Staying relevant

One of the things that is uniquely important in the hospitality field and, more importantly, hospitality consulting field, is to ensure you remain relevant to your market.

Having spent the last 10 years developing The Cutting Edge Agency overseas, creating and executing some fantastic restaurants, bars, cafes, and nightclubs, the return to Australia posed a question as to how relevant is all that experience in the local market?

2020 posed challenges certainly on the global travel and tourism front, and yet as a result of the pause we all took, it gave me time to reassess the direction I was heading and what really mattered to me going forward in this industry. 

Two clear thoughts emerged from this. How do I ensure that I am relevant and authentic in this new era of food and beverage operations and, moreover, how can I continue to support and grow the industry from my new base in Australia?

I decided that the only way to truly be relevant in the market was to dive headfirst into a start-up restaurant and discover, with feet in the trenches, what the real challenges are facing hospitality operations as they re-open into 2021. What can be done to not only future proof operations against global crisis that may occur, but re-look at all areas of efficiency, execution, and day to day operations that takes our new base of understanding and elevates it higher. 

Ultimately, I wanted to ensure that we remain relevant, authentic and, above all else, consistent in what we do.

Owning, developing and launching Vesper Bistro & Bar during the pandemic and over 120 days of lockdown, in the state of Victoria, has certainly answered those questions for me. What it has shown me is that the success of hospitality operations globally still rely on a formulaic approach. Don't get me wrong this has not been an easy start-up far from it, but having created and launched over 280 new F&B operations over the last 13 years certainly has helped. This knowledge and experience is certainly more relevant now and is exactly the crucial point of difference The Cutting Edge Agency can bring to new and existing hospitality operations in the Australasian market.