneurial skills undoubtedly led to the success of this business and continued to attribute to its success.

Skilled at selling

Marketing skills is a must-have for a successful entrepreneur (Van Scheers 2011 p.5048). This act entails the necessary steps an entrepreneur takes to win customers into purchasing their product. The entrepreneur needs to create a good rapport with his clients for secure communication. He should create time for the client and always seek to satisfy the need of the client. Marketing will mostly involve a lot of persuading hence it requires the attitude of never giving up. Other than public relations, it also includes attracting and enticing clients through the packaging of the product and being creative in different other ways (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel 2011 p. 102). The hospitality industry thus requires a lot of marketing for its success. There are hundreds of similar businesses, and thus one has to go a step further to enjoy success not enjoyed by others.

Hotels can advertise and sell their services through many ways. These include using media such as through television, radio, and flyers (Rödén 2012 p. 13). Indirect selling such as through offers and promotions also goes a long way in making the hotel satisfactory and attractive (Buil, De Chernatony and Martínez 2013 p.116). This popularity results in gaining many customers thus increased demand.

A hotel can also sell its services through offering superb customer services to its clients. Satisfied clients always share the word, and this is a form of indirect advertisement. The hospitality industry should always invest in this approach since not only are new customers obtained, but it also results in retained clients.

Competence

An entrepreneur should possess the behavioral competencies, which are skills that guide him into performing tasks pertaining to the business. These competencies can be innate where they are identified and nurtured or acquired through training. Examples of these skills include creativity, ability to initiate say, projects, and decisiveness, the ability to create solutions to problems, persistence, and patience. Others like being optimist and ability to plan systematically are also key competencies necessary for entrepreneurship. These skills help the entrepreneur manage the business, ensure a smooth running of all the tasks and are alert on any malfunction in the firm.

The hospitality industry requires certain competencies in a bid to keep it afloat and ensure maximum benefits. Investing in training and education goes a long way in ensuring that all people are at par with the latest trends and practices, which maximizes the profitability of the organization (De Vos, De Hauw, and Van der Heijden 2011 p.439). Key competencies may include menus and styles of presenting food and decorations.

Can cope with legal and government restrictions

Government regulation is one of the factors that hinder entrepreneurs from starting businesses. A real entrepreneur, therefore, should take time and learn about the permits or licenses required to start a business. They should also check the regulations applied on specific entrepreneurial activities to avoid trouble with the law (Zu 2014 p.68). There is also employment legislation that regulates the wages, job ages, leaves, time off and working hours. Then there is the tax legislation to control how you should pay taxes and gives the right to be an employer, health laws that have impacts on your businesses, sales tax collecting laws, advertising and marketing laws, finance laws and many others depending on the nature of your business. All these laws ought to be a consideration before starting a business. The permits and regulations ensure access to the capital hence expansion of small businesses. They also help the government in creating a business culture since individuals learn business skills and small business owners emerge.

The hospitality industry, especially the hotels require legal compliance and upholding of some standards such as cleanliness. Failure to compliance results to increased issues, which negatively affect the business (Serrat 2011 p.278).

Identifying and Satisfying Gaps

One of the primary characteristics of an entrepreneur is the ability to determine and satisfy various deficiencies in the business sector and acting accordingly in a bit to meet them. Gaps refer to the diverse needs or want not happy in a particular industry thus requiring action for their satisfaction. The hospitality industry has many activities done and is such bound to encompass some gaps which, when well taken care of ultimately results in successful entrepreneurial practices.

Conrad Nicholson Hilton, the founder of the Hilton chain of hotels, is an example of a successful entrepreneur whose business thoughts developed because of acting on gaps he identified while staying at a local hotel. He noticed that the service was slow resulting in long queues and that there were barely enough rooms in the hotel to cater for a large number of clients in the hotel. Hilton made up his mind and bought the hotel, Mobley, and refurbished it thoroughly. He also expanded it to avail more rooms and avoid further queues. His simple gesture made the hotel more famous and made him, even more, money. After a short while, he opened the Hilton Hotel, which grew tremendously. He was dedicated to going international and gradually succeeded (People 2014). Currently, Hilton hotels exist in many countries both in and outside America. These hotels are highly rated making them one of the most prestigious hotels in the world.

Conclusion

It is a car that the hospitality industry is among one of the most sought after in the world today. Entrepreneurs continue to develop more entities namely Hotels and Restaurants as the market progresses. This industry is, however, a little sensitive and thus needs special skills and talents to ensure its success. Some of the skills hospitality entrepreneurs can use include proper leadership skills, willingness to take risks, competence, selling expertise and fulfillment of identified gaps. When well handled, these skills lead to the absolute development and success of the business entity,

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