When Is The Right Time To Outsource?

When I sit in meetings with Hoteliers talking about their food & beverage I am always ready for the inevitable question about outsourcing and true to our beliefs at Auden Hospitality it’s not a question I shy away from answering, being honest about, nor, do I try and say it isn’t the right thing to do.

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Quite the opposite, I encourage hoteliers to explore the option if they feel its right, after all, if you can rent out your F&B spaces for a tidy rental income then what’s to lose?? Well the headache of running F&B for one, but, it isn’t that easy.

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There are lots of things to explore if you are thinking of, or exploring the opportunity of outsourcing.

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Here are the things I always ask when I am challenged with the question and will be helpful if you have a little niggle right now to answer too;

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1.??????? How much space would you like to outsource and do you have the provision to make this happen?

In other words, if you just want to lease the restaurant but keep everything else, do you have separate kitchens, storage spaces and are you going to allow any operator to use your shared services.

If the answer is no to any of the above, don’t move to the next point.

2.??????? Are you willing to lose control of your guest experience?

If you lease your spaces or hand over your operations to a third party, you also give up control of your guest experience and while you can try and manage feedback, ultimately, they are in control and can impact NPS scores if it doesn’t go to plan.

?If you are still with me and happy to give up some control, move to the next point.

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3.??????? What is your strategy?

Yes, you heard me, what is your strategy, you can’t just put an advert out and take the nicest guy with the best terms, you must create a strategy and define your non-negotiables so that you can benchmark each potential operator to make sure they are the right fit.

?Clear on your strategy?? Move to the next point.

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4.??????? Don’t get married straight away

Remember that warm fuzzy feeling you had on your first date? (whoever your mind goes to reading this, it’s that feeling) Well, it’s likely you didn’t pop the question straight away, outsourcing is the same.? Get to know your new partners before diving in, build a partnership, get to know their values and ways of thinking, visit their venues and make sure their experience aligns with what your guest expects, then when the time is right, move forward to the next stage!

?Still with me and happy things are going well?? Move to the final stage

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5.??????? Set clear expectations??????????????

Probably the most important point of all.? Make it crystal clear what your expectations are of the operator and agree everything prior to signing the contract.? This could be SLA, breakfast allocations, amenity standards… you name it, if it’s important and effects your guest experience then make it clear what is expected of them.?

My top tip would be to define this in the contract clearly.

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There you have it, your roadmap to outsource (if you think it’s the right thing to do that is).

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At Auden, doing the right thing is the most important way to build a relationship so if you are in two minds about whether to give F&B one more shot or, if outsourcing (or licensing a brand) is the route forward, reach out and we can help you with that strategy.

it will make things clearer and, if you go down the route of finding a partner we can help you with that too (with a little help from our friends at ( Presman & Colard International Advisory ) and if you decide to do your own thing, we are here by your side every step of the way.

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Thanks for reading and see you next time.

Scot ???

Have you seen our YouTube Channel, posting tips and tricks to help hoteliers think differently about F&B as well as video episodes of our podcast Hospitality Huddles.

Check out one of my favourite videos below talking about my orange tree with Shawn P. Walchef