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How long did it take you to open your doors?

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Sean Kelley started this discussion 5 years 9 months ago

Hi!

I aspier to start the process of opening a hostel In the states within a year. I have lots of questions but one i=is, if your starting your hostel pretty much from the ground up and after you buy a building for it how long was it before the hostel was able to hold guuest? my goal would be about 3-6 months with help of course but is that possible? how long did it take you to open yours?

Thanks!

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Rucksack Brian

5 years

Hi Sean,

What kind of hostel are you looking to start? That will make a big difference in how long it will take. Are you looking for a big place or a little cozy thing? In general, the smaller it is, the quicker you could set it up. Or are you more concerned about the administrative side with all the permits and such?

I have no experience working or opening hostels in the US, so unfortunately I can't offer much insight there. My wife and I opened one a few years back in Romania, and it seemed like we practically threw it together overnight. I sleeps 38 guests, and I think we did it all in less than two months. Granted, our expectations were not very high, and we were shooting for the minimum viable product to get the door open before a big high-demand holiday. Our plan was to open first, and then keep working on it to bring it up to our standards. "Start small, think big" as they say. While it worked out in the end, I wouldn't recommend such a rushed job.

I get the impression that most people take longer than 3-6 months to open their hostels.

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JeremMaill

5 years

@Brian
What would be your feedback on this MVP experience? Wouldn't it hurt the hostel brand to open small and offer a limited experience from the start? For instance, it could lead to bad reviews and then throw the hostel into a vicious circle of bad reviews even if you ended up offering something great at the end!
I might be overthinking it but would be curious to have your opinion on that!

Thank you

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Rucksack Brian

5 years

@JeremMaill
The Minimum Viable Product idea has always been a challenge for me because I'm a bit of a perfectionist by nature.

When I first got into hostels I had a big idea in my head of how I wanted mine to be. All the details were clear to me, and I didn't want to open with anything less than the final product, compete and ready to go from day one. That particular hostel never opened, and as I look back after all these years, I realize just how far I was from ever getting it off the ground.

Meanwhile, people around me were taking their modest savings and opening their doors with whatever they could afford. As an example, one guy threw a bunch of mattresses on the floor and started renting them out until he got enough guests through the door that he could afford to buy bed frames. I couldn't see myself doing that at the time, but the fact of the matter was that his doors were open for business and he was improving his hostel every day while I was still dreaming about opening mine.

Luckily for me I surrounded myself with other professionals from the hostel industry who helped me to understand the business better and to gain some new perspective. Otherwise I might still be traveling the world and imagining the perfect hostel that I would surely open...someday.

If you're planning to open a mega-behemoth hostel or a place where everything is of exquisite quality, then you definitely need to make a big investment of time and money right from the start. If the facilities will be your defining characteristic, then they do need to be ready from day one. However, if you're planning to open a place that will be known for its character and soul, amazing atmosphere, the personality of the team, or anything else that can't be purchased at a store, then the MVP path might be a more reasonable option for you.

If you open something humble, and you and share your vision for what you eventually want the place to become and get excited about the things you're working on to get it there, that energy is contagious. Many of your guests will probably get excited about your dream too. Some of them may even offer to get involved to help in whatever way they can, using their skills and talents to advance your project. Many will be willing and eager to overlook the initial shortcomings, and instead choose to see the place as the budding stages of the beautiful hostel you describe to them. They get to be there in its infancy, and if they come back they can say, "I remember when this place was just starting out!" Inevitably you'll get some reviews saying, "it's going to be great when it's done" but those won't ruin your business as long as you keep moving ahead with your plans.

Another benefit of the MVP experience is that it keeps your risk of loss at a more manageable level. In case business does not go as well as you hoped, you risk losing significantly less than if you had gone all-in from day one.

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JeremMaill

5 years

@ Rucksack Brian WOW! Amazing response! Thank you for your great insights! I really like your incrementalist approach to building the hostel and adding features pieces after pieces... I think the fact that you sourrounded yourself with the right persons greatly helped and is a crutial part of one's success. You are absoluetly right about having a great "intangible" value by creating the right athmosphere, although I would value the accomodations as much and most of all the attention to details!

For me too many hostels are "careless" and sometimes don't put the necessey effort in order to provide a high quality service! (maybe I was just unlucky with my picks) but I usually find myself in a dilemma between the amazing social experience and the accomodation quality (often cleanliness).

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