Watch Nicolas’ former hostel owner full testimonial

1. Find your niche

The first problem you need to solve is to target the right customer for you. This is applicable to any business, but hostels tend to fall in the trap of saying: “every traveler is welcome here!”

Here is an example of what traveler’s profile I was targeting: “the adventure backpacker, not scared to explore local areas and actually seeking outstanding exotic and authentic experiences close to locals and integrating into the Vietnamese culture.”

And for them, we were tailoring activities, tours, and making the atmosphere of the hostel suitable for them.

If you need help finding your niche for your own hostel, start with your own profile — what type of hostel do you stay at? And if you don’t really travel, start asking your current guests, identify the best ones, and focus on understanding who they are and what motivates them to stay at your place.

Are you ready to attract more “good customers” who match your ideal customer profile (ICP) and deal less with poor, ungrateful, and bad customers?

2. Standardize operations

It is a mistake to think that standard operating procedures are for big businesses. If you want to scale, you need to think big:

You need a consistent customer experience. Once you have your niche, and the good clients start to consistently come… they need to all have the same experience so that they stay longer and review your business 5 stars.

You need to have a clear idea of who the needed people are, their tasks, and everyone’s responsibility in the business operations… so that you can manage your hostel.

For this, the most important thing is going to be having all your “knowledge” of the company gathered into one document. It’s called an Operations Manual.

I made an article on that matter and shared with you a free template, based on my own hostel experience. Download it, and let’s get your hostel running smoothly and properly!

Operations Manual for Hostels. Steal my template!

3. Invest in yourself

If you have everything in place, you will regain more flexibility. You will be less hands-on with operations.

That means you have more time… time for what?

Well, you decide. But if you really want to “make it,” the best way to keep growing your business is going to be by growing yourself.

Investing in yourself means that you will learn new things that you could apply to your own business. You become healthier, stronger, smarter… and lead your team BY EXAMPLE, not just by giving orders.

Key takeaways

1. Don’t be scared to niche down your target audience
2. Don’t be scared to operate like a big business, even if you are small
3. Don’t forget to invest in yourself. If you grow, the business will grow.

Scale in Peace is here for you if you have any questions on scaling operations. Helping entrepreneurs to reclaim their time and scale their business is what we do!

My name is Nicolas Thành, I am a team productivity expert and will be more than happy to offer a free consultation on this matter. Make sure you book a call with me!