The first part is as follows

Is the capital expenditure necessary for a hotel operation or not?

The reason why he suggested above are as follows;

4 Don’t rely on vendors more than necessary (vendors may propose plans to exploit clients)

Your story reminded me of an episode of a Japanese style inn, in Kagoshima. The owner of that inn, in five years, turned a poor and ordinary inn into a wonderful Sukiya-style traditional hotel which can be found in Kyoto. The open-air bath was also created with a local farmer, and it seems that the stones were selected from the local rivers in the neighborhood. For example, if the owner of the inn understands tea ceremony or flower arrangements, the guest room there can have a flavor of incense. It feels good to step in such a room, but the cost is not so high. In the alcove, a guest can find one bunch of wild camellia growing on the roadsides. If you have such a taste, you could do such an arrangement with no cost. I think it is important for owners/ managers to demonstrate their own expertise to just please guests without spending any huge cost.

5 Hospitality mind is the core value of the hotel business (how to get repeaters)

Facilities are important, but the most important thing is the hospitality mind of employees. I want the Kyocera hotel to be the hotel where customers who have stayed once are surprised by the bright smiles and wonderful hospitality of the employees and want to come back and stay again. In general, even if we, as amateurs, can build all the facilities. We can ask the professional hotel operations to Hilton Hotel or Hotel Okura. However, that doesn’t make any sense for us to do that. So, Hotel Kyocera does it all by us. Hotel employees are also those who were recruited in our factory, “Those who want to do the hotel business, raise your hand.” So is the restaurant. We do all the management by Kyocera people without asking outside help. I know this may sound insane. But otherwise, we would not be able to demonstrate our originality. Kyocera hotel must be run by employees who have wonderful hospitality that you can’t find anywhere else. Also, they should understand my vision, and all of them understand well my intention. So, the hotel has been doing well. It is performing so well that I can call it a miracle.

6 Reduce daily expenses with everyone (accumulation of small details is most effective)

“Half of the profit before depreciation is used for repayment, and the other half is used for renewal because patchwork is fine. In that case, I think that you may need to arrange finance from banks. Working capital and other reserves are needed, but we could manage your operational expense really modestly.”

So to sum up, the following are the reasons why we should not conduct a large scale of renovation.

Considering the subconscious mind, the large-scale renovation plan is a representation of the president’s subliminal mind. Edward avoided facing himself.

There was not enough profit …he, in subconscious level, might have thought ;

This is due to my poor management skills.

Maybe it’s because my poor leadership and employees don’t respect me.

Or maybe it’s because I don’t grasp the customers’ needs.

If Edward had been aware of his subliminal mind which was telling to him as above, this would have led to his self-denial. Thus, generally speaking, people tend to avoid looking at such facts.

That’s why Edward told himself that the external and physical facility deterioration was the  “only” reason for the poor performance.

Sales of our hotel are declining.

It is not my responsibility as president.

It is not your responsibility to the employees.

Because simply, the facility itself is just too old.

When such thoughts permeate the subconscious mind, the consciousness turns toward refurbishment. It is the result of seeking out the root cause of the problem without facing one’s subliminal mind.

If Edward, the president, had faced his own mind, he might have seen another direction early on.

What is the hotel business for me?

What is the meaning of doing a hotel business in the first place?

Is it really necessary for me to do it?

What is the best thing for the company, for the employees, for the community?

It may have been or necessary for Edward to think carefully about them.

I think I have received a wonderful message at the beginning of the year. I shared it with you.

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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