Hotel Business Plan in Nigeria - How to Start a Hotel Business

Hotel Business Plan in Nigeria – How to Start a Hotel Business

The hotel business is one which has become a very lucrative business presently booming in Nigeria. The tourism sector of Nigeria is valued at way over four billion dollars and it is continually growing at a steady rate. The sector is wide enough for as many people as have the capacity to join in and enjoy the massive profits available. A lot of people have a strange notion that this business is not profitable, however the proliferation of the sector all over the country has proven these ideas totally wrong, the sector is indeed profitable and practically self-sustaining. The hotel business even though it has great potential for profit making can also be very tedious as it requires great skills in management and customer relations.

One of the greatest advantages of the hotel business is that you are required to start up big, you can start small and grow the business gradually till it becomes humongous. It is a known fact that Nigerians are fun loving people who love to spend ostentatiously and lavishly, this means that any size of hotel accompanied with the right ideas for fun catching will result in huge profits for the business owner.

Before I continue, I will like to define a hotel, so here’s the question, what is a hotel?

A hotel can defined as a commercial establishment which provides accommodation, feeding, and other guest services to customers for a price. It could also be a business which caters to the lodging and feeding needs of guests, especially travelers at a stipulated price. It is also defined as an establishment which provides paid lodging on a short term basis. There are several types of hotels and they can be classified based on the kind of services they predominantly provide or the sizes of the hotels altogether.

Also Read: Restaurant Business Plan in Nigeria

Hotel Star Rating

I am sure you would have heard the term “five star hotel” or “four star hotel” however most people do not even have the slightest idea of what the terms mean. Let me briefly throw some light on this as it is key in determining what kind of hotel you want to invest in. Hotel Star Rating is simply a system of ranking the quality of a hotel, which is aimed at helping customers evaluate a hotel’s amenities, customer services, luxury and overall hospitality and ambience. The system involves rating hotels on a five star scale, with five stars being the highest and one star being the lowest.

It is no news however that the higher the star rating of a hotel, the more expensive it is likely to be. The five star hotels come at the highest prices obtainable but are also known to provide the best of services to customers. The rating of the hotels are mostly carried out by bodies in the hotel’s country of establishment, except for those registered international that are evaluated by international bodies like the AAA.

How to enter the Hotel business.

There are two major ways of entering the hotel business and they largely depend on the capital available to the prospective business owner and the end product that is desired. Let us take a look at the different modes of entry in to the hotel business.

Joining a franchise. By way of definition, a franchise is the authorization given to a business to operate as a branch of a mother company, even though it is operated by a totally different entity. It is a very wise decision to begin a hotel business under the wings of an established hotel chain. There are several hotel brands in Nigeria and abroad that are well known, they include, Sheraton, the Hilton, Protea, etc. A decision to start up under any of these brands is certain to bring great success, a major reason for this is that the names are already trusted brands by customers so they will be interested in patronizing the business without even doing any adverts. Another great advantage of this is that the business owner is able to glean from the experiences of the mother company and can use these to properly set up his business before standing on his own. A major disadvantage of starting under a franchise is that the business owner is most likely not to enjoy flexibility in running the business as he has to run the business based on the standards laid down by the mother company. The process is highly capital intensive though as there are several fees to be paid asides the building of the business to meeting up standards.
Starting your own brand. This is the most advisable option for business owners who planning to start up on a small or medium scale. This option offers the business owner the opportunity of starting up with a great deal of flexibility as they can set up the business the exact way they want it. It is also not as capital intensive as the franchise option, since the business can gradually grow into what the business owner desires. The only disadvantage of this option is that the business owner will have to spend a lot on publicizing the business as the luxury of flying on the wings of the mother hotels is not available.

Starting Up a Hotel Business in Nigeria

At this point it is expedient to discuss the different steps involved in starting up a hotel. Please note that this is just a guide and you might need to add a few more based on your location or how flexible you want the business to be.

Study the business intently. Regardless of the form you are planning for the hotel to take or the level at which you want to start, it is imperative that you take time to study the business in depth. Do not leave any stone unturned in your study, find out what it takes to run a hotel business, measures to ensure growth and success, how to register, how to handle and relate with customers, etc. This will help you to run your business properly and also prepare you for the possible pitfalls. It will also help you to prepare a workable business plan which would be a perfect map for the running of the business.

Write a business plan. A business plan is a guide that will keep your business running even when you are not present. It also helps you get the assistance of investors and bank loans. You can decide to write the business plan yourself or involve the help of a professional, it will involve making a lot of predictions, market surveys and projections, etc.

If you cannot write a Frozen Food business plan for yourself, you can buy our Hotel business plan in Nigeria.

To place order, pay N15,000 to:

BANK NAME: FIRST BANK PLC
ACCOUNT NAME: CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 3066880122

After payment, text your full name, email address and title (hotel business plan pdf) to 07033378184. Your business plan will be sent to your email within 15 minutes.

Register the name of your business. It is important to choose a very attractive name for your hotel, the name of your hotel will go a long way to determine how much patronage you will receive from customers. Once you have chosen a name, visit the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) which is the body responsible for registering businesses in Nigeria, to carry out the necessary processes involved in registration. Asides registering with the CAC, you should find out other bodies that require registration and sort the processes out to avoid unnecessary embarrassment while running your business.

Choose a vintage location. Choosing a good location for your hotel is very important and plays a good role in getting customers patronage. Asides growing profit for the business it will determine the kind of people that visit your hotel. The class of your hotel will also determine the part of town your hotel will be situated, a medium class hotel can be situated in a busy part of town while a high class hotel can be situated in a more serene part of town. You should also be getting a place that is very secure to ensure that your customers are well protected.

Set up you hotel structure. After making a choice of location, the next step is setting up your hotel to your taste. Note that an important selling point of any hotel lies in the quality and beauty of the structure of that hotel. Customers will be more willing to pay for a well-furnished and properly finished hotel structure, they are also more likely to visit your hotel frequently if it proves to be very comfortable. For this reason, you should ensure that your hotel has a very beautiful structure and the finishing is perfect while the furnishings should be top notch and up to date.

Hire and train your staff. This is one of the most important aspects of setting up your hotel, if you have the wrong staff, it is possible to lose your customers. If you do not have any training in hotel or hospitality management then it is advisable to hire someone with those qualifications to assist you in running the venture. Some of the staff you will need are bar attendants, waiters, cleaners, laundry men, receptionists, accountants, etc. Above all ensure that your staff have the right mind and a zeal to work in the industry, you should also ensure that you provide on the job training to your staff.

Publicize your hotel. It will be difficult, in fact almost impossible for a business to thrive without proper publicity measures. It is practically a waste of money, the structure set in place, and the staff hired if you will not carry out efficient publicity. Therefore ensure you take proper steps to publicize the hotel, you can utilize various social media measures, you can also employ fliers and posters as well. You can also consider getting a website for your hotel now that most businesses are going online.

Create additional streams of income. You can think of several other services to add to the regular lodging and feeding that are carried out by hotels. It will help improve your profits by great measures.

Things you will need to start up your hotel

There are several equipment that you will need to get in place for your hotel to be a state of the art facility, some of them include:

Generating sets. We all know the power supply situation of the country, it is imperative to get an alternative source of power so that your customers remain comfortable.
Air conditioners.
Television sets.
Cable tv.
Plumbing facilities.
Intercom telephones
Fire alarms
Bedside refrigerators
Furniture, and several more

In conclusion, this business venture is a great one with awesome opportunities for building a profit empire. I hope this article has been quite helpful for you.

Get your own Sample Hotel business plan in Nigeria ! To place order, Pay N15,000 to:

BANK NAME: GUARANTY TRUST BANK (GTB)

ACCOUNT NAME: CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0044056891

BANK NAME: FIRST BANK PLC

ACCOUNT NAME: CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 3066880122

After payment, send your full name, email address and topic (i.e. Sample Hotel Business Plan pdf) to 07033378184. Your business plan will be sent to your email within 15 minutes.