15 years
Apparently, Berlin´s best Kebap shop was right on the spot where we built our hostel. It had to make way for us. :(
How to deal with the nonsense?
Start a Hostel
Today has been very STRESSFUL. I’ve just come back from meetings with my business counselors and then my local bank.
1) I'm having a disagreement with my business counselors. They feel my marketing plan is lacking. However, I feel I've laid out a full marketing plan and covered all my bases including:
- submission to the major hostel booking sites
- membership in state and national travel industry associations
- submission to travel guides
- submission to free accommodation sites
- disbursement of rack cards / brochures to key hostels worldwide
I cover everything from creating a professional website and blog to optimizing Google adwords but they're still not happy with that. They keep talking about Grand Openings, balloons, ribbon cuttings, cookies, cake, inviting the Mayor, orchestrating a huge sweepstakes with vouchers for a FREE night's stay, full color banners at all the major airports. WTH?!?!?! I don't see any of this having anything to do with promoting my hostel but the idea puts smiles on their faces. Am I wrong? They keep telling me my business plan is great but that I’m not showing them how I’ll bring in customers. If I’m missing something important let me know.
2) The business consultant at my local bank didn’t even bother to review the business plan. I was told flat out the business was considered HIGH RISK. Basically, they gave me the cold shoulder and wished me good luck. I’d be happier if they’d told me I didn’t do my homework or the idea was bad but I got nada.
I feel sick. I need advice – please help! :(
- Comments
15 years
It would be ironic if I ended up there two decades later for something as profane as a job.
Somerville is supposed to be a great place to live. If you have a car, there should be a lot to do in the area -- history (Revolutionary War, Walden Pond, etc.), White Mountains, Rhode Island, the islands (Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island), Southern Maine, Western Mass, etc.
It turns out the Boston hostel had a bed for me after I emailed and called, so I guess they aren't completely booked even though there isn't online availability.
there used to be a great kebab place down near the circus hostel; i was devastated to find it had changed hands when i was there in january. devastated.
It seems like there are a lot of different kinds of kebap shops here. I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between "doner kebap" and "schwarma". I thought schwarma was the Arabic word, but it was being sold in a Turkish shop where everything else had Turkish names.
15 years
If you're still in Berlin you should try a Durum Doner (all Umlaut except the e :p) at Hasir in Adalbertstrasse in Kreuzberg - and just across the street they make one of the best shawarmas. Sorry for off-topic-posting but i didn't start it ;)
ps. lots of fun to all of you in dresden
15 years
The thing with the bank that got me was as soon as they labeled my business HIGH RISK they completely shut down. They weren't interested in anything else I had to say. What do you do then? I was told to shake it off and just approach the next bank and go from there until I can find the right bank. The banks are much smarter than I thought. They know what a hostel is but how do I get past the HIGH RISK label. These days banks don't want to touch anything high risk at all.
You see, there's a different perspective on both sides. They don't wanna know how many sheets you have to buy, what is your predicted occupancy rate or anything like that because all these numbers are in your files. What they are convinced about is usually 60% of starting enterprises will be bankrupted in the first two years, due lack of experience. You don't have the experience neither, so why should they trust you? This is how they think.
You have to deal with the guy who represents the bank. He's a human filter whose business sense will decide whether you are able to run a business or not. You have to sell yourself to this person, make him trust in your skills; you have to sell your business idea just like selling a vacuum cleaner. They don't know about hosteling as any other business activity but they have to trust the people who they give the money, so they can make sure this investment will return beneficially.
You can mention that the budget sector is still growing, despite the crisis. Tell them US is still a virgin market despite the biggest traveling nationality and many of the young generation Americans know hostels all around the world... also there's a growing market already in the US. Note that you've been backpacking previously and have been to such many hostels... also you are following the latest trends and news online.
But most importantly try to sell yourself to this person. That idea which Klaus mentioned will definitely help. Good luck! ;)
13 years
The whole cake/ribbon cutting idea is mostly good to get yourself known by locals. We have found that many guests arrive in town knowing there is a hostel somewhere in town, and then simply ask people on the street (usually locals) where the hostel is. So having a "open day" kind of thing can really help. It can also help to explain to locals what kind of business you are, something that we've been explaining for almost 4 years now... Having an open day really helped in reducing the number of "disbaility pension cheque coming in at the end of the month", "nasty divorce an my wive threw me out" requests to stay. As for financing: we used numbers of overnights/occupany rates/room rates from other hostels within the province to prove the financial side of things. If you simply start calling around you will find that many hostels don't mind sharing some numbers. Since we were in a small town we mostly focussed on hostels in similar locations.
13 years
Hi,
Having a business counsellor sounds like a good idea...
Can one set up a youth hostel without one anyway? I am pretty sure that I can do the marketing myself as I've done research on this and bookmarked lots of hostel websites and country guide websites i.e. hostelworld.com and lonelyplanet.com
Thanks,
Leah
13 years
Plus the locals may not be staying there but it certainly will help when some out of towner is asking them about a place to stay, I get asked that all the time and until this year I wasn't even aware of our hostel, let alone it's location. There needs to be an awareness in the community, waitstaff at resturants get asked alot where a good place to stay is, coffeehouses, also try the outdoor sporting stores maybe you could get some of their pamphlets and they could have some of yours at their counter. I don't know if youv'e already done this or not but try getting a link on the visitors center website. Oh and pamphlets at all the bus stations/airports, that one's kinda obvious but worth mentioning, Good luck! (*sorry I'm such a terrible speller*)
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