If I create a operations manual for my hospitality property, how will I know it is going be functional for my business?

Welcome to another addition of hospitality property school.

I’m your host Gerry MacPherson and today we are going to talk about what you should include in your operation manual.

The material could vary a little bit from property to property but the frame or structure I’m going to share with you is universal.

It should include the following: 

  • Company History, Vision & Organization
  • Products & Services
  • Policies
  • Position Statements
  • Systems (how it’s done)

Statistically, 9 out of every 10 businesses fail within the first five years.

75% or more of franchises succeed.

This is why you should not look at your property, as an independent business but as a franchise.

A major component of every successful franchise is their operations manual.

If you’re small independent hotel, Inn, Bed & Breakfast, or resort the chances of you succeeding increase dramatically if you take the time to develop an operations manual.

 

As I mentioned in the last video, your Operations Manual should be treated it like a living, breathing entity and can be amended accordingly as trial and error findings are made.  When designing this Manual, you must always have in the back your mind,

“Can I open a second location with this Manual model and not have any problems?” Or

“Can I open 10 locations with this Manual model and not have any problems?” Or

“Can I open 1000 locations with this Manual model and not have any problems?”

 

Your goal must be to develop the best working system of the model and when it’s complete your system must work like clockwork.

So what should go in your Operations Manual model?

As I said before- EVERYTHING!

 

What else should you include in your operations manual model?

Information about your site & location

Training Procedures

Your Properties Set-up

Supplies and Inventory

Your staff’s Uniforms

Personnel

Responsibilities

  • An organisation chart

Perfect Employee Profiles

Job Descriptions

 Interviewing

Communicating and Personnel Policies

Employee Discipline

 

DAILY OPERATING PROCEDURES

(The day to day operation)

Customer Complaints

Meal Preparation Procedures 

  1. Prepping Procedures
  2. Setting Up The Stations
  3. Consistent Recipes
  4. Preparation Procedures for Everything
  5. Maintaining Inventory
  6. Dishwashing / Sanitation Procedures

Inventory Management

Operational and Financial Reporting

Required Cleaning and Maintenance

  1. Daily Cleaning and Maintenance
  2. Weekly Cleaning and Maintenance
  3. Monthly Cleaning and Maintenance

Safety Procedures

Sales Procedures 

Marketing

 

The now after seeing all of this, some of you might be thinking

“Wow, Gerry you’re killing me, I only have a small operation.”

The let me remind you of the statistics are shared at the beginning of our session.

9 out of 10 business fail within the first five years. 75% percent of businesses using an Operations Manual model succeed.

Okay, you’ve got your organisational structure in place, everybody knows their responsibilities, their duties and how to perform them step-by-step.

This process is not going to happen overnight but with the help of your employees, you are going too designed and produced an Operations Manual for your hospitality property that will be invaluable.

Now you have to ask yourself “When it is complete, will it work?”

To know this you have to ask yourself another question

“Will the concept, my Operations Manual be saleable?”

And then you have to ask “Will I be able to clone it?  And if so will it provide good returns?”

Yes, I want you to look at your business as a product and this is a product you want to sell.

No, I’m not telling you to have to go out and sell your hotel or bed and breakfast, but for you to know for sure that your operational procedure, your Operations Manual works, you have to change your mindset and look at your hospitality property as a product.

We have spent a great deal of time working on guidelines for operation manuals and if you would like to see more detailed information visit keystonehospitalitydevlopment.com and click training on the menu bar.

I would like to hear if you use operation manuals for your property and if it works for you. If you would like to share or have any questions or feedback you can leave them in the comments section of the show notes at:

keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/khdc005

 

If you have topic ideas that are important to you and would like us to cover, feel free to reach out to use on

Facebook at facebook.com/keystonehdc

Twitter at twitter.com/keystonehdc

Or email at

info@keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com

 

That’s it for today’s session, let’s continue to work together to put heads in your beds.

Until next time, have a fun day.

 

Music Credit:

Sun Spark
http://www.danosongs.com/

 

Improve Your Business & Increase Your Bottom Line!
Get Your Free
“Customer Service for Independent Hotels or Bed & Breakfasts” Studies

 

Hospitality Property School is a division of Keystone HDC

KHDC 005 - How to Make My Operations Manual Work