By: Adam Ropp, Pacific Northwest Hospitality Consulting
After 15+ years helping properties with challenges turn around, the one that I am most proud of is from a small, seasonal coastal community. The local economy is 90%+ based on tourism, the “season” is only 5 months long and the employee base barely covers all open positions. I arrived just prior to the “season” starting to find the biggest challenge of my career. The employee turnover was over 1000%, there were no managers left, the property was completely run down, product was walking away daily and the guests were lucky to get a clean room after check in or a meal if they decided to try the restaurant. Financially the property was months, if not weeks away from bankruptcy. Day one, I flew in from finishing a project outside of the US, drove straight to the property from the airport and went to work. I did not sleep for the first 48 hours as I went over operations, financials, employees, property inspections and to top it all off both the power company and gas company showed up to shut off the utilities for non-payment. What I found was that a lack of leadership from the owner and an unwillingness to hire capable management had taken a once profitable destination resort and turned it into a floundering enterprise that was run by line level employees with a “pack” mentality. The hotel was in the red by over $2.5 million and the restaurant was by $750k. With only 4 months left in the season I rolled up my sleeves, brought in fresh management, overhauled the employee base, wrote SOP’s for every department, hand-picked and trained staff for key positions, traveled the local market selling and marketing the property and by the end of the year I am proud to say that the hotel finished $1.75 million in the black and the restaurant turned a profit of $495k. The amazing part is that the restaurant had not been profitable since 1973. The following year I continued to work with the ownership and helped to grow profitability and market share. By the end of year 2 the hotel operation showed a profit of $2.79 million, the restaurant $799k and a new revenue source of Banquets & Catering of slightly over $1 million. This property went from the punch line of jokes in the local community, to a well-respected force to be reckoned with…oh and the employee turnover is less than 7% in an industry where the average is 50%.
For questions please contact me at adam.ropp1@gmail.com